Playing for peace
31st October 2005
New Statesman Special Issue
Part Israeli, part Palestinian, the Divan Orchestra is a
beacon of hope in a gloomy landscape
Ariel Sharon and Daniel Barenboim represent two conflicting
Israeli approaches to relations with the Arabs. Sharon
is a proponent of the doctrine of permanent conflict and a unilateralist par excellence.
Barenboim is a believer in co-responsibility and constructive engagement. Sharon
is in the destruction business. Barenboim is in the construction business. Sharon
is a Jewish Rambo. Barenboim personifies the Jewish values of truth, justice
Barenboim and Said wanted to use the resource of culture
towards a positive end: peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Palestine.
Our discussions in Seville started
from the premise that Israelis and Palestinians are fated to live together on
the same small piece of land. It follows that what is good for one side is good
for the other. The ideas we put forward are not directed against anyone; they
are designed to help the parties break out of the cycle of violence, bloodshed
and mutual destruction.
The sound of classical European music, and especially
Mahler's First Symphony, provided an exhilarating backdrop to the discussions.
Raised in enmity, the exceptionally talented young men and women set an example
by their devotion to the demands of their common craft. Together they play with
wonderful energy and harmony in an orchestra that is larger than life. When
looking at the musicians, it is impossible to tell the Israelis from the Arabs
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is a beacon of hope
in the gloomy political landscape of the Middle East.
The challenge lies in translating this imaginative artistic concept into the
realm of politics. No one underestimated the magnitude of the challenge, and
yet there was a palpable sense of optimism in Seville. By the personal example he set, Daniel Barenboim
infected many of us with his confidence that the impossible is easier to
achieve than the difficult.
In 1999, Barenboim and his friend Edward Said, the
Palestinian academic and critic who died in 2003, created the West-Eastern
Divan Orchestra. It is made up of young Israeli and Arab musicians who meet
every summer in Seville for
intensive rehearsals and a concert tour. Alongside the musicians, and very much
as a second fiddle, a small group of Palestinian and Israeli intellectuals,
myself included, hold discussions on conflict resolution.