Many an unkind word has been said about the late scholar and radical Palestinian activist Edward Said, but at least he firmly believed in the necessity of cultural contacts between Arabs and Israelis, so much so that he co-founded (with Daniel Barenboim) the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, one of the most notable peace-oriented artistic endeavors ever to have come out of the Middle East.
Three members of the Jerusalem String Quartet are affiliated with the Said-Barenboim organization as well. This didn’t stop representatives of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Committee from standing up mid-performance in Edinburgh to denounce the visiting Jerusalem Quartet as agents of the Israeli Army. A blow-by-blow account is here. I’m pleased to read that these vile protesters were roundly booed. They’re not peace advocates; they’re bigots. Decent people ought to be able to tell the difference.
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