Saturday July 18, 2009

I've Been Thinking:

Leonard Cohen and Daniel Barenboim are music legends.
They are also political activists.

Both Cohen and Barenboim believe in Israel's right to exist and they both support the creation of a Palestinian state.
Both had scheduled events in Ramallah and both cancelled their events.
They cancelled because local Palestinian authorities refused to acknowledge that these two Jews could, at the same time, give credence to Israel and support the Palestinian cause - because they are advocates of dialogue between Palestinian and Israelis.

Palestinian leadership snuffed out the cultural performances of two of the greatest musical personalities of the 21st century.
For Palestinian leadership it was a question of all or nothing, with no room for compromise.
Leonard Cohen and Daniel Barenboim, musical geniuses, chose not to go to Ramallah because they feared for their lives.

There is little hope for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians when the Palestinians refuse to recognize someone because he recognizes Israel.

Read my new book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah