Jerusalem: As Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, Israelis have their gaze set firmly backward.

Turn on the TV and you ll see grainy archive footage and old-timers reminiscing about victorious desert wars and pioneering days on the kibbutz. Radio stations are busy with musical retrospectives and the country s hottest CD features contemporary singers covering Israeli favourites, many of which were fresh when the country was half its present age.

The love affair with the past comes at a time of unease Israelis have much to be proud of but aren t sure what they have to look forward to.

"It's no secret that in our country the present isn't great and the future is always scary, so if you want to feel good, it's more fun to look back and ignore the problems," said Shanan Strett, frontman for one of Israel s best-known hip-hop ensembles, Hadag Nahash. The name roughly translates as "the fish is a snake."

"It's just like when people turn 60," he said. "Their relatives throw a party and show slides of them when they were younger and better-looking."

In one typical anniversary project, a newspaper and television station decided to pay homage to photographs of great moments in Israel's history by recreating them with their original participants. One 1949 shot of soldiers jubilantly hoisting an improvised Israeli flag against a backdrop of barren hills became a colour photograph of a group of elderly men around a flagpole.

As it celebrates its 60th birthday on Thursday, Israel has never been richer or stronger. It has weathered assaults that would have crippled weaker societies and has thrived while doing so.

Source : PTI