Exciting Said

Uhh, I was beyond enamored to listen to Miriam Said talk the other day in class. The thing the struck me most about her, was her willingness to continue her husbands life long work after he passed away. Not a lot of people would do what she does, but it shows how much this Project means and her hopes and aspirations for the future of the conflict.

When it comes to the reading on Parallels and Paradoxes, I was pleased with the writing of Daniel Barenboim and his admiration for Edward Said in the intro. And then in Edward's introduction, at one point he explains " the difficulty lies in the fact that this conception of world cannot be described in words- because were it possible to describe in words, the music would be unnecessary " It's as if the music is speaking to both the Israelis and the Arabs in a way that  nothing else can. I mean, think about all of the word vomit and arguments that have occurred and the little that it has been able to accomplish. So many times, when I can't express what I feel, I can express it through music. In a conflict like this, where everyone has high emotions and value in what is happening, its hard to come up with the words to explain it to someone else without getting frustrated or confused. But, here, they are able to join their music in an ensemble to communicate.

One of the very first things said in the first chapter, kind of harks on the same idea as the music speaking for the words, but with hitting a little harder on the core of the conflict, or at least I think. He mimics the cliche "I am home when I make music." For two groups of people that feel their home is in Jerusalem, yet they aren't able to be at home because of the ongoing dispute. However, here in the Orchestra these kids don't have to look for their home in Jerusalem and feel lost, but they can be together with others that also believe it is their home and play music. Playing the music and experiencing the feeling they get as they do it, is home, there is no longer a question of who's home the music belongs to, but that the music belongs to all.