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Peres: 'We are ready to pay a price for the day of peace' By Yuval Azoulay and Barak Ravid Memorial Day events began last night with the wail of a siren at 8 PM. An official ceremony was held near the Western Wall in Jerusalem last night. Speaking there, President Shimon Peres said, "We are ready to pay a price for the day of peace." Advertisement The president struck a tone that was at once placating and defiant: "We are ready to pay in exchange for the day of peace, in exchange for a smile of children, Palestinian children, Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian, too. We want to shake hands, but our enemies know that we are capable of pressing the trigger." Referring to the site where the ceremony was held, Peres said: "Thousands of years of history look out at you from this place. This hallowed place, which knew the disheartened feeling of the vanquished and the pride of victors. It saw the arrogant conquerors coming in, it saw the legions marching off to slavery, nations disintegrating and disappearing, and it saw us, the children of the Jewish people, marching to exile and returning here in order to fight for our home. It is your children who fought for our home," President Peres told the bereaved parents. Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi also addressed the crowd: "Sixty-three years since the end of the Holocaust, the greatest atrocity in human history, we remain surrounded by countries, by peoples, by organizations, that refuse to come to terms with our existence in our homeland." He also addressed the bereaved families directly: "Unfortunately, this last year we added, with a shaking hand, more names to the memorial wall. Since last year's Memorial Day, and through this week, 65 more fatalities were added, and their number since 1860, when the first Jews moved outside of Jerusalem's walls, has reached 22,437 dead in the State of Israel's wars." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke yesterday at a memorial event held on Ammunition Hill. The prime minister expressed his hope that Israel would soon move toward peace. "This year, too, when we had to carry out intensive military operations in various fronts against the terrorism that continuously and brutally claims its victims, hope remained in our hearts for a different tomorrow. A tomorrow that will bring with it a possibility, a tomorrow that will bring with it peace." "The hope for real peace with all our neighbors was and will remain the most central aspect of our lives in this blood-soaked land," he said. Two-minute siren this morning The memorial day events will begin at 11 A.M. today, with a two-minute sounding of the siren. Soon after, memorials will be held in 43 military cemeteries throughout the country, where the state will be represented by MKs and ministers. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will attend the the ceremony at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. Defense Minister Ehud Barak will represent the government at the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. The memorial ceremonies will end with a torch-lighting ceremony at Mount Herzl, which will be followed by celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Stronger than its ills The 60th anniversary celebrations are accompanied by a bad taste. Rise in racism Israeli Arabs say institutionalized racism has increased.

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