ESTATUAK

April 9, 2010


In July 2001, the orchestra’s director, Daniel Barenboim, born in Buenos Aires, with Russian roots, being Spanish and Israeli Citizen, created a huge controversy by directing a musical by the German Composer Richard Wagner in Israel, being accused of pro-Nazi and fascist by some of the people. The worst of the conflicts is to be categorized by our fellow men, as into being good or bad under our sole judgment. The last example is what happened in Wigmore Hall, located in central London, where offered a concert in charged by the Jerusalem Quartet, consisting of musicians of the West-Eastern Divan, the famous orchestra of Daniel Barenboim in which brings together Arab and Israeli musicians. In 10 minutes after the beginning of the concert several persons belonging to a Pro-Palestinian group began to “break” the performance, under the grounds that the Quartet is a “cultural ambassador for Israel” carrying slogans against the occupation and the “apartheid state” that plagues the Palestinian people. I’m not going into judging the conflict itself. For many years this area of the world has been suffering like many others, a useless war, cruel and ruthless. And what I disagree is in the misuse, again, of categorizing the people. I do not think that these musicians are guilty of anything and less is the echo of a classical music concert is going against anyone’s rights. Besides this quartet that has worked closely with Daniel Barenboim, which is the first person in the world being Israeli and having an honorary Palestinian citizenship at the same time, after the concert in Ramallah in 2008, “I wish that my new status holds as example of Israeli-Palestinian coexistence,” said by Barenboim. But sometimes by ones or by others, the only thing conflicts do is to pollute and entangle everything they touch. I really do think that music is a tool to unite, an artistic expression that should be above all political ideals, religious or skin colors. Let us fight for it! No doubt we will succeed.

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