Bridging Differences Through Music

Mariam Said opening the discussion

Bridging differences through music was the theme of a film screened in West Hall on November 6 by the Anis K. Makdisi Program in Literature. Titled Knowledge Is the Beginning, it is an engaging documentary about the East-West Divan Orchestra led by the Israeli conductor, Daniel Barenboim, which was formed in collaboration with the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said.

Stressing the role of music in bringing people together it was the first public showing of the film in Lebanon. The East-West Divan Orchestra includes students from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Israel, as well as a few Spanish students, and Barenboim is credited for starting the orchestra in 1999 while he was in Seville, Spain. Highlighting the significance of the city that once in the past was a center of interaction between Christians, Muslims, and Jews, he said he was intrigued with the idea of having people from Arab states and others from Israel interacting and working together as a team.

The movie, which spans a period of three to five years, follows the activity and concerts of the orchestra as it developed and matured over the years. Barenboim emphasizes that music can help decrease the anger felt by Arabs and Israelis and says "Life without music is a poor one." The film follows the ups and downs of the orchestra, its visit to a Buchenwald concentration camp in Europe, and its concert in Morocco, its first in an Arab country. The tour helped introduce the Israeli students to normal life in an Arab country, thus giving them a better understanding of their neighbors.

On his part, Edward Said was instrumental in bringing together the Israeli and Arab students. Lamenting the fact that people from disputed nations are not allowed to communicate with each other, Barenboim insisted that the actions of Arab states do not necessarily represent those of their citizens. He expressed his deep respect and admiration for the late intellectual, describing Said as "a symbol of Palestinian dignity, culture, nationalism, and all that Arabs are capable of achieving." Said's death was a "catastrophe" for him and the orchestra. The orchestra's mission is still incomplete, however, added Barenboim. "It can only be called a success once it is allowed to perform in all Arab countries."