I really wonder why Said’s critically important relationship with the hugely influential musician and conductor Daniel Barenboim wasn’t mentioned, as really the only relationship he had which was directly addressing the issue of getting young Israeli and Arab musicians together to form the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an organization Barenboim continued to be closely associated with until his recent illness. And through which they wished to show young Arabs and Jews that they could cooperate and work together to make music, in order to show that they were more alike than unlike. As a musician myself, I became aware of Said through that relationship, which I thought was incredibly important and provocative in the best way possible, except that Barenboim has been virulently attacked by very influential Israeli politicians. This didn’t stop him, because he knew he and Said were correct. How could this be completely ignored in this remembrance??
Thank you Professor Khalidi, and congratulations too for being the first Edward Said Professor at Coulumbia.
Thank you for posting this, and good luck with all your efforts.
Thank you!
I really wonder why Said’s critically important relationship with the hugely influential musician and conductor Daniel Barenboim wasn’t mentioned, as really the only relationship he had which was directly addressing the issue of getting young Israeli and Arab musicians together to form the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an organization Barenboim continued to be closely associated with until his recent illness. And through which they wished to show young Arabs and Jews that they could cooperate and work together to make music, in order to show that they were more alike than unlike. As a musician myself, I became aware of Said through that relationship, which I thought was incredibly important and provocative in the best way possible, except that Barenboim has been virulently attacked by very influential Israeli politicians. This didn’t stop him, because he knew he and Said were correct. How could this be completely ignored in this remembrance??