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The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, November 25, 1977 - Page 3
World NeH«
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m real me is
more
I than stage version now on
I ByBENGALLOB
I NEW YORK [JTA] —
S After a great deal of fanfare, advance publicity
■% and out-of-town tryouts. Golda, a play by William
1 Gibson and directed by Arthur Penn, starring
S Anne Bancroft as Golda Meir, opened two weeks
i ago at the Morosco Theatre.
1 From the onset, it must be stated that the
= original is far more vital, powerful and exuberant
= than its Broadway copy.
= After the decision was made to try to create a
S Broadway-framed play based on the life of Mrs.
S Meir, and the further decision made to cast Miss
= Bancroft in the role of Golda, one problem which
g must have arisen immediately was the degree to
1 which the physical appearance of Miss Bancroft
1 should be made, by the legerdemain of make-up,
1 as much as possible like that of Mrs. Meir.
= The basic problem of the attempt to dramatize
i Mrs. Meir's life by the vehicle of a stage surrogate
E becomes stunningly evident on Miss Bancroft's
S initial appearance as Golda. She is a physical and
= psychological wisp. Mrs. Meir is a physical and
S psychological block of granite. Sympathetic as the
5 viewer may be, there is no intellectual and
s emotional way to reconcile such polar differences.
S Moreover, Miss Bancroft-as-Golda rarely pro-
S jects the power which Mrs. Meir projected to the
= world, particularly as premier, in scores of inter-
= views, print and TV media reports, particularly
S TV, and in comments by seasoned observers of the
,1 wielders of power.
= The fact is that Golda Meir has started to
= become a legend in her own lifetime, one of the
= few women to head the government of a modern
= country, the only woman to direct the affairs of
H that fascinating-more-than-a-country called Isra-
= el. and one of the few to lead her country in war.
1 Bridging the gap between Miss Bancroft —
1 first-rate actress that she is — and the
= larger-than-life personality she seeks to project
1 across the footlights is clearly beyond Miss Ban-
§ croft's considerable acting skills. It is impossible
= to believe that Miss BaricFoft, looking slightly like
1 Golda Meir. ever comes to represent at any time
i during the two hours, even in theatre terms, the
1 unique totality of mind, spirit and intelligence that
1 is Golda Meir.
g The reviewer assumes that Mrs. Meir checked
S every word of the script and one accordingly must
S accept as valid what are otherwise some puzzling items. For example. Miss Bancroft once in a while sounds like Tevye's wife, Golde. There are two scenes in which the illusion of
GOWA ONSTAGE
(Religious News Service photo)
Anne Bancroft as Golda Meir depicts the former prime minister's visit to a British refugee camp in Cyprus in 1947 when she sought to have children precede adults In the mass transfer of concentration camp victims to Israel. Academy-award winning actress portrays Mrs. Meir in pUy, Golda.
reality docs come through. In one, Mrs. Meir visits a DP camp, presumably for the Jewish
i
a
Agency, with several hundred exit permits. It has been decided that all of the permits should be used for children, a revelation which provokes an outcry. Mrs. Meir asks for a chance to talk to all the inmates; it mustbc their decision. She makes a little talk, deeply moving, that "some day we will have a staie-tmd no Jew will have to wait." The DPs agree to priority for the children.
The other involves Mrs. Meir's determination to let nothing — including her marriage and her children — stop her from carrying out her commitment to the Zionist movement as her determin-
ation pulls her into ever-wider reaches of responsibility. Her husband emerges as a weakling, given to philosophical comment, with neither fire nor anguish.
Possibly no man, however dominating and powerful, could have deflected Golda Meir from her passionate date with destiny. But her husband's challenge is in toto a submissive acceptance of what he comes to understand must be. The tragedy takes its force not from his portrayal but from Golda. reminiscing on the price she has paid as a wife and mother to serve Zionism, and her understanding of the price that her husband and children also paid.
Haifa introduces Arab book fair
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-HAIFA [JCNS] —
As well as holding its annual Hebrew Book Week, Haifa introduced an Arabic Book Week in its Bet Hagefen Jewish-Arab
culture centre recently. Most of the 30,000 books on display were imported from neighboring Arab countries, over the Jordan River bridges.
44
CardJlii tells ADL Arab pressure
won't
NEW YORK —
Pierre Cardin, the noted French fashion designer, has written a letter to B'nai B'rith's Anti-Defamation League explaining that Arab pressure will not deter him from doing business with Israel.
It had earlier been reported that Cardin had cut his economic relations with Bagir, an Israeli clothing manufacturer, because he had buckled under to tine Arab boycott.
Inaletterto Arnold Forster of the ADL. Cardin said he did not reiiew a sub-licencing agreement with Bagir "purely and strictly for commercial reasons — Bagir did not respect his financial commitments in accordance with his contract."
"I insist...that 1 am not a person to act under any kind of pressure." he wrote. "My profession is to do business with all countries without any discrimination, and I would welcome any proposition for another sub-licencing agreement in Israel."
