CINA

본문

Peace in the M.E.? Forget it!

Two weeks ago, 13 Palestinians, ages 11 to 18, belonging to the Strings of Freedom Orchestra took a brief journey from a West Bank refugee camp in Jenin. Their trip brought them to Holon, Israel to perform a “Good Deeds” concert honoring 30 Holocaust Survivors. “We Sing for Peace,” was performed in Arabic and audience members reciprocated with an impromptu Hebrew song.

If there ever was an example of “the audacity of hope” - this was it. But the Palestinian Authority, backed by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad moved swiftly to quash a small initiative that for a few moments cracked carefully nurtured stereotypes of the Israeli enemy. The concert, insisted an official in Jenin, was a “dangerous matter” threatening the cultural and national identity of Palestinian children! The gesture to elderly Holocaust victims was denounced; the Holocaust, he warned, was “a political issue.” The orchestra was promptly disbanded, its conductor, an Israeli Arab woman, Wafa Younis, arrested and later barred from the camp and her apartment-studio boarded up.

Related articles in the Israeli media, e.g. Haaretz:
☞ Palestinian children sing for Holocaust survivors

 
Related article in PIC (i.e. Hamas "propaganda dept"):
☞ Shame on us!

Related int'l reports:

☞ Palestinian orchestra leader deported after death threats (UK)

☞ Strings of Freedom silenced (CN)

☞ Palestinian Youth Orchestra Is Disbanded Over a Holocaust Concert (USA)