Daniel Barenboim wants to open Centre for the Study of Arab Music

The world famous conductor, Daniel Barenboim, says he wants to open a centre for the study of Arab music in Jerusalem.

The Israeli pianist hopes the centre will help the Middle East peace process.

Predictably, not every one sees merit in the plan. A Haaretz editor called it "benign but not realistic".

BBC interview (video) with Daniel Barenboim on the plan for a centre for the study of Arab music.

Accoding to Yisrael Mehad Barenboim is also considered as follows:

Daniel Barenboim is a Jewish conductor who attracts lightning, most recently when an Israeli minister called him “a real Jew-hater, a real anti-semite”. [Ahem].

It's clear that Barenboim's plan isn't exactly going to change the way most Palestinians and Israeli Jews perceive each other, certainly not overnight. But every little helps. Over the past decades both sides have dehumanised and even demonised each other. This deviant perspective isn't just based on hostility caused by the past and current geo-political situation in Israel/Palestine, it also further fuels that same hostility. So Barenboim's initiative gets my wholehearted thumbs up. Now let's hear some results too...

Keywords: Israel, Palestine, David Barenboim