“What Israel has given me in the last 50 years I can only give back by having my musicians night after night play their hearts out all over the world.”
Suhail Ahmed
In his opposition to Zubin Mehta’s Kashmir concert, Hurriyat (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani, among other things, cited the famous conductor’s close association with Israel. Mehta, indeed, shares a special bond with Israel, a country that much of the Muslim world views as an aggressor and a usurper.
Mehta’s website gives a glimpse of his relationship with the state of Israel which is a cause of discomfort for many people in Kashmir who have all along resented Israeli aggression against Palestinian Muslims.
Mehta is the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. At a special event at his residence on 15th October 2012, Israeli President, Shimon Peres conferred the Presidential Medal of Distinction upon Mehta for his “outstanding contribution to culture in the State of Israel”.
Peres presented Mehta with the award and the two shared a warm hug.
Showering praises on Mehta, Peres said: “You and the orchestra carried a flag of friendship across the world and represented our country in an unbelievable manner…”
In Israel, the Presidential Medal of Distinction is awarded to private individuals and organizations that have made unique and outstanding contributions to Israeli society and the State of Israel’s image around the world.
After accepting the award, Mehta said, “To be given a hug by President Peres is already my award… What Israel has given me in the last 50 years I can only give back by having my musicians night after night play their hearts out all over the world.”
Mehta’s website also carries a speech given by Peres on 18th July 2011 in his honor for the conductor’s 50 years cooperation with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
Shimon Peres’s speech, available on the website www.zubinmehta.net, reads: “Dearest Zubin, You have proven that an almost invisible baton can conquer the hearts of people better than guns… You arrived here from the depths of India as a young talent and you became the master of our most significant cultural institution, the Philharmonic, capturing the hearts in Israel, and for Israel.”
“You didn’t come to a calm country, but to a state in the making, defending herself against blasting shells; to a people of prayers and hard-workers trying to transform wilderness into a blossoming garden. To a nation trying to gather scattered exiles and rebuild an old heritage; and build a new and better place for themselves and their neighbours…You became a builder of its culture and a carrier of its hope.”
In Fight Against Muslims
Peres went on to say that without Mehta and his Philharmonic orchestra it would have been “impossible to imagine Israel”. “In five decades you became part of us, and we became part of your inspiration.”
Peres also referred to Mehta’s role during the ‘Six Day War’ Israel fought against its Arab neighbours in 1967. Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, occupying the Gaza Strip, the Sinai, Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan, and the Golan Heights. Peres also refers to Mehta’s contribution during Yom Kippur War, also known as the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, fought by the coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel from October 6 to 25, 1973.
“You shared with us the most difficult moments. With the start of the Six Day War, you hitched a ride with an EL AL cargo plane, sitting in between boxes of ammunition sent to soldiers on the front line. You stayed in the Philharmonic’s guest house for the duration of the war. You insisted on performing with the Philharmonic during the Yom Kippur War for soldiers on the front line, elating their ears with the sounds of music, to reduce the noise of bullets,” Peres says about Mehta.
“During the Gulf War you stayed in the bombarded city of Tel Aviv, conducting the orchestra. You stood by this country when others were hesitant to support it.”
In the speech, President Peres terms Mehta’s contribution to the State of Israel as “indispensable”.
Concluding his speech, Peres says: “I wish the Philharmonic, the jewel in the crown of Israeli culture, many more years of cooperation with its conductor (Mehta), enriching our life with the magic of music.”
(This is an abridged version of an article published by Rising Kashmir where the author works as deputy editor)