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Amsterdam
andyou
11
• Amsterdam, Holland, has sometimes been called "the Jerusalem of the West". KLM has put together a new, informative booklet to teU you why. The whole fascinating storv' of Jewish culture in Amsterdam is here - from the earliest arrivals of the Sephardim and Ashkenazim, through the "golden age" of the great Jewish merchants and financiers, right up totoday. KLM's book also takes you on a walking tour, where you'll explore all the buildings and monuments of particular significance to Jewish visitors.
This tour is interesting to read about, certainly. But it's obviously more thrilUng to take in person. That's why you should include Amsterdam in your next European trip. Its easy to do: Amsterdam is centrally located, and the hub of transportation networks leading to every part of Europe.
It's also the starting point for a wide variety of top-value European vacation packages - like KLM's own popular 3 City Show Tour. This package gives you two weeks in .Amsterdam, London and Paris, with hotels, a selection of show tickets, and many other extras. Prices start at S25d from Montreal. S260 from Toronto, plus airfare, for 2 persons travelling together.
Get all tile details front an appointed Travel .Agent. Or use the coupon below.
KLM Roval Dutch Airlines Dept. VM.P.O. Box 388, Station "H", Montfeal.P.Q. H3G 2LI
Please send me your booklet ''Jewish | Life In .Amsterdam", your folder on | the 3 City Show Tour apd 8 Day Break-.Away Tour, and your folder on the Happy.Holland Bargain.
Name Address
City . Province
i/postal-Code
C-03
U.S. Defence Department repudiates article in Armed Forces Journal
NEW YORK —
The U.S. Department of Defente has repudiated an article published last month in the Armed Forces Journal which says that the U.S. has no permanent interest in Israel.
Written by a former Defence Department employee, Anthony Cordes-man, the article, on the Arab-Israeli military balance, suggests that the U.S. should decrease economic and military assis-
tance to Israel.
In a letter to the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, Secretary of Defence Harold Brown said, "1 cjan assure you that the article does not reflect the department's
posirion."
Brown further stated that "a security review has been directed to determine whether any improper revelation of classified information has occurred."
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>5
B
OlSTmaUTEO IN CANADA BY..Thomas AdORIS OlSTItXBO LTD.
"I hear there's been some
changes in Unemployment Insurance.
What's the story?"
New legislation has changed some of the ground rules of our UI program.
In general, the rules of eligibility and payment have been improved. Now they more accurately reflect the ease or difficulty of finding and keeping a job in the region in vvhich each UI claimant lives.
Parliament has decided that people who live in areas of high imemployment vrill be given certain advantages over those who live where jobs are more plentiful.
'Thafs all well and good But what does it mean to the person who just lost a job?"
■ On December 4, the entrance requirements will change.
In regions of low unemployment, claimants will need up to 14 weeks of insurable employment to get UI benefits. This will only happen in places where it's easier to get and keep a job.
In regions of high unemployment, claimants vnll need as little as teii weeks to qualify.
But until December 4, the entrance requirement remains at eight weeks wherever you live.
'Does all this affect the waiting period?"
No. The basic two week wfaiting period remains the same everywhere.
And so do the rules on the waiting period when aclaimant has left his or her job for no good reason or been fired for misconduct. In such cases, _a claimant may have to wait up to eight weeks from w^en employment ends until benefits _-become payable.
'Andjiow long can you get benefits for?"
The old maximum was 51 weeks. The new maximum is 50 weeks. —
But since September 11, the total number of weeks for which a claimant qualifies also reflects the unemployment rate in his or her region. ,
Right now, we measure uiiemployment by dividing Canada,into 16 economiQ regions. Lateir, in 1978, we vrill fine-tune;{heprogi:am to 54 regions so that UI will be more closely related to local labour market conditions.
'Do you still get the same amount of money?"
Absolutely. The UI benefit rate is two-thirds of your average weekly insurable " earnings. ,
The maximum is $147, less tax.
"Then there's matemitjv sickness and age 63 benefits. Any changes there?"
Sickness benefits were only payable during the first 39 weeks of the claim. Now they are payable at any time during the entire benefit period:
Maternity benefits of 15 weeks and the special one-time benefit (equal to'three weeks' benefits) at age 65 remain the same.
The same people will still pay for the program in the same proportions, and the types of employment insurable for UI remain the same, . too. . ■
"Do 1 still go to the same UI office?" Yes. Until UI offices and Canada Manpower Centres move in together, no changes will be made.
The Unemployment Insurance Commission and the Department of Manpower and Immigration have become the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission. For a tinned you'll still see our local offices identified as Unemployment Insurance offices or Canada Manpower Centres. When they're together in one location, they'll be called Canada-Employment Centres.
Working with peode Hho^vantto^Ik
1^
Employment and Immigration Canada
Bud Cullen Minister
Ern'ploi et \ Immigration Canada -
Bud Cullen Ministre