ISFD 41 - LANGUAGE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION IV
Teacher: Stella Maris Saubidet Oyhaburu
Student: Stefania Rocio Perez
The shared dream
The Israel and Palestine conflict began
in the early 20th Century and still continues increasing, due to the fight for
the ownership of land and because of political and social decisions. This
battle has left uncountable deaths and injured people, apart from the homeless
and orphan ones, devastation and uncertainty, facts that have called the
attention of the whole world. People from several countries have seen this
horror and have tried to do something in order to halt the conflict. This is
the case of the pianist and orchestra conductor Daniel Barenboim who has
decided he would show to the world, especially to the countries in conflict
that everybody can coexist in the same land, despite the idiosyncratic,
religious and political differences. In 1999, Barenboim agreed with his friend
Edward Said, a Palestinian author and scholar, to create an orchestra in which
musicians from several and very different countries have the opportunity to
play together so that they could demonstrate mutual acceptance and empathy and
to fight against the war and mainly, against ignorance.
The war between Arab countries and
Israel had its origins during the Zionist (Jewish nationalist movement) immigration
to the Land of Israel, beginning in the 1880s and reaching the highest point in
the 1930s and 40s, with the flight of Jews from the Holocaust. After the Second
World War, European countries conferred Great Britain the right to decide over
Palestine´s destiny which determined that this country should be divided into
two separate states, Arabs (from 22 different Arab-speaking countries of the Arab
League) and Jewish (from Israel), what triggered the civil war between these
two states because of the sovereignty of the land. A United Nations attempt to
solve the problem was to give each group part of the property, however it was
unsuccessful and therefore Israel and the surrounding Arab nations continued
fighting several wars over the territory. Up to now, no certain solution has
been found, and thus those who believe in a peaceful future for the dwellers of
that area have decided to do something in order to restore reconciliation.
The Argentinian-Israeli
musician Daniel Barenboim´s idea of peace in Palestine generated agreements
with other musicians and authors to create a multinational orchestra as a
sample of how dissimilar people can live together. By 1999, Barenboim and his
friend Said decided to organize the Western-eastern Divan Orchestra composed by
young musicians from Israel, Palestine and Arab countries in order to “…promote
coexistence and intercultural dialogue”. Barenboim is aware of the difficulties
in dialogue and is also aware of the injustice both states went through all the
past years, yet he still considers that a solution is possible so he united
international musicians to show knowledge and acceptance. He believes and
supports that we are all equal in music since if these musicians can coexist,
discuss, play the same music and inhabit the same land when they are working in
the orchestra, why others cannot. The main goal of the West-Eastern Divan
Orchestra is to pave the way to knowledge, understanding and acceptance of
people´s rights.
Undoubtedly, not
everything is summed up in good desires but also in controversial actions.
After creating this orchestra, Barenboim has played different musicians, like
Beethoven, Schumann, Stravinsky and Wagner, the latter triggering a discussion
about Barenboim´s message and what he tries to convey through playing such a
debatable artist. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was a great composer and an anti-Semite,
who after his death was known as Hitler's favourite musician and usually
connected to the Nazi regime, and therefore his music has been informally
banned in Israel as public performance is concerned. Despite this fact,
Barenboim decided to play his music in 2001 in Israel during one of his
concerts although he had been already asked not to do it. The conductor said he
would play the piece and “suggested that those who were offended could leave”. This
action turned some of his Israeli supporters against Barenboim and the
traditional Israeli people suggested boycott to the pianist because his cause
had anti-Semite symbols apart from being discriminative. On the other hand,
Barenboim strongly defends his idea of having a country where peace is attained
through music because “In music”, as he explained, “one had to be aware not
only of oneself but also of the other, so that music is in this case not an
expression of what life is, but an expression of what life could be, or what it
could become”, considering this “utopia” another reason for the creation of the
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
All in all, Daniel
Barenboim has developed a career based on equality in which music has gone into
the depths of politics in order to reach an agreement of thought so that the
situation in Palestine could change. He looks at himself as a politician whose
power relies mainly on the musicians of his orchestra, without whom he would
not be able to be what he is; having as a desire the realization that the power
to change does not depend on the
representatives of the governments but on the hands of the citizens. He expects
that the orchestra demonstrates that the sharing of a land is not impossible,
that everybody is able to coexist with someone who might be different in
religion and beliefs but that he is still a respectable and unique person.
References
- Barenboim, Daniel. "'Music Gives Me Hope'" The Guardian. The Guardian, 14 May 2008. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/14/israelandthepalestinians.classicalmusic
- Beauchamp, Zack. "Why Israel Is at War in Gaza, Explained in Less than 3 Minutes." Vox. Vox, 21 July 2014. Retrieved from http://www.vox.com/2014/7/21/5923261/why-israel-is-at-war-in-gaza-explained-in-2-minutes
- Beckles Willson, Rachel. "Whose Utopia? Perspectives on the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra." Music & Politics. 1 Jan. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.music.ucsb.edu/projects/musicandpolitics/archive/2009-2/beckles_willson.html
- Briggs, Paddy. "Barenboim and His West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Proms." PADDY'S ARTS REVIEWS. PADDY BRIGGS, 21 Aug. 2014. Retrieved from: http://paddysartsreviews.blogspot.com.ar/2014/08/barenboim-and-his-west-eastern-divan.html
- Daniel, Barenboim, and Edward Said. "West-eastern Divan Orchestra." West-eastern Divan Orchestra. Retrieved from http://www.west-eastern-divan.org/
- Daniel, Baremboim. "Podemos Vivir Juntos." El Pais. El Pais, 25 July 2014. Retrieved from http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/24/opinion/1406197588_709219.html
- Ruiz Mantilla, Jesus. "Barenboim: “En Oriente Próximo Solo Impera La Terquedad”." El Pais Semanal. El Pais Semanal, 25 Aug. 2014. Retrieved from http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/08/22/eps/1408722038_548535.html
- Said, Edward. "Barenboim and the Wagner Taboo." Al-Ahram Weekly Online. AL-AHRAM, 22 Aug. 2001. Retrieved from http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/547/cu1.htm
