`Checkpoint violinist' is thrilled to attend music seminar in Galilee

[drdon326]

"I came here because I wanted to study music and to become a professional violinist, not because of politics. But if my violin serves as another bridge to peace, then naturally I don't object," said Wissam Tayam, the Palestinian music student forced to play his violin at the Beit Iba checkpoint near Nablus on November 9. The incident was filmed by the human rights organization Machsom Watch and publicized in Haaretz, causing a public uproar.


Tayam, 29, arrived yesterday afternoon at Kibbutz Eilon in the Western Galilee as the guest of the nonprofit organization Keshet Eilon, to participate in a three-day seminar for violinists. He himself insists on the title "music student," since he only recently began studying violin.

Arriving at the kibbutz yesterday, Tayam was greeted by many Keshet Eilon activists, including the executive director, Gilad Sheba. "Keshet" - bow or arch in Hebrew - "is the bow of a violin for us, but also an archway for communicating and bringing people together," Sheba says. "We keep looking to expand the circle of violinists regardless of where they come from. We heard about Tayam's story and contacted him through the university without any connection to politics, and our intention is sincere and not a gimmick. I hope he comes here again, perhaps for a longer workshop this summer."

Tayam was greatly moved by his reception, as well as by the media flurry surrounding his arrival at the kibbutz. "Are you afraid?" I asked in Arabic. "No," he replied. "Explain to them that I feel like I'm in a dream and I'm thrilled."


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/518454.html
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So much for the faux outrage.

[comradebillyboy]

1. this is illustrative of the schisim in israeli society

over the west bank and treatment of the arabs. we tend to forget that the majority of israeli jews would love to get rid of the occupied territories and the moral baggage of their aparthide state. unfortunatlu the pecularities of their parlementary system give the extremists way too much influence. neither likiud nor labor can form a majority without the support of fringe parties.

[Englander]

2. Er,dude,there's a bullet-sized hole in your shoe....

...Tayam remembers the checkpoint incident clearly. "I would go through nearly every day without a violin and encountered no particular problems. About two months ago, one of the lecturers in the music department asked me to buy a violin. I had NIS 500 and bought a violin made in China. The next day, I arrived at the checkpoint and the soldiers saw me holding something in my hand and motioned for me to go `to the cement'."

The cement? "It's a place on the side and those told to go there know they won't be getting through easily. Then they asked me to play, and I didn't know what to play. I remembered a few bits I had learned, so I began to do those and to repeat them until they let me through after about three hours. I didn't notice the photographer and a few days later I heard the picture appeared all over the world. I didn't know it would make noise, but it turns out that the soldiers at the checkpoint saw the picture and every time I came with the violin they would delay me for a long time."

Tayam is the only musician among the 5,000 residents of the al-Fara refugee camp. He credits his love for music to a cousin who lives in Jordan and plays oud and violin.

"To come to concerts and workshops on the high level I see here is a dream for me," Tayam says. "I want to learn and improve and become a master violinist. Maybe in a few years things will reverse and I'll invite violinists from around the world and Israel, and we'll hold a concert in the refugee camp. It sounds funny, but anything can happen if there's peace and no checkpoints."