Palestinian kids and Holocaust survivors face the music

March 29, 2009 - 8:35 AM by

The Strings of Freedom Orchestra (AP)

The Strings of Freedom Orchestra (AP)

It sounded like a dream story for these jaded times in the Mideast – a group of young Palestinian teen orchestra musicians from the Jenin refugee camp, performing for a group of Israeli Holocaust survivors.

It happened last week in Holon, as part of ‘Good Deeds Day,’ an annual event run by an organization connected to Bank Hapoalim heiress and billionaire Shari Arison. The 13 musicians, aged 11 to 18, belong to ‘Strings of Freedom,’ and the survivors are patrons of Holon’s Holocaust Survivors Center.

According to the Associated Press, most of the Holocaust survivors did not know the youths were Palestinians from Jenin, one of the more extremist terror strongholds in the West Bank, and the youths had no idea they were performing for people who lived through Nazi genocide — or even what the Holocaust was.

Some 30 elderly survivors gathered in the center’s hall as teenage boys and girls filed in 30 minutes late — delayed at an Israeli military checkpoint outside their town, they later explained.

Some of the young women wore Muslim head scarves — but also sunglasses and school ties.
As a host announced in Hebrew that the youths were from the Jenin refugee camp, there were gasps and muttering from the crowd. “Jenin?” one woman asked in jaw-dropped surprise.

Conductor Wafa Younis, from the Arab village of Ara in Israel, then explained in fluent Hebrew that the youths would sing for peace, prompting the audience to burst into applause.
“Inshallah,” said Sarah Glickman, 68, using the Arabic term for “God willing.”

Glickman, whose family moved to the newly created Jewish state in 1949 after fleeing to Siberia to escape the Nazis, said she had no illusions the encounter would make the children understand the Holocaust. But she said it might make a “small difference.”

“They think we are strangers, because we came from abroad,” Glickman said. “I agree: It’s their land, also. But there was no other option for us after the Holocaust.”

Younis said the main mission of the orchestra, formed seven years ago to help Palestinian children overcome war trauma, was to bring people together.

“I’m here to raise spirits,” Younis said. “These are poor, old people.”

However, back home in Jenin, the event drew strong condemnations from refugee camp leaders and political activists, who accused the organizers of exploiting the children for “political purposes.”

According to The Jerusalem Post, Adnan al-Hinda, director of the Popular Committee for Services in the Jenin refugee camp, said that the participation of the children in the concert was a “dangerous matter” because it was directed against the cultural and national identity of the Palestinians.

He accused “suspicious elements” of being behind the Holon event, saying they were seeking to “impact the national culture of the young generation and cast doubt about the heroism and resistance of the residents of the camp during the Israeli invasion in April 2002.”

Ramzi Fayad, a spokesman for various political factions in the Jenin refugee camp, also condemned the participation of the teenagers in the Holocaust event, saying all the groups were strongly opposed to any form of normalization with Israel.

“There can be no normalization while Israel is continuing to perpetrate massacres against our people,” he said.

Leaflets distributed in the Jenin area over the weekend also attacked the event and accused the organizers of exploiting the children. The leaflets also warned the Palestinians against participating in similar events in the future.

Sources in the camp said that the political factions in Jenin have also decided to ban an Israeli Arab woman who helped organize the event from entering the city.

Fatah activists in the city also filed a complaint with the Palestinian Police against the woman under the pretext that she had misled the children by taking them to the Holocaust event. The activists also sealed an apartment that had been rented out to the woman in the refugee camp.

So, just like most attempts to draw people together here, the Jenin-Holocaust survivors summit seems to have ended on a sour note. But let’s hope the youth orchestra returns to play again, and that some day, a group of young Israeli musicians might even be able to go to Jenin and play some music there, without having to fear for their lives.

Tags: , , , , , • Category: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Life, Music, War 

Comments

4 Comments on Palestinian kids and Holocaust survivors face the music

  1. Karin on Sun, Mar 29th 2009 4:03 PM

    2. It would be nice if the Palestinians could have the grace and courage to act like heroes for a change. They are given so many chances, and seem to constantly, defiantly blow it.

  2. Nina on Sun, Mar 29th 2009 10:02 PM

    3. Why do you keep calling the cities in the West Bank “refugee camps”? Refugee camps are made up of tents, huts and shacks. These cities in the West bank and Gaza have buildinsg just like any other city. The fact that they are called “refugee camps” suggest to the ignorant that the Palestinians are living in tents,huts and shacks.

    At least Israelis should know better than to encourage this attitude.

  3. John on Sun, Apr 26th 2009 11:12 PM

    4. I really did not expect that you would post the comment I submitted yesterday. The Israeli misinformation machine is so strong that you have even managed to fool yourselves. I have no doubt that the people who make comments such as those above actually believe what they are saying. Its a shame that a people who have suffered so much throughout history cannot seem to recognize the suffering that they are now causing to others.

  4. Jenni on Wed, Aug 26th 2009 9:03 PM

    5. Does anyone have an email adress or phonenumber to Strings of freedom? If anyone does, please email it to me.

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