What musicians do in times of war
NewsFrom my monthly essay in The Critic, out today:
In sleepless nights of the Gaza war I think about the musicians, improvising in the unfolding awfulness. A week or so after the Hamas massacres, members of the Israel Philharmonic toured hospitals in small ensembles, playing in corridors for casualties, medical staff and visitors. No one was surprised to see them. There are expectations, going back to 1948, that in times of trauma, musicians turn up to provide relief.
Grainy photographs exist of Leonard Bernstein playing piano in the desert with a small orchestra. In 1967 Daniel Barenboim brought moral support, and Bernstein conducted Mahler’s Resurrection symphony on the Mount of Olives. In 1973, Leonard Cohen camped out with a tank division….
Read on here.
photo: Maariv
For a fuller picture:
–More than 26,400 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
–More than 64,400 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead most under rubble that is raising an enormous stench of decaying bodies.
–About two thirds of the dead are women and children, or about 17,600–an estimated 11,000 children.
–Disease and starvation are rampant. A UN-backed report warned that the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger, with 576,600 people at catastrophic – or starvation – levels.
–According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), up to 1.9 million people — over 85% of the population — have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some multiple times.
The Palestinians have a rich musical culture, but they aren’t making music. Every ability they have is directed toward mere survival. And all of this after decades of brutal oppression, having their homes destroyed, and having their land stolen at gun point.
I think it is obvious, but lest my comment be willfully misconstrued, by Palestinian land, I mean the land granted them by the UN Mandate (Resolution 181 (II) of 1947) which partitioned Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish, with Jerusalem internationalized.
A resolution (181) that the Palestinians refused to accept and opened a war less than 24 hours after it .
And which they rejected because it was obviously a unfair proposal for them. It was followed by their removal from their lands by ethnic cleansing, a plain historical fact, and finally the brutal occupation beginning in 1967 that continues to this day and which includes the massive stealing of the best land in the West Bank at gunpoint, another plain historical fact. The Netanyahu government’s openly stated policy of claiming all of the West Bank, which they call Judea and Samaria, makes the current massively disproportionate slaughter of civilian innocents in Gaza and the West bank even more appalling and suspect. The world has finally had enough, and no amount of gas lighting covers up the undeniable facts. But forgive me if I do not discuss this further. It’s pointless in the face of the crude ethnic hatred harbored equally by both sides.
Please remind me- between 1948 and 1967- was there a Palestinian state in the “occupied teritories”? did the arab have any intention to establish a Palestinian state? no! the 1967 broke due to agression of the Arab states againts Israel- they threatened to dystroy Israel.
Well said.
That is correct. And for the much “fuller” picture than the one painted for us by WO, one needs to add that all of his numbers are highly suspect since they are being provided by the agencies of the very organizations which started this war by perpetrating and celebrating their monstrous atrocities committed against Israel last October – and therefore it is they (HAMAS and their many active supporters including UNRWA) who are the ones ultimately responsible for all of the significant tragic results including loss of life on both sides.
So that makes it OK now for Israeli settlers to terrorize peaceful Palestinians in the West Bank? Israelis were in favor of that agreement yet they are not respecting it now. Israeli military presence & Israeli settlements in the West Bank are in violation of international law. Period.
As usual from you, Sir, a shameless mixture of half-truths and Hamas/UN propaganda.
I would have preferred to comment on Norman Lebrecht’s article, which is about very broad and very interesting issues but instead, I’ll try to put the case for Israel in the light of William Osborne’s comment.
He may need to rethink his attitude to UNRWA in the light of recent developments. My view is that he needs to do much more extensive rethinking, though.
He doesn’t accuse Israel of genocide in his opinion piece but he’s obviously unaware of the fact that when democracies defend themselves, large scale civilian casualties often can’t be avoided and that these can’t be equated with genocide. I’ll briefly discuss this important issue, which is neglected by critics of Israel again and again, as well as some other important issues they overlook or evade, so many of them.
Human values, humane values can sometimes only be safeguarded by harsh action, including harsh military action. This was the case during the Second World War, a conflict which was obviously more wide ranging by far than the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the savagery displayed in the recent terrorist attack on Israel was as bad as any of the atrocities which took place during the Second World War. Allied forces defeated genocidal Nazi Germany not by displays of naive, utopian, superficial thinking but by tactical and strategic thinking which resulted in hard military action, including the use of bombardment.
