Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumThe American Student Who's Planning an Israeli-Palestinian Music Festival
Andrew