THE GUARDIAN: Israeli conductor voices support for non-violence and Palestinian state during performance for schoolchildren and NGO workersThe orchestra arrived with the impact of a presidential motorcade, in armoured cars, with sirens wailing and flanked by dozens of armed men.
It was an unusual overture to a rendition of Mozart. But then, the arrival in Gaza of Daniel Barenboim, the world-famous Israeli conductor and his Orchestra for Gaza – featuring musicians from Paris, Milan, Berlin and Vienna - to play for an audience of schoolchildren and NGO workers was itself far from usual.
The orchestra set off from Berlin on Monday, stopped at Vienna and then landed at El Arish, close to the Egyptian side of the Gaza Strip, on a plane chartered by Barenboim himself.
As an Israeli citizen it is illegal for Barenboim to enter Gaza without a permit, and, as if that wasn't enough, the recent murder of an Italian peace activist and fears that pro-Osama bin Laden groups in Gaza might seek revenge on western targets meant that the UN security team was on high alert.
Barenboim has previously played in Ramallah and holds an honorary Palestinian passport, and is widely praised for his attempts to reach out across the divide. In Israel, meanwhile, he has been attacked for promoting the work of Wagner.
He told his audience on Tuesday that the people of Gaza "have been blockaded for many years and this blockade has affected all of your lives."
The aim of his orchestra, he said, was to bring "solace and pleasure" through music to the people of Gaza and to let them know that people all over the world care for them. » | Conal Urquhart | Tuesday, May 03, 2011
