"Children of the Stone" by Sandy Tolan (published 2015: Bloomsbury)
A remarkable account of a refugee child, Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan and of his heroic struggle as child and adult against military occupation and the brutality visited upon his nation, of the power of music to transform the lives of the oppressed and of the courage of Daniel Barenboim as he forms a world-class orchestra of Arab and Israeli musicians.
Ramzi was a member of that orchestra after growing up in poverty in a refugee camp (which I know) in Ramallah, Occupied Palestine. He became a viola player and was asked by Barenboim to join his evolving project. Ramzi's respect-even love- for the great conductor is never in doubt but the book charts his disillusionment with the process of "normalisation" that the orchestra has grown to symbolise; the concept that the Occupation can be defeated by bringing together both the occupied ("the children of the stone") and the occupiers- some of the orchestra had been conscripted soldiers in the occupying army. Despite his courage and his refusal to be cowed by the abuse and hatred heaped upon him by far-right nationalists and racists, Barenboim never felt able to confront the crimes of Occupation and colonisation through the work of the orchestra. Ramzi resigned, devoting himself to music education for the "children of the stone". He recognised that "getting on with one another" would not free the occupied from the occupier, however noble the sentiment.
The book is often painful, particularly for those of us who have had the privilege of visiting Occupied Palestine ( including East Jerusalem) and meeting its courageous and warm-hearted people who bear with fortitude the most degrading of circumstances. I have stood along side them- often with tears in my eyes- as they struggle to survive the indignities of being an occupied nation. The conditions in the refugee camps and the resilience of the children and adults who resist ( and are being killed as I write) is given due prominence by the author; but so is the power of music and the way that it can bring solace to the abused child.
A wonderful book; admirers of Barenboim and of his orchestra will learn a great deal about the tensions and difficulties they faced; all those who love music will appreciate its description of how lives can be transformed; and those of us who pray for a Free Palestine , particularly those who have been there, will recognise the nation and the land it describes.
A remarkable account of a refugee child, Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan and of his heroic struggle as child and adult against military occupation and the brutality visited upon his nation, of the power of music to transform the lives of the oppressed and of the courage of Daniel Barenboim as he forms a world-class orchestra of Arab and Israeli musicians.
Ramzi was a member of that orchestra after growing up in poverty in a refugee camp (which I know) in Ramallah, Occupied Palestine. He became a viola player and was asked by Barenboim to join his evolving project. Ramzi's respect-even love- for the great conductor is never in doubt but the book charts his disillusionment with the process of "normalisation" that the orchestra has grown to symbolise; the concept that the Occupation can be defeated by bringing together both the occupied ("the children of the stone") and the occupiers- some of the orchestra had been conscripted soldiers in the occupying army. Despite his courage and his refusal to be cowed by the abuse and hatred heaped upon him by far-right nationalists and racists, Barenboim never felt able to confront the crimes of Occupation and colonisation through the work of the orchestra. Ramzi resigned, devoting himself to music education for the "children of the stone". He recognised that "getting on with one another" would not free the occupied from the occupier, however noble the sentiment.
The book is often painful, particularly for those of us who have had the privilege of visiting Occupied Palestine ( including East Jerusalem) and meeting its courageous and warm-hearted people who bear with fortitude the most degrading of circumstances. I have stood along side them- often with tears in my eyes- as they struggle to survive the indignities of being an occupied nation. The conditions in the refugee camps and the resilience of the children and adults who resist ( and are being killed as I write) is given due prominence by the author; but so is the power of music and the way that it can bring solace to the abused child.
A wonderful book; admirers of Barenboim and of his orchestra will learn a great deal about the tensions and difficulties they faced; all those who love music will appreciate its description of how lives can be transformed; and those of us who pray for a Free Palestine , particularly those who have been there, will recognise the nation and the land it describes.