Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Musicians from the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for Peace released a statement, expressing their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before a concert at La Scala, Milan last Sunday.

"We, the members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, are convinced that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The last decades proved the futility of this type of reasoning, and we represent an alternative model based on equality, co-operation and justice for all.

This alternative model is not utopia. It has been put to the test for 10 years, obtaining evident musical results and allowing each member of the orchestra to change their perspective and have a profound understanding of the "other".

We aspire to a total liberty and equality among Israelis and Palestinians, and it is on this basis that we are here today to make music. The actions of the Israeli government of the past two weeks are not the way to resolve the existential differences. The actions of Hamas do not contribute to creating mutual trust.

We deplore any action that results in the death of civilians. We call for an immediate repudiation of all violence, which will lead to honest and just negotiations between all the sides involved, without exceptions.

A cease-fire is merely the start and will undeniably build the foundation of coexistence between the two populations, whose destinies are intimately tied. A sovereign Palestinian state can only really exist with the end of the occupation. The Palestinians must be guaranteed the same freedom and independence that Israel has had since 1948. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a conflict between two populations that are profoundly convinced of their right to live in the same land, and must accept their mutual rights to do so.

The time has come, after so much bloodshed, to find a lasting solution of coexistence rather than short-term tactical remedies. In this spirit, we hope that you enjoy today's concert."

The Proms

This time last year, Leo, Mini and I went to the Proms: it was Mini's first experience of the Royal Albert Hall. They both so enjoyed it that they were there again last night. Leo came to tell us about it this evening: they intend to go every year, he said, and I bet they will.

Last Thursday, Caroline and I were lucky enough to be at the Albert Hall too, invited by our old friend Caroline Holbrook, who goes frequently from her home near Newbury. That night the concert was given by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim. This orchestra has become an institution in less than a decade, since its founding by Barenboim and his close Palestinian friend, the late Edward Said. It inspires not just musically, but in the way it represents the hope and real possibility of a peaceful future for both Israelis and the Palestinian people. Not a yarmulke or a hijab to be seen! And the orchestra played - besides Haydn and Brahms - music by the Jewish Arnold Schoenberg together with, as an encore, the Meistersinger Prelude by Hitler's favourite composer, Wagner.

Daniel Barenboim conducted the whole programme from memory. In my early '20s, when I was an articled clerk in the City of London, my principal invited me to sit in on a meeting that a certain Enrique Barenboim had arranged with him, to discuss his son's tax position. That son, about my age, came along too: his name was Daniel. I remember nothing at all about the content of the meeting; but I have always followed from afar, and admired, Daniel Barenboim's public achievements.