by Aaron Shneyer
I’m doing well. I hope you are too.
The past few weeks have been amazingly powerful and eye opening. With some frustration, I’ve learned that the important things can’t be rushed, but will take their natural course, even if that means missing some self-imposed deadlines. I had originally hoped to be sending you videos of rehearsals by now but alas…the good things take time.
I’ve spent the past two months trying to meet every person in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem who is involved in music and/or education. Thankfully, things are moving forward. Two amazing locations (a Palestinian recording studio and an Israeli performance venue/recording studio) have offered to host our rehearsals. Right now I’m wrapping up auditions and wracking my brain over which students to put in the band. Over 40 students have auditioned! We’ve got rock guitarists, R&B singers, oud (lute) players, hip-hop emcees, violinists, pianists and even a guy who plays dijeridou and bass guitar at the same time! By the end of the week an awesome “auditions highlights reel” will be up for your viewing pleasure.
But before getting to the fun stuff, I wanted to share some of the tougher lessons I’ve learned since being out here, namely the differences in what my project means to Israelis and to Palestinians…
On the Israeli side, reactions to my project run from eagerly supportive to highly skeptical. Truth be told, it’s been very easy to recruit Israeli students to participate. I visited three Israeli music schools in Jerusalem. The directors of all three schools love the project and have opened theirs doors for me to invite their students and even hold rehearsals at their schools.
The spectrum of responses on the Palestinian side has been much wider. Most Palestinians very enthusiastically support my project, including EVERY high school student who has heard about the project (especially when I mention MTV). However, a significant part of Palestinian society feels that this project could be detrimental to Palestinians. Conservatory directors, university professors, music teachers, and non-violent activists have explained that while joint projects involving Israelis and Palestinians often have the most sincere of intentions, these projects can have very negative side effects for Palestinians. There are many examples, but for the sake of brevity I’ll just share one. As they explained to me, the media often portrays these “co-existence” projects in the most picturesque ways possible. Some typical headlines might include: “Palestinians and Israelis are ready to live side by side.” Or “Palestinians and Israelis move beyond the past and build a better future together.” Many Palestinians view this kind of media portrayal in the West and in Israel as very damaging to the Palestinian cause because it weakens their demands for justice and freedom, and instead portrays Palestinians as ready to accept the Occupation as normal, encouraging Israel and the world community to also view the current situation as normal. There have been other Israeli-Palestinian music ensembles in the past. Often they’ve sung songs in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, with a hopeful refrain of Shalom, Salam, Peace Peace Peace, but in the end of the day what changes? Following this logic, it would be much better for Palestinians to focus on strengthening their society from within, developing industry, education, social services, and cultural institutions.
Being told that I could harm Palestinians with this project was a harsh wake-up call. Maybe I’m just a naïve American who, lacking better answers, was duped into believing dialogue could change the status quo and fix the world. Of course, I know that is not true. As naïve and as American as I am, my years doing this kind of work have shown me very clearly how powerful dialogue is. Even so, I’m very grateful for this chance to re-evaluate why I’m here and ask what exactly is the best use of my time.
A member of Combatants for Peace offered an interesting clarification. He defines a “normalization organization” as any project that brings together Israelis and Palestinians to talk, build friendships, and understand each other, but doesn’t then work to change the status quo. He explained that his group of former Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers is an anti-normalization organization because it brings the two groups together for dialogue and then works together to influence their governments and communities to change the current situation.
This just highlights the complexities of the conflict. Coming together without highlighting the realities that people face can serve to ignore people’s struggles and therefore prolong the current situation. But doesn’t an organization that brings together Israelis and Palestinians by definition go against the status quo? In my view, the lack of trust and over-abundance of fear remain the main obstacles to creating lasting, positive change. How can we be unwilling to speak, but ready to fight for hundreds of years? Maybe the only way to create true and lasting societal change is by changing hearts and minds, one person at a time.
A few of the students who’ve auditioned have not been interested in politics, but come with a deep desire to connect with the other side and build relationships. With the lessons of the past two months in mind, I explain that while these relationships are extremely important to this project, we wouldn’t be doing anyone justice without addressing the political realities that people face. There are serious problems within and between each community and I believe that HEARTBEAT: JERUSALEM has to address and raise awareness of the struggles that exist, in order to utilize “the power of music” to influence people, build trust, and create change.
…Sounds good to me. What do you think?
Video clips from the Auditions will be up very soon…
Thanks for reading.
Ma’Salam-B’Shalom-With Peace
Aaron
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The views and information presented are the Fulbright grantee’s own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State.
