With Israel and Palestine in the news, we revisit Zubin Mehta's autobiography and excerpt from his writings on the conflict

MUMBAI-BORN Zubin Mehta, one of the most famous music conductors in the world, goes where his music takes him. This is to all parts of the world including Israel, the country with which he shares a special and significant relationship. He is the music director for life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mehta talks about this in his autobiography, The Score of My Life: Zubin Mehta. Mehta writes in Chapter 6: Another Love Story: The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, that he was re-invited by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra two years after his first stint with them in 1961. In those days, Mehta says that he had a deeply apolitical attitude and did not really know too much about Israel's peculiar geopolitical situation. Yet, that changed quickly after his association with the Israel Philharmonic and he now actually describes

Tel Aviv as his spiritual home. Mehta also believes though that he is critical of the place when needed and from his earlier apolitical stance he now does take a stand politically whenever it seems crucial to do so.u00a0u00a0
Music and politics are intertwined as Zubin Mehta discovered, most importantly in Israel. Mehta, in his book, touches on the Israel-Arab war in the '60s, the Israel and Holocaust survivor memories, the Palestinian-Israeli equation and German-Jews in a new world. In the end, these are stories about time that heals some wounds and some wounds that never heal over time. His anecdotes find resonance today, as bombs and rockets continue their death dance in Gaza and Israel. This is the personal and the political, from Zubin Mehta, a global citizen who hopes the pen can change something just as the baton does, even if it is for only a short time.u00a0u00a0u00a0
Excerpts from The Score of My Life: Zubin Mehta, published by Roli Books.

Israel Encircled: 1967

In May 1967 there was a sharp escalation in the Middle East crisis. Egypt, Jordan and Syria concentrated a massive contingent of troops on their respective borders and blocked access to the port of Eilat, which was extremely important. Israel was practically encircled by Arab armies, who were allied with each other through various military pacts and felt threatened. The Six-Day War began on June 5 with a pre-emptive strike by the Israeli Air Force on the Egyptian airfields outside Cairo. The Egyptian airfields were practically destroyed before a single plane had taken off. The prevailing international opinion was completely in favour of Israel. They then went on to destroy the armies of its neighbours in a matter of six days.