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1 year 10 months ago
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This page is devoted to author and journalist Sandy Tolan's latest acclaimed book CHILDREN OF THE STONE: The Power of Music in a Hard Land.
1 year 10 months ago
It was a rare, bold gesture by an Israeli toward the people of Iran: Daniel Barenboim, the famed conductor and co-founder, with Edward Said, of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, made plans to bring the orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, which he directs, to perform a concert in Teheran. Barenboim, who features prominently in my new book, #Childrenofthestone, has not shied away from courageous personal gestures. Once, upon receiving the Wolf Prize for the Arts by Israel's Ministry of Education, he used the occasion to denounce Israel's occupation. Later, he accepted Palestinian citizenship. He is perhaps the only person to hold dual Israeli and Palestinian passports.
Predictably, the hard right in Israel (which is more and more the center), attacked Maestro Barenboim for daring to try to play music in Iran, accusing him of aiding and abetting the "delegitimization" campaign against Israel. Undaunted, he went forward with his plans. But then he ran into another group of hardliners -- the Iranian kind. They prevailed, and Barenboim was denied entry into Iran. Thus did hardliners in Israel and Iran (not to mention in the U.S. congress) effectively join hands in their successful bid to ruin a chance for soaring cultural diplomacy. Imagine if Barenboim had been allowed in on his Palestinian passport. Either way - a genuine opportunity lost. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article4542619.ece
Iran and Israel unite to silence Barenboim | The Times
thetimes.co.uk
In a rare moment of unity, Iranian and Israeli hardliners have foiled plans by Daniel Barenboim to take a top German orchestra to Tehran
1 year 10 months ago
Perhaps the most disturbing cost of the #irandeal lies not in the concessions that US and European negotiators allegedly made, but in the sharply increased impunity given Israel in the land-seizing and violence it visits on Palestinians under #occupation. In recent weeks during the Obama administration's fierce lobbying for the deal, the president and others have sought to assure certain Israel supporters that "sometimes even families argue." Clearly the administration doesn't want to "expend more political capital," in the Beltway lexicon, challenging Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.
Hence the unintended consequences of the #irandeal: An even freer hand for Israel's land-grabbing policies, and to advocate for greater violence against stone-throwing protestors. And much of this facilitated by the U.S., with "increased US military, intelligence, and security cooperation with Israel to their highest levels ever," as promised by John Kerry.
Already the stone-throwing Palestinian protestors, some as young as 14, face up to 20 years in prison. Now the prime minister of Israel suggests he will implement a policy to give soldiers a free hand to shoot those protestors to death.
Who will stand up to this?
http://www.businessinsider.com/netanyahu-threatens-to-shoot-young-palestinian-stone-throwers-2015-9
Netanyahu threatens to shoot young Palestinian stone-throwers
businessinsider.com
In July, Israel's parliament already imposed penalties of up to 20 years in prison for people throwing rocks at vehicles.
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1 year 11 months ago
A thoughtful review of #childrenofthestone in Electronic Intifada https://electronicintifada.net/content/everyone-really-equal-beethoven-symphony/14777
Is everyone really equal before a Beethoven symphony?
electronicintifada.net
Biography of Palestinian musician deals with the thorny relationship between art and conflict.
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1 year 11 months ago
Jimmy Carter has come to the conclusion that many of us who have traveled to Palestine for many years have also determined: Israel is not interested in a two-state solution. The reality on the ground is one state -- some with rights, others without. Netanyahu, says the former president, "does not now and has never sincerely believed in a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine,” and accused him of deciding "early on to adopt a one-state solution, but without giving them [the Palestinians] equal rights."
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.671056
Carter: Zero chance for Israeli-Palestinain two-state solution - Diplomacy and Defense
haaretz.com
Netanyahu decided 'early on to adopt a one-state solution, but without giving the Palestinians equal rights,' former U.S. president accuses in interview.
1 year 11 months ago
Sharing this wonderful review of #childrenofthestone, just published, in The Journal of Music (Ireland): "Readers of this magisterial book can make up their own minds, as Tolan presents every side of the argument sympathetically. Children of the Stone is both novelistic and scholarly... Those seeking a human interest story will find the book inspiring; simultaneously and effortlessly they will absorb a crash course in Israeli/Palestinian history, a history that involves all of us because of our governments’ failure to act decisively in the interests of #peace and #justice."
Correction: This post had earlier characterized "The Journal of Music" as a UK-based publication in error.
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1 year 11 months ago
My op-ed for Salon on Senator Chuck Schumer's opposition to Barack Obama's #Iran deal. Is the self-described guardian of Israel risking his leadership because he believes God speaks through him?
Divine inspiration or pure politics: What’s behind Charles Schumer’s opposition to Obama’s Iran deal
salon.com
Is the self-described guardian of Israel risking his leadership because he believes God speaks through him?
1 year 11 months ago
Now up on LA Times, my piece about the arson attack in Duma, West Bank.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-tolan-duma-killing-as-outgrowth-of-israeli-policy-20150805-story.html#panel=comments
Israeli policies sparked the deadly Duma fire
latimes.com
Friday's horrific arson attack on a Palestinian home by suspected Israeli extremists, in which an 18-month-old Palestinian toddler was burned to death, was, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, "a terrorist crime." What he did not say was that the attack on the Dawabshe f…
1 year 11 months ago
Now on public radio's Performance Today. Ramzi Aburedwan and yours truly, on Children of the Stone.
The power of music
http://www.yourclassical.org/programs/performance-today/episodes/2015/08/04
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1 year 10 months ago