Orchestra promoting harmony amid Israel-Hamas crisis ‘extremely important’

Musicians from Palestine and Israel performing together in the West Eastern Divan Orchestra could help bring about the idea of a more peaceful future despite the Israel-Hamas crisis, the widow of the orchestra’s founder has said.

The ensemble was established by late Palestinian academic Edward Said and Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim more than 20 years ago as an “alternative way to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.

“(The orchestra) was started after Daniel and my late husband Edward discovered that they became very good friends and they broke barriers and they extended it to their people and Daniel made an orchestra out of them,” widow Mariam Said told BBC Newsnight.

“The idea of the orchestra is you do something that you are passionate about, and you do it with the other whom is your enemy and this combination will unsettle people.

“This unsettling may lead to alternate ways of thinking and to be able to think of a future together because in the end, this conflict is going to be resolved.”

Mrs Said said the Israel-Hamas crisis was causing “a lot of pain and suffering” but the performers have “music in common”.

Mr Barenboim’s son Michael also spoke about the war: “I think these projects are extremely important, especially in a situation of crisis like this one.

“I think we see a lot of polarisation, a lot of division around and we are, I would say, almost the only ones that promote this idea of co-operation and mutual understanding that I think is very important.”

It comes as Israeli airstrikes hit apartment buildings in a Gaza refugee camp for the second day in a row, Palestinian officials said.

The conflict began on October 7 when Hamas militants staged raids into Israel, killing and kidnapping people at a music festivals and kibbutz residents.

The West Eastern Divan Orchestra has performed across the world, including almost a dozen appearance at the BBC Proms.