Israel, Ghana celebrate six decades of relations

As part of activities to strengthen relations between Israel and Ghana, the Embassy of Israel dedicated 10 days full of different activities to celebrate Israel at 71 and six decades of Israel-Ghana relations this May.

The peak of this 10-day celebration was Thursday, May 9, when the Embassy hosted a huge classical music concert titled ‘Strings of Harmony; Celebrating 6 decades of Israel-Ghana Relations’ at the National Theatre.

This was the result of the collaborative work of Israeli Maestro and Conductor, Nir Brand, with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Pan African Youth Orchestra and the Seasonal Opera House.

Maestro Brand created with the Ghanaian musicians an event that combined Israeli music, Ghanaian music and classical music.

The young Pan-African Youth Orchestra players played with the experienced National Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Brand’s wand and produced harmony that justified the title.

In her opening speech at the concert, Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Liberia, & Sierra Leone Shani Cooper expressed that “six decades have been filled with great stories, remarkable strides of cooperation and diverse avenues of cultural exchanges” and further added that “our formal relations may have started 6 decades ago, but the strings of harmony between the people, has existed for centuries and will exist forever”.

Speaking on behalf of Ghana, Minister of State at the Ministry of Food And Agriculture Dr. Nurah Gyeile expressed optimism about the cooperation between Israel and Ghana.

“Six decades of diplomatic relations is an achievement worth celebrating,” he said.

“We have achieved a lot, and more needs to be explored, particularly in the areas of trade and investment, security, health, agriculture and education, among others.”

As part of the weeklong activities, Maestro Nir Brand also held various forms of classical music workshops and concerts for children in schools and orphanages.

Key amongst these were the Kalvary School at Teshie, the Fear of God Holiness Mission and the Osu Children’s Home.

The children had the pleasure of being mentored by Maestro Brand, tutoring them on the basics of classical music and generating their interest to love classical music.

An important part of the 10-day event was women empowerment workshops led by Mrs Ilana Brand, an Israeli Consultant and Motivation Speaker.

The highlight of the workshops was the “Women to win Elections” workshop – a day-long capacity building seminar for women who are aspiring to participate in the upcoming district assembly elections.

Organized in collaboration with the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, the participants were selected from various districts in the Greater Accra, Central and Volta regions.

They were taken through lessons such as building their self-confidence; strategies for lobbying for votes in their local areas; strategies for effective advocacies on issues and policies that affect their local areas; communication and media strategies; and the rules governing the district assembly elections and fundraising.