Posted on 02/29/2004 5:04:26 AM PST by IsraelBeach
Israel News Agency Honors Terror Victims, IDF with Hatikva
By Israel News Agency Staff
Jerusalem----February 29....The Israel News Agency, the first Internet source for breaking news from Israel since 1995, again is revolutionizing the Internet as Israel steps up it's PR and information campaign.
"We have a very potent tool which Israel has kept in it's arsenal since 1948, it's called 'Hatikva', and it's about time we start using it," said Joel Leyden, publisher of the Israel News Agency and CEO of Leyden Communications (Israel). "The national anthem of Israel provokes Zionist thought and stirs deep emotional feelings among us all, for this reason the homepage of the Israel News Agency, just like this page, will automatically play Hatikva when you open it."
The National Anthem of Israel, Hatikvah, literally means "the hope". Its lyrics were written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, a poet originally from Galicia. The melody was written by Samuel Cohen, who based the melody on a musical theme from Bedrich Smetana’s "Moldau."
"When you hear Hatikva it immediately takes you back to 1948, to memories of ancient Israel, the holocaust, Ben-Gurion and our continuing struggle to stay alive today," said Leyden. "Is the war we face in March 2004 any different than it was in 1948. In fact, it is far worse with Palestinian Islamic suicide terror bombers ripping apart our buses and restaurants. In the past 3 years terror attacks have claimed over 950 innocent lives and thousands of Israelis have been turned into terror victims - laying crippled in hospitals and parents burying their children. With thousands of Syrian, Iranian and Saudi missiles with chemical warheads pointing at us, we must remember who we are and where we came from."
Leyden says that the technology has been on the Internet for years to open an Israeli or Jewish news site and hear Israel's national anthem. He also wonders why the Internet remains silent as TV and radio use musical scores to enhance the written and stated word.
"The only reason why we do not see the use of this powerful and beautiful Israeli anthem being displayed on every Israeli and Jewish news Website is due to a growing and depressing loss of morale. Has McDonalds really replaced the blue kibbutz hat that we all once wore? I say no. I kindly urge each and every Israeli and Jewish news Website to open their home page with Hatikva, no different than entering a soccer game or the beginning of any national event in this country."
"I have only but one question for each and every person who is reading this page," said Leyden. "Has hearing Israel's 'Hatikva' made you feel good about Israel? If so, please e-mail every Israeli government agency and newspaper and suggest that they open their Web sites with this beautiful and dramatic anthem in honor of our terror victims and those who have and presently serve in the IDF."
Israel's National Anathem - Hatikvah
Transliteration:
Kol od ba'le'vav p'nima,
Nefesh yehudi ho’miyah.
U’lefa-atei mizrach kadimah,
Ayin le'Tziyyon tzofiyah.
Od lo avda tikva-teinu,
Ha'tikvah bat sh’not al-payim
Lih-yot am chofshi b'ar-tzeinu
Eretz Tziyyon v'Yerushalayim.
Translation:
As long as within our hearts
The Jewish soul sings,
As long as forward to the East
To Zion, looks the eye -
Our hope is not yet lost,
It is two thousand years old,
To be a free people in our land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
ISRAEL NEWS AGENCY
Sponsored by IsraelPr.com
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