The Power of Music

This topic particularly resonates with me. I have been playing the saxophone for 7 years now. Classical and Romantic music of the famous European composers gave me a solid foundation in technique, but I was actually more interested in jazz. I bring this up because unbenownst to many, jazz music has had a profound effect on breaking down the black-white barrier that began right here in the United States. Knowing this gives me hope that music can provide a common ground for people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Parallels & Paradoxes gives is powerful in that it provides first hand evidence that music can bring people together. Something that I remember particularly from the book is how an Israeli student spoke up about how he was told that " ' I'm Jewish and they said to me ' you can't play Arab music ' ' ". That same student went on to teach Yo-Yo Ma how to tune to the Arabic scale.

In "Music as Social Medicine", David Washington talks about how the transcendence through music has allowed many to destress. He lists the physical benefits as well as the necessary social benefits, showing that this is an understanding of beauty that humans all share. A good point is raised that small boycotts in Alabama led to radical social reform in the United States so the negligible size of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in comparison to the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not mean that its effects are negligible.

Noura's thesis on a "Homeland Redefined: Spaces of National Belonging" points out how political boundaries seriously conflict with boundaries of homeland on each side of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The problem is that many people from both groups believe their homelands run from the "Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River". She concludes that in order to mitigate the mutual hatred, acceptance of the opposing idea of homeland must be achieved. If both sides studied the rich musical influences from both Arabs and Jews in the area, this would give proof to the legitimacy of both groups' claim to some territory.

The videos help to display the difficulties of the project. The Palestinian violinist expresses the stress that she faces set up by the political borders. Daniel Barenboim acknowledges that one of the saddest parts of the project though is that the orchestra cannot play in many of the hometowns of its own musicians. In the video and on the "Knowledge is the beginning" website, Daniel recognizes that this will not solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. The culmination of the orchestra can only hope to allow differing peoples to understand one another which it has.