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To commemorate Israel's 50th anniversary, ENS (Education News Service) World News created this video, which is both a musical tribute as well as a documentary about the arduous road Israel has traveled to make peace with her neighbors. Opening with a speech by Golda Meir, over the visuals of a silent violinist playing amidst flame,
Israel's 50th goes back and forth between musical numbers and political clips. At times, this low-budget video can be quite moving, as when the shofars sound across the land and the roll call of the U.N.'s vote on Israeli statehood is re-created. At other moments, though, the video feels more like an ad for ENS World News (the name is frequently plastered on the screen). Producer Alan Freeman occasionally injects himself into situations when you wish he would allow others to speak (as when he interviews an expert on Anwar Sadat and the press secretary to Menachim Begin, and he presses, "Do you think we may see [peace] during Israel's 50th anniversary year?" and he gets the exasperated reply, "Don't put deadlines; it will come"). But the footage speaks for itself, and the words and actions of the politicians are powerful, whether it's Yitzhak Shamir speaking at the historic conference in Madrid, then-foreign minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a press conference for the Arabic media, or the astounding handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat. Clips from Walter Cronkite's audiobook, in which he movingly discusses bringing together Begin and Sadat; Frank Sinatra's Oscar-winning short "The House I Live In," about anti-Semitism and racism; and Billy Graham's discussion of his friendship with Meir are also featured. The musical numbers--from live performances of Hasidic performer Avraham Fried to the videos of Noa--are beautiful. Ending with the Wye Agreement and optimism for the future,
Israel's 50th is an affecting tribute.
--Jenny Brown
