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Making music - not war!

"It was an immensely appealing experiment, both in its idealism and in its simplicity: Let young Israeli and Arab musicians play together in an orchestra to show that communication and cooperation were possible between peoples who had long fought each other.

The two men behind the idea had themselves made something of the same journey. The Argentine-born Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said met in 1993 and, though they were not always in agreement, they forged a deep friendship."

Daniel Barenboim has endured all sorts of brick-bats for his initiative. He has nevertheless remained defiant in the face of considerable obstacles. And there has been success on a number of levels. Read the complete piece in the NY Times here.

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