The attack by the Palestinian organization Hamas in Israel happened a few days before the start of the new semester in Berlin Barenboim-Said Akademiewhere Israeli and Arab musicians study together. How do students react to developments in the Middle East?

Michael Barenboim, rector of the Barenboim-Said Academy, was in Vienna when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The next day he returned to the Academy in Berlin knowing that the dramatic events would directly affect the students, most of whom are Israeli and Palestinian: “You could feel the tension in the atmosphere“, recalls the rector.

About two weeks after the attacks and the start of the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the orchestra of the music academy gave its first concert of the semester in the Pierre Boulez concert hall yesterday, October 23, in Berlin.

Said: Humanism the “last” resistance

The Barenboim-Said Academy is unlike any other musical institution in the world. Founded in 2015 by Michael Barenboim’s father, renowned conductor and piano soloist Daniel Barenboim. The Academy was created as a follow-up to the founding of the first Arab-Israeli orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, by Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian-American writer and political activist Edward Said, featuring Arab and Israeli musicians.

The curriculum of the Music Academy includes, besides music, of course, philosophy and history. The focus on the humanities stems from Edward Said’s belief that “humanism is the only—I would go so far as to say the last—resistance against the inhumane practices and injustices that distort human history.”

The Music Academy is attended not only by Israelis and Palestinians, but also by young musicians from Iran, Lebanon and Syria. 20%-25% of the total of 80 students come from countries outside the Middle East. This creates a pool of new talent “from 27 different countries”, points out the head of the Music Academy, Regula Rapp.

“There is sadness, anger, but also a lot of fear”

As the students began their new semester, they realized that they had to, alongside their studies, exchange views on the developments in their homelands and the wider Near East region. “There are many strong emotions“, says the director of the Music Academy: “There is sadness, anger, but also a lot of fear for relatives, friends, home and the future“, explains Regula Rapp: “Ta data changes day by day».

The students quickly organized meetings among themselves to discuss their concerns. As Michael Barenboim reports, Israeli students are concerned about growing anti-Semitism in Berlin. At the same time, he adds, the Palestinians face a special situation in Germany because “they feel that they cannot express themselves, that they are not allowed to gather». The rector is referring to the ban on demonstrations in favor of the Palestinians who are blockaded in the Gaza Strip, as authorities in the German capital fear that the gatherings will include anti-Semitic slogans and may turn into anti-Israeli demonstrations.

The dean of the Music Academy observes that Palestinian students tend to see the events of October 7 as part of a larger historical context, while for Israelis, the terrorist attacks by Hamas have changed everything. This is just one example that shows how different approaches to the same events are. “And yet I think we all agree that we want to stay hereadds Michael Barenboim.

According to the chancellor, there are few places in the world, as well as in Germany, where Palestinians and Israelis work so closely together as at the Barenboim-Said Academy. “Of course the Academy concert cannot bring peace, no one expected this. But it is an interesting proposal to show how people can live together in the same area without bombs and guns, but in a spirit of cooperation, where they talk and listen to each other. Anyway”, concludes Michael Barenboim, “in music the most important thing is to listen to each other».