Thursday, January 15, 2004
The arts aren't immune to Arab boycott, either.
Israel News : Jerusalem Post Internet Edition
Israelis were among the prizewinners at the fifth annual Carlo Tavasani Piano Competition, held this week at the Magnificat Institute in Jerusalem's Old City. This was the first time Israelis have taken part in the competition for pianists under 30.
The 65 participants came from music schools in Spain, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Acre and Nazareth. The Ramallah Music Conservatory, however, refused to allow its students to take part due to the inclusion of Israelis musicians...
The music must have been wonderful.
After that blooper, Israelis were barred from the main competition in the ensuing years but only able to compete in the Rome-Jerusalem prize based in Italy. It's certainly a tightrope to
manage, how much "Palestine" and/or "Israel" to emphasize depending on the prospective audience that include big buck donors. Having Jewish sounding names as teachers or winning students was a big draw but fraught with difficulties as was mentioned in your original post. This ALL is so typical of the "peace racket", selling illusions abroad, dispensing warm fuzzies to those who buy the idea of promoting "world peace through music". Yeah, right.