When National Anthems Matter
Gal Beckerman May 17, 2012
We’ve been thinking here a lot about the Israeli national anthem these days, and experimenting with some alternatives. But it’s also useful to be reminded why an anthem means so much to its citizens on a visceral, emotional level. And reminded we were when sent this feelgood of feelgood stories today.
A wheel-chair bound Israeli woman, Moran Samuel, who is also a star athlete in the paralympic world, recently won a rowing competition in Italy. When she stood in front of the crowd to receive her prize, an anthem that was not the Hatikvah came blasting over the loudspeakers (something, in fact, that sounded a bit like disco). Unfazed, Samuel quickly asked for the microphone and…Well, watch it.
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