"A recurring element of Jewish tradition – including Jewish religious tradition – is the expression of joy within sadness and sadness within joy... It seems to be that an expansion and deepening of the dualities of joy and sadness came with the founding and expansion of the State of Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people. This is seen perhaps most starkly in that the day that is called Israel Independence Day – celebrated as a triumph by Jews worldwide – commemorates what was a catastrophe for Palestinians. But, more generally, the dualities permeate the modern experience of the Jewish and Palestinian peoples."