After D day, villages, towns and cities in France, Belgium and the Netherlands were liberated by British and other allied forces. Very often, they were liberated by military action which included bombing and artillery fire and very often with civilian casualties. For example, Caen in Normandy was liberated only after being heavily bombed. About 80% of the town was devastated and 3000 civilians were killed. Around 60,000 French civilians had been killed by allied bombing by the time France was liberated. To use only ground forces was out of the question. Nazi occupied Europe could never have been liberated in this way.
Anyone who claims that allied forces were ‘no better than Nazis’ for frequent killing of civilians is failing to take into account Nazi killings of civilians, which belonged to a different order of reality – reprisal executions, the mass executions of the Einsatzgruppen and, of course, the Holocaust, the worst set of war crimes in human history.
In extreme circumstances, to overcome fanatical opposition, the armed forces of democratic states often have no alternative but to use extreme force – but not ‘extremist force,’ the methods used by fanatics. To use slight force would be to guarantee defeat. Although technological advances have vastly increased the precision of bombing, these cannot overcome all difficulties, for example those arising in very densely populated neighbourhoods such as Gaza.
A stark fact: the families of all the terrorists killed or injured in these horrific attacks in Israel will receive large cash payments from the Palestinian Authority, which calls them ‘Martyr payments.’ The families of Palestinian terrorists killed or injured whilst committing previous acts of terrorism already receive these payments, a reward for spreading death and destruction. ‘Martyr payments’ are also made to the families of terrorists imprisoned by Israel for politically motivated violence, often lethal violence.
Basem Naim, Head of Political and International Relations for Hamas, claimed in an interview not long after the attacks on Israeli civilians that none of the people taken hostage at the time by the terrorists (obviously, he never used the word ‘terrorists’) are civilians! According to this tainted source of information, the child hostages are not civilians and neither are the children killed! This is a claim that deserves to be treated with contempt and revulsion.
He also claimed that it was an absolute necessity to attack Israel. The alternative, he said, would be ‘to die silently by malnutrition.’ Later in the interview, he claimed a Palestinian malnutrition rate of 55% He intended to present a deeply distressing picture of starving Palestinians, deprived of food by the Israelis, but he surely knew that the Palestinian malnutrition problem is obesity, not starvation. There have been a number of studies. A study of 2019 found that among adults 18 years and older, 64% of males and 69.5% of females in the Palestinian territories were overweight.
Hamas has a record of using distortion, exaggeration, selectivity, general falsification, often taking grotesque forms – tactics which appeal to credulous people.
Badly needed: a deeper and wider understanding of the Palestinian society which gives such widespread support to Hamas.
A clear sighted, fair-minded and comprehensive view of Palestinian society should take into account wide-ranging information. This is an example. Some findings of the Pew Research Center: stoning to death for adultery may not be practised in the Palestinian territories but 84% of Palestinians support the punishment. The conviction that a woman must always obey her husband is widely held, with 87% support in the Palestinian territories.
Homosexuality is still illegal in Gaza, although not in the West Bank. Homosexuality isn’t illegal in Israel, of course. The Gay scene in Israel is a very flourishing one. The Tel Aviv Gay Pride event is one of the largest in the world. As for Iran, the supporter of Hamas, this is a country in the grip of a horrific regime. Homosexuality, blasphemy, adultery and political dissidence are amongst the large number of offences which can be punished with the death penalty.
The findings of the Pew Research Center, a reputable polling organization, date from ten years ago. Palestinian society may have changed a great deal since then but I don’t know of any evidence that it was transformed.
A society which is liberal, tolerant and open has to have a whole range of other strengths. Essential: alertness to forces that can damage it very severely, perhaps irreparably. A society has to be willing and able to defend itself or risk being damaged or destroyed by ruthless outside forces – with the exception of states which rely upon other states for their defence, generally mistakenly, but not in the case of very small states.
