He219
09-21-2003, 08:46 PM
http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=425281
Leader of Israeli opposition Shimon Peres, right, and Mikhail Gorbachev, left, attend a ceremony to mark Peres' 80th birthday at Israeli President Moshe Katzav's residence in Jerusalem Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. A parade of global figures, from Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. actress Kathleen Turner, were expected in Tel Aviv Sunday to help mark the 80th birthday of Shimon Peres _ Nobel laureate, visionary of peace and oft-failed candidate for Israeli prime minister. (AP Photo/ Brennan Linsley)
http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=425283
Leader of Israeli opposition Shimon Peres, left, speaks at a reception marking his 80th birthday at Israeli President Moshe Katzav's residence in Jerusalem Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. A parade of global figures, from Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. actress Kathleen Turner, were expected in Tel Aviv Sunday to help mark the 80th birthday of Shimon Peres _ Nobel laureate, visionary of peace and oft-failed candidate for Israeli prime minister. Standing second right is Mikhail Gorbachev, and third left is F. W. DeKlerk. (AP Photo/ Brennan Linsley)
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030921/capt.1064185420.mideast_israel_peres_at_80_axlp804.jpg
A warm embrace...
Shimon Peres, left, leader of the Israeli opposition, shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), right, as former U.S. President Bill Clinton (news - web sites), 2nd right, looks on following a gala in Tel Aviv, Israel marking Peres' 80th birthday Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003.
http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=425675
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20030921/capt.sge.hio14.210903222918.photo00.default-389x260.jpg
Former United States President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) grimaces as he takes a microphone on stage with an Israeli singer and some 40 Israeli and Arab singers to help sing John Lenon's song, "Imagine" on the occassion of a gala celebration marking the 80th birthday of Shimon Peres in Tel Aviv.(AFP-Pool/Jim Hollander)
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030921/capt.1064179619.mideast_israel_peres_at_80_axlp801.jpg
Shimon Peres, left, leader of Israeli opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), 2nd left, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) keep up with the music's rythm during a gala in Tel Aviv, Israel marking Peres' 80th birthday Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003.
http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=425304
Israeli right-wing activists demonstrate against Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres, outside the hall where Peres was celebrating his 80th birthday in Tel Aviv Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. A parade of global figures, from former President Clinton (news - web sites) and Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. actress Kathleen Turner, arrived in Tel Aviv Sunday to help mark the 80th birthday of the Nobel laureate. On the placard on the right Peres is seen embracing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Eitan Hess-Ashkenazi)
Where's Bill? ...aha
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030921/thumb.1064184742.mideast_israel_peres_at_80_axlp806.jpg
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton poses for a photograph with an Israeli police officer following a gala in Tel Aviv, Israel marking Shimon Peres' 80th birthday Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003.
A polished, European-style intellectual, Peres has never been at home in an Israeli society more admiring of the rough-and-tumble world of soldier and pioneer.
But Peres himself, perceived by the international community as a tireless peace-maker, started as a soldier, immigrating from Poland at age 11 and joining the Zionist struggle in the 1940s. He has walked the corridors of Israeli power since his 20s, as a top aide to its founder David Ben-Gurion.
At 29, he became director-general of the defense ministry and is considered the founding father of Israel's nuclear program; in the 1960s, he was instrumental in creating the Dimona nuclear facility where Israel reportedly has amassed a stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Peres, who once lobbied for Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories and hawkishly rejected any compromise with hostile Arab states, says he underwent a conversion after 1977, when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made his historic visit to Jerusalem, leading to the signing of the first Arab-Israeli peace treaty.
Critics see in his evolution proof of opportunism and lack of principles. Peres says it proves his pragmatism and vision.
He frequently presents his two major accomplishments -- building Israel's nuclear capacity and then the 1990s peace process -- as two sides of the same project: making the Jewish state strong and then fitting it into a "New Middle East."
But as the region is engulfed in war, the birthday celebrations on Sunday and Monday will have the bitter taste of lost illusions and could ironically hammer another nail in the coffin of the grand designs of one of Israel's last founding fathers.
