IMRA..
07 August '13..
Ministry of Education: We will not pay for the visit of Barcelona because the anthem was not played
Yediot Ahronot: Education Minister Shai Piron agreed that his ministry would pay a million shekels to finance the visit of the Barcelona team in Israel, on one condition: Hatikva would be played at Bloomfield Stadium. But in order not to offend the Palestinian organizers it was decided to play only the Catalan anthem. Ministry official: "This is an outrage"
Tzvika Brut and Telem Yahav Posted YNET : 10:13 7 August 2013
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4414730,00.html
[IMRA translation]
The decision not to play the national anthem this week during the visit of the stars of the Barcelona team at Bloomfield stadium could cost the organizers dearly. The Ministry of Education announced that they do not
agree to pay their share of the event, as pledged in advance, because the organizers decided to forego the singing of Hatikva contrary to earlier agreements.
The visit of the stars of top Spanish Barcelona team in Israel and Bethlehem this week, which was attended by young people from Israel and the Palestinian Authority, was organized by the Peres Center for Peace in coordination with the office of President Peres. During preparations the Ministry of Education was asked to fund the event on the Israeli side, and indeed, received approval from the Minister Shay Piron, provided Hatikva be played before the start of the training event of the team.
The organizers agreed and David D'or already prepared to sing Hatikva and the anthem of Catalonia, but then came the surprising announcement: "There is no need to sing Israel's anthem." At the Palestinian stadium the Palestinian anthem was sung but in Bloomfield, in the presence of thousands of Israeli students, it was decided play only the Catalan anthem in the end.
Why? Depends on who you ask.
The people from the President's Office claim that at a meeting held last Friday at the stadium, which was attended by dozens of representatives from various government, it was said that if the Israeli national anthem is played it would be necessary to play the Spanish, Catalan and Palestinian anthems.
"After discussions with the production team and the Foreign Ministry it was said that said it would be unpleasant," senior officials from the President's Office said yesterday. They argued that playing the four anthems would drag out the ceremony. The President's Office stressed that they are committed to protocol รข€, even though it is not clear whether the same general protocol applies to an event in Bloomfield Stadium. Finally it was decided to play just the Catalan anthem.
Education Ministry officials were outraged and demanded that Minister Piron not transfer the payment. "If there is someone whose feelings are hurt hearing the Israeli national anthem, then they shouldn't come at all," they said yesterday to Yediot Ahronot. " It is first-class chutzpah to come to the heart of Tel Aviv and then ask us not to play our anthem. And it is even a greater audacity by the organizers and the people of the Peres Center that they lowered their heads and agreed to it. It's a scandal that would not have passed quietly in any civilized country. "
Link: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=61699
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