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Valley of Tears – what happened?

I was very much looking forward on Friday night to the latest mega drama of Israeli TV – Valley of Tears – but searching for it on More 4 I  could find no sign of it – instead 24 Hours in Casualty was being broadcast.

I have found no information why it was pulled. I do hope it’s not a result of anti-Israel feeling.

The Valley of Tears in the northern section of the Golan Heights was attacked exactly 48 years to the day by a massive Syrian tank force.

The Israeli were out-numbered in tanks 1200 to 170.

The Syrian army had the nimble Russian tank the T55. The Israelis  had the advantage of superior long distance gunnery and creating anti-tank ditches which could be filled in but the Syrian materiel so to do was at the back of the spearhead.

The Israelis had the disadvantage that the Syrians had infrared equipment to attack at night.

The Israelis had the major assets that they have had in all of the four Arab wars – guts, resourcefulness, calmness but ruthlessness in a crisis.

They did withstand and then repulse the invaders. At the Valley of Tears an Israeli tank commander led his platoon of tanks over open ground to a hill face where they could gun the Syrian tanks below. The battle lasted 4 days and, with the Israeli  forces exhausted and there for the taking, the Syrians withdrew.

It was one of the most heroic tank conflicts of the twentieth century

I do hope the series was not pulled for anti-Israel reasons.

Imagine the fuss if a programme on Agincourt, Blenheim, Waterloo or El Alamein was with drawn. The series was puffed up in the TV guides so More 4 would have lost goodwill by withdrawing the programme.

My research identified that HBO are broadcasting the series on November 12th. Was there a dispute over rights? As that legendary journo John Junor might have said

“I think we ought to know.”

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About Neil Rosen

Neil went to the City of London School and Manchester University graduating with a 1st in economics. After a brief stint in accountancy, Neil emigrated to a kibbutz In Israel. His articles on the burgeoning Israeli film industry earned comparisons to Truffaut and Godard in Cahiers du Cinema. Now one of the world's leading film critics and moderators at film Festivals Neil has written definitively in his book Kosher Nostra on Jewish post war actors. Neil lives with his family in North London. More Posts