In an opinion piece published Oct. 15 in The Guardian and other European dailies, Classical pianist Daniel Barenboim, conductor and co-founder with Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, wrote very movingly about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rising above the immediate horror of the current situation to address the need to find “our common humanity.”
The orchestra was founded in 1999 to bring together young Palestinian and Israeli musicians. The founding of the Barenboim-Said Academy in 2016 in Berlin continues the mission of educating a generation of young musicians from Southwest Asia, North Africa and around the world.
Barenboim wrote that “in our orchestra, Israelis and Palestinians found common ground. Our hearts are broken by this conflict.” We “must, want and will continue to believe in our shared humanity. Music is one way to bring us closer together.” The Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is not a political conflict between two states over borders, water, oil or other resources. It is a deeply human conflict between two peoples who have known suffering and persecution,” he stressed
To those attracted to extremism, “we have to offer other perspectives … those who find a home there are usually people who are completely without prospects, who are desperate, who devote themselves to murderous ideologies. Education and information are equally essential.” The mere fact that Arab and Israeli musicians share a podium at every concert “is of immense value,” he argued. Over the years, there have sometimes been heated discussions among orchestra members, by which “we have learned to better understand the supposed other, to approach them and to find common ground. ... We start and end all discussion, no matter how controversial, with the fundamental understanding that we are all equal human beings, who deserve peace, freedom and happiness.”