More Here (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030921/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_peres_at_80_4)
Leader of Israeli opposition Shimon Peres, right, and Mikhail Gorbachev, left, attend a ceremony to mark Peres' 80th birthday at Israeli President Moshe Katzav's residence in Jerusalem Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. A parade of global figures, from Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. actress Kathleen Turner, were expected in Tel Aviv Sunday to help mark the 80th birthday of Shimon Peres _ Nobel laureate, visionary of peace and oft-failed candidate for Israeli prime minister. (AP Photo/ Brennan Linsley)
http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=425283
Leader of Israeli opposition Shimon Peres, left, speaks at a reception marking his 80th birthday at Israeli President Moshe Katzav's residence in Jerusalem Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. A parade of global figures, from Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. actress Kathleen Turner, were expected in Tel Aviv Sunday to help mark the 80th birthday of Shimon Peres _ Nobel laureate, visionary of peace and oft-failed candidate for Israeli prime minister. Standing second right is Mikhail Gorbachev, and third left is F. W. DeKlerk. (AP Photo/ Brennan Linsley)
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030921/capt.1064185420.mideast_israel_peres_at_80_axlp804.jpg
A warm embrace...
Shimon Peres, left, leader of the Israeli opposition, shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), right, as former U.S. President Bill Clinton (news - web sites), 2nd right, looks on following a gala in Tel Aviv, Israel marking Peres' 80th birthday Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003.
http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=425675
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20030921/capt.sge.hio14.210903222918.photo00.default-389x260.jpg
Former United States President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) grimaces as he takes a microphone on stage with an Israeli singer and some 40 Israeli and Arab singers to help sing John Lenon's song, "Imagine" on the occassion of a gala celebration marking the 80th birthday of Shimon Peres in Tel Aviv.(AFP-Pool/Jim Hollander)
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030921/capt.1064179619.mideast_israel_peres_at_80_axlp801.jpg
Shimon Peres, left, leader of Israeli opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), 2nd left, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) keep up with the music's rythm during a gala in Tel Aviv, Israel marking Peres' 80th birthday Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003.
http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=425304
Israeli right-wing activists demonstrate against Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres, outside the hall where Peres was celebrating his 80th birthday in Tel Aviv Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. A parade of global figures, from former President Clinton (news - web sites) and Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. actress Kathleen Turner, arrived in Tel Aviv Sunday to help mark the 80th birthday of the Nobel laureate. On the placard on the right Peres is seen embracing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Eitan Hess-Ashkenazi)
Where's Bill? ...aha
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030921/thumb.1064184742.mideast_israel_peres_at_80_axlp806.jpg
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton poses for a photograph with an Israeli police officer following a gala in Tel Aviv, Israel marking Shimon Peres' 80th birthday Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003.
A polished, European-style intellectual, Peres has never been at home in an Israeli society more admiring of the rough-and-tumble world of soldier and pioneer.
But Peres himself, perceived by the international community as a tireless peace-maker, started as a soldier, immigrating from Poland at age 11 and joining the Zionist struggle in the 1940s. He has walked the corridors of Israeli power since his 20s, as a top aide to its founder David Ben-Gurion.
At 29, he became director-general of the defense ministry and is considered the founding father of Israel's nuclear program; in the 1960s, he was instrumental in creating the Dimona nuclear facility where Israel reportedly has amassed a stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Peres, who once lobbied for Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories and hawkishly rejected any compromise with hostile Arab states, says he underwent a conversion after 1977, when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made his historic visit to Jerusalem, leading to the signing of the first Arab-Israeli peace treaty.
Critics see in his evolution proof of opportunism and lack of principles. Peres says it proves his pragmatism and vision.
He frequently presents his two major accomplishments -- building Israel's nuclear capacity and then the 1990s peace process -- as two sides of the same project: making the Jewish state strong and then fitting it into a "New Middle East."
But as the region is engulfed in war, the birthday celebrations on Sunday and Monday will have the bitter taste of lost illusions and could ironically hammer another nail in the coffin of the grand designs of one of Israel's last founding fathers.
More Here (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030921/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_peres_at_80_4)