Readers in Edinburgh and vicinity take note: the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (yes, those guys) are protesting the scheduled appearance of the Jerusalem Quartet at the Edinburgh International Festival Friday August 29 at 11 a.m. at the Queen’s Hall.
Blogger Adam Holland writes:
In case anyone has any doubt about the bigotry behind this boycott, they should be aware that Kyril Zlotnikov, the Jerusalem Quartet’s cellist is a student and friend of musician and peace activist Daniel Barenboim (read here). In fact, Barenboim has loaned Jacqueline Du Pre’s ‘Sergio Perresson’ cello to Kyril Zlotnikov for this tour. (Read pdf here.) Zlotinikov is also a member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (read here). This orchestra, founded by Barenboim and Edward Said and managed by the Barenboim-Said Foundation, includes both Arab and Israeli musicians. Its reason for being is to campaign for peace and cooperation between Arabs and Jews through artistic cooperation. With that in mind, would someone remind me of the reason for being for the group boycotting the concert?
I hope there’s no serious chance that the Scottish PSC’s protests will force the cancellation of the Jerusalem Quartet’s performance. And assuming the performance goes ahead, wouldn’t the best response to the PSC be a full house? Spending an hour or two enjoying string quartets by Haydn, Smetana and Brahms isn’t the worst way to defy the Israel haters.
Brett adds: If anyone is going to this performance and would like to write a review for our Arts section, just give us a shout.
