11 January,2009 07:34 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar
"I cannot condone this massive military operation by Israel " says Mehta
Music director of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta, lashes out against the Israeli strikes
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Zubin Mehta, world-renowned music conductor who considers Tel Aviv in Israel as his spiritual home and has often said it reminds him of his home in Mumbai, says he has been "destroyed inside" by the current Israel-Palestine conflict in the Gaza strip.
Complicated
Speaking to Sunday MiD DAY over the telephone from Berlin where he is currently, Mehta, music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra says, "I have been a friend of Israel, grown up there.u00a0 As one of the only democracies in the region, I think I'm at liberty to speak out when I don't agree with something. I do drastically disagree with what is going on there currently, though I am also completely against the Hamas philosophy.
"This is an extremely complicated situation. You know Hamas has been firing rockets for years now. They target Sderot, where there is no defence mechanism. I agree that not many people are killed by rockets, but they do damage a lot of property and infrastructure."
Horrendous
Mehta adds, "I do understand the complete national (Israel) loss of patience with this constant harassment bombarding. However, I cannot condone this massive military operation by Israel. I will never agree with it. I think it will take Israel years, if ever, to live down the horrendous daily publicity because of this operation. I also feel the forthcoming election has played some part in this operation. There is some inside politics going on." He goes on to say, "I know that Israel is not targeting women and children specifically, but the fact is that they are dying. I am extremely depressed right now. Even when I go to Israel in that country too, I hope to speak my mind. It may not matter too much though. After all, I am only a musician."
Demonstrations
Meanwhile, the maestro says about Mumbai's 26/11 terror attacks, "When I heard about the attacks, I thought at once that I was at the Taj hotel just a month ago, approximately, with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. I cannot help thinking that today, the entire Muslim world is aflame with demonstrations against Israel and what is happening in Gaza. Well, where were these demonstrators when 173 innocent people were killed in Mumbai? Why were there no demonstrations in Muslim countries of the world against the Mumbai attacks? Against the Pakistanis who came to Mumbai and shot the people here?"
Tel Aviv
In the end, though, Mehta knows what he has to do. "Even with the volatile situation in Israel, I will not stay away, never. In fact, I go to Tel Aviv (Israel) on January 18 itself. I have a series of 15 concerts planned, going right up to February 10. Even with all this going on, I still think I can bring a lot of peace through my music. You know when I go to Israel, we are working on a program to train young Arab-Israeli children in Western music. The initiative is being sponsored by an Israel bank. So, we will be going in to Arab-Israel towns like Jaffa and Nazareth to train them. If I can even make one Arab-Israeli musician become part of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, I think I would have achieved a lot."
