Israel’s raucous Independence Day celebrations will be a little quieter this year.
Although fireworks are typically a mainstay at parties across the country, this year many of the glittering yet noisy displays have been cancelled over concerns by some military veterans who say the cracking and banging dredges up the horrors of battle, especially for those with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The barrage of fireworks is the same as a burst of gunfire for us,” Ehud Amiton, a former soldier with PTSD who has worked to cancel the firework displays, told Israeli Army Radio Monday.
“We don’t oppose the celebrations, we oppose the noise.”
Israel marks 74 years since its creation on Thursday, and festivities begin the night before.
The country’s main ceremony in Jerusalem, which usually boasts a grandiose fireworks finale will instead hold a silent pyrotechnic show.
The seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv, where residents climb to rooftops to watch the glittering display, has also scrapped fireworks this year.
Israel’s Culture Minister Chili Tropper announced last month that he was siding with the veterans, saying it was Israel’s duty to respect the former fighters and recognise their struggle with PTSD, especially as the country marks its Independence Day.
“For most Israelis fireworks maybe a nice image in the sky, but for them it is the sound of gunfire and battle,” Tropper wrote on Facebook last month, announcing that this year’s national ceremony would drop the fireworks.
“They have fought enough. They have paid a heavy price. This year we are reaching out to them.”
Read the article in The Young Witness (AAP).