- Title: Checkpoint to Tchaikovsky: on tour with Palestine Youth Orchestra
- Date: 27th August 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) 21-YEAR-OLD MEMBER OF PALESTINE YOUTH ORCHESTRA, MOSTAFA SAAD, SAYING: "Definitely playing in the Palestine Youth Orchestra made us aware of the situation much more and once you play with your friends in Palestine, you can never imagine yourself holding a rifle instead of your instrument and standing on a checkpoint preventing them to play in the concert in Jerusalem because your boss said you cannot let them through." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 19-YEAR-OLD MEMBER OF PALESTINE YOUTH ORCHESTRA, GANDHI SAAD, SAYING: "It's always a shock to everybody that, 'wow these people can play music'." (SOUNDBITE) (English) 20-YEAR-OLD MEMBER OF PALESTINE YOUTH ORCHESTRA, TIBAH SAAD, SAYING: "I personally don't like the amount of shock that people have, like oh you can play classical music." FACE OF MOSTAFA SAAD STATUE OF MAN HOLDING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) 20-YEAR-OLD MEMBER OF PALESTINE YOUTH ORCHESTRA, TIBAH SAAD, SAYING: "Unfortunately, the media dehumanises us to the point where people are surprised we play music and that's just actually really sad."
- Embargoed: 10th September 2019 12:29
- Keywords: Palestinian music Palestinian musicians Palestinian orchestra Palestinian youth orchestra Palestinian youth
- Location: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS / BETHLEHEM, NABLUS, RAMALLAH AND JERICHO, WEST BANK / MUGHAR, ISRAEL / JERUSALEM / UNKNOWN LOCATION, JORDAN / OSLO, NORWAY
- City: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS / BETHLEHEM, NABLUS, RAMALLAH AND JERICHO, WEST BANK / MUGHAR, ISRAEL / JERUSALEM / UNKNOWN LOCATION, JORDAN / OSLO, NORWAY
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA008ATZV715
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Most international musicians would baulk at the notion of a two-day journey to final rehearsals past military checkpoints on alert for weapons smugglers but for 19-year-old viola player Ibrahim Masri it's an occupational hazard.
He's part of the Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO), which has been touring Europe for three weeks and whose 76 members - crossing borders and religious divides - include Muslims, Druze and Christians.
They say they cannot gather the full orchestra at home because Israeli restrictions make it too hard to bring together members from Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem and refugees abroad.
Israel says its West Bank security measures are to protect its citizens against attacks from suicide bombers and gunmen, which peaked in the Palestinian uprisings of the late 1980s and early 2000s.
Israel has also imposed a blockade on Gaza, whose Islamist militant rulers Hamas refuse to recognise Israel and have fought three wars with it in the past decade.
Ibrahim had to travel two days from Nablus in the West Bank through neighbouring Jordan to reach Oslo, where the tour convened.
With a programme combining traditional classical and Arabic music, the orchestra played dates in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.
The orchestra earned standing ovations at the finale in Amsterdam's palatial Concertgebouw, the home venue of PYO conductor Vincent de Kort.
Aged 14 to 27, the musicians on this tour came from Jerusalem, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and inside Israel itself. There were also Palestinian musicians from Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and some non-Palestinians. However, unlike on previous tours, nobody from Gaza made this trip, orchestra manager Zeina Khoury said.
(Production: Stephen Farrell, Mohammad Abu Ganeyeh, Ismael Khader, Ashraf Abu Shawish, Dedi Hayun, Adel Abu Nemeh, Sinan Abu Mayzer, Lara Afghani, Rahaf Ruby, Roleen Tafakji, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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