If, hypothetically, Palestinians were granted a state, is it likely that their relations with their neighbour Israel would be harmonious? If, hypothetically, Israel were ever to be wiped out, the new state would be very vulnerable. Its survival could never be guaranteed. It could easily be invaded by a powerful and ruthless adversary that would like to take its territory. As it is, superior Israeli military power guarantees the security of the Palestinian territories, just as the neutral Republic of Ireland was protected against Nazi invasion by the military power of Britain and its allies during the Second World War. The protection against potential aggressors provided by Israel’s superior power is a massive advantage for the Palestinians.
The practical problems now confronting Hamas were avoidable but Hamas chose not to avoid them. Hamas can’t solve the problems it has created. In fact, the problems can only be solved if Hamas is eliminated. Democratic states and organizations should do nothing which helps to save Hamas, directly or indirectly. There are many, many countries in the world facing acute problems to do with basic needs. It’s impossible to give effective help to all of them. The basic economic problem is the problem of scarcity: unlimited wants and finite resources.
Why should Hamas-controlled Gaza be regarded as not just a deserving cause but a deserving cause which should have absolute priority? Israel and Ukraine deserve the support of the free world, not so Hamas-controlled Gaza, or Gaza once controlled by Gaza. The international community’s contribution to the reconstruction of Gaza should only be offered under the most stringent conditions. Individual states should feel under no obligation to offer help. Money sent to Gaza is money that could be used to strengthen defences against Putin’s Russia, terrorist threats, and, of course, for many other vital needs.
Hamas is a basket case and has ruined Gaza, with the support of far too many Palestinians. But in general, they don’t deserve a regime as bad as Hamas. The ‘they’ is a generalization, of course, There are deserving and undeserving Palestinians.
The damage from Israeli counter-attacks against Gaza after the rocket attacks launched periodically against Israel over the years should have taught Hamas this simple lesson. If you don’t want war damage in Gaza and want to protect civilians in Gaza, stop firing rockets and stop breaking ceasefires. But Hamas are slow learners, more exactly, they can’t learn the simplest of lessons.
William Osborne’s list of Palestinian woes comes unaccompanied by any deeper analysis of the reasons for those woes – but deeper analysis is hardly needed. Can’t he simply realize that these massive problems have been brought about by colossal stupidity? Does he think that donor countries should show inexhaustible patience? If Gaza is reconstructed and there’s another Palestinian incursion into Israel some time in the future, accompanied by more anti-Israeli atrocities, these followed by legitimate reprisals by Israel involving more large-scale damage – a new cycle of damage – should donor countries be expected to pay up yet again?
The Palestinians have been supported by UNRWA ever since 1949! This is a long time to be dependent upon hand-outs. Perhaps Iran will now consider becoming the chief funder, the chief giver of aid to the Palestinians – or perhaps not.
Thank you Paul for presenting facts instead of the usual MSM/Hamas lies and half-truths.
Paul, yours is a very superficial soliloquy which has very little basis in the history of conflict in that area. You are looking at Oct. 7 alone. This conflict is much greater than what happened on one day. It is is rooted in events which have been going on for decades, and beyond. Israel is far from being a blameless bystander and you’ve swallowed the pro-Israel victim card hook, line and sinker.
Your opinion is so oblivious to history that it’s not even worth addressing, frankly. Wm. Osborne is a historian and a journalist. He offers the valuable perspective of age and a journalist’s view as both a US & a European resident. He has seen & observed during his lifetime much of the conflict which has unfolded in the Mideast over the past decades. I dare say that you have not.
Hamas has spent the last nearly two decades turning Gaza into arguably the greatest urban fortress in history in order to perpetuate genocide on the Jews–all while ignoring the needs of its own population. Yet the current fighting is somehow the Jews’ fault. Ah yes, Mr. Osborne, blame the victim. A specialty of antisemites since time immemorial.
This is a war between Israel & Hamas. 26% of Israel’s population is not Jewish. This war is about Israel, the country, not the Jewish religion. The fact that people do not embrace Israel’s actions toward Palestine is not anti-semitism. It’s disapproval of Israel, not the Jewish people. Please stop conflating the two.
You sir, are at best a naive idiot and at worst a liar.
During the first Gulf War, alarm sirens interrupted a concert of the IPO with Isaac Stern as soloist. The public put on gas masks. After the orchestral musicians left the stage. Stern came back, unmasked, and played Bach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZFWV0UIuNM