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In the name of the father / Carry that weight By Yossi Sarid Does a devoted son not have a duty to clear the name of his late father? Is it not time, after 43 years, to once and for all restore the man's plundered reputation? My father, Yaakov Sarid, who changed his name from Schneider, was a great educator who earned a worldwide reputation. He was one of those who laid the foundation of Hebrew education in the Land of Israel. For many years, he was a teacher; after that, a school principal. Eventually, he became director general of the Education and Culture Ministry, when those two government departments were still departments, directors general were still directors general and - most importantly - education was still education. Advertisement Given the reality we now live in, it is not superfluous to point out that Yaakov Sarid was untainted by either political corruption or intellectual affectation. He was a modest man. When he retired, not a single claims expense bearing his name was found at the ministry. But he will not be remembered for all of the above. In fact, among all the things and all the people who are remembered in this country, he has been forgotten. His former students - scattered across the country and, indeed, the globe - are the only ones who cherish the memory of my father as their teacher. And so, to my father's great misfortune, his name has been intertwined in Israeli history with that of the Beatles: He was accused of being responsible for the cancellation of their planned visit to Israel in 1965. When I first heard this rumor, I tried to get to the bottom of the mystery. I labored long and hard, and reached the following conclusion: There is absolutely no truth behind this story whatsoever. It is nothing more than a fable, a Zionist urban legend. But the story about that geeky Mapainik - the father of the 'progressive' Yossi Sarid, no less - was too good to pass up. Stories like that, no matter how apocryphal, simply refuse to die. I did not bother to deny it - I didn't want to spoil such a wonderful yarn. It was not a conservative and old-fashioned establishment that prevented the Beatles from performing in Israel; it was a spat between impresarios. Giora Godik did not like the way that Yaakov Uri was treating him and went running to the Knesset's Finance Committee, where he convinced members not to allocate any foreign currency to the competing impresarios. (In those days, the law was much stricter on controls of foreign currency.) Is it possible that even in those distant days, lawmakers were subject to the pressures of the wealthy and followed their orders slavishly? While the story linking my father to the Beatles' non-appearance is not true, it could have been. Today, it is easy to raise a mocking eyebrow in surprise, but in 1965, the Beatles were a young rock group that had only been on the scene for three or four years, and there were persistent rumors that they were using psychedelic drugs. The most important newspapers in the world were predicting that the Beatles phenomenon would be short-lived, because the four lads from Liverpool's music was also controversial and many serious music critics were turning up their noses: "What is all this wailing about?" they asked. "It's disgusting." So why should they have expected anything different from David Ben-Gurion and from my father, who had never heard the Beatles' music and never heard of the band. Why should they allow the Jewish youth of a young nation-state to be corrupted by the evil influence of these "dung beetles"? Over their dead bodies! Even though the whole story is fictitious, it sounds absolutely reasonable. That is why I really don't mind if, ahead of Paul McCartney's arrival next month, the entertainment correspondents of every newspaper, television channel and Internet site in the country come and quiz me about how my father was the idiot who stopped the Beatles from performing here in 1965. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Bad company Madonna draws ire for picturing John McCain near Hitler during a recent show. Raw energy An unemployed Israeli ecologist has a solution to the fuel crisis and global warming.

Read & React Gilad Shalit becomes punchline for jokes in the Gaza Strip Responses: 104 ANALYSIS / On verge of Rice visit, Israel and PA far from peace accord Responses: 28 Akiva Eldar: Let settlers who refuse evacuation in peace deal stay in Palestine Responses: 51 Israel not planning to detain activists' boats leaving Gaza Responses: 28 More Headlines 00:09 Obama: World must press Iran before Israel strikes 00:57 Abbas: No peace until all Palestinian prisoners released 18:21 Rice arrives in Israel in bid to push forward Israel-PA talks 23:03 Israel foiled the Gaza blockade-busting boat 'provocation' - but who gets the credit? 23:44 Barak puts Tel Aviv apartment up for sale for NIS 40 million 00:52 Hitler and McCain: Madonna's photo montage angers GOP presidential nominee 23:19 Can an unknown Israeli save the world from ecological disaster? 23:48 Israel to shut Gaza border crossings following Qassam strike 23:45 Gilad Shalit becomes punchline for jokes in the Gaza Strip 22:47 Mofaz slams Livni for supporting release of Palestinian prisoners 00:46 As convention kicks off, Democrats say U.S. Jews will overcome fears of Obama 20:47 Syrian FM: No headway made in negotiations with Israel 22:34 Israel Bank raises interest rate for second time in a month 22:25 Democratic Convention Notes: Meet Chinese Jewish candidate Hank Eng Previous Editions Select Day 25 aug 24 aug 22 aug 21 aug 20 aug 19 aug 18 aug 17 aug 15 aug 14 aug 13 aug 12 aug

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