Streisand tops bill for Peres’ 90th
Barbra Streisand fever swept Israel this week, as the country welcomed the 71-year-old entertainer for the most memorable of celebrity visits.
Fittingly for a star whose skills span so many areas – including singing, song-writing, acting, directing and producing – her itinerary cast her in several roles, from a performer wowing thousands on stage to an intellectual urging critical analysis of Israeli society during a university address.
Streisand visited Israel primarily to appear at the Israeli Presidential Conference, and to give two concerts, one on Thursday and one on Saturday. But she also scheduled several other engagements.
She received an honorary doctorate at Hebrew University, where she donated a building in memory of her father, Emanuel Streisand, a Jewish educator. She was “so grateful” to receive the award.
During her acceptance speech, she weighed in on the issue of women’s exclusion from the public sphere in Israel. “It’s distressing to read of women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of the bus, that Women of the Wall [had] metal chairs thrown at them, and that women can’t sing in public,” she said. “To remain silent about these things is tantamount to accepting them.”
In a separate event, together with President Shimon Peres, Streisand met 20 youngsters suffering from life threatening illnesses.
One of the youngsters, Raphael Agion, aged 19 from Kfar Tavor, said to Peres and Streisand, “ It’s a great privilege to be here and it was my wish to meet you and Barbra Streisand. I’m excited to be here. Mr President, you give me great optimism, you give me strength, optimism and hope that there will be peace in the country. I look up to you as a symbol of hope.
“Barbra, I want to tell you that your songs make me so happy, so excited. Your singing of Avinu Malkeinu is a gift to peace in the Middle East.”
Cancer patient Koral Vedder, 16, surprised Streisand when she sang her famous song People. Streisand said to Vedder: “That was so beautiful, thank you so much.”
On Tuesday evening, Streisand joined many other celebrities at a large 90th birthday party for Peres, which was part of the Presidential Conference. They included former American president Bill Clinton, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and Sharon Stone.
Streisand movingly sang the Hebrew song Avinu Malkeinu, from the High Holy Day services, at Peres’s request. “I admire Shimon for who he is,” she said, “Always willing to challenge the status quo, always willing to risk his all for what is right. He knows that the key to a better tomorrow is the fact that we are more alike than different, and that we share a common bond that links us all.”
The other celebrities delivered tributes. “We in Britain have our Queen and you have your Shimon,” declared Blair, calling him “one of the greatest global statesmen of our age” and “the youngest 90-year-old I know.” He added: “Tonight we do not celebrate the President’s age, we celebrate his character. His dreams are continuously leading us forward to tomorrow.”
Clinton told Peres: “You are the world’s social Einstein, you have tried to put together a unified theory of meaning to unite politics and philosophy and history and science and technology. You never stop reminding us that what we have in common is more important than our differences.”
The party included video greetings for Peres from American President Barack Obama, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon, Nobel Prize winning writer Elie Wiesel, U2 front man Bono, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollander, King of Spain Juan Carlos, former Soviet statesman Mikhail Gorbachev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Peres, in his speech, spoke of his optimism for the future. “The yesterday between us and the Palestinians is full of sadness. I believe that the Israel and Palestine of tomorrow can offer our children a ray of hope,” he said.
NATHAN JEFFAY
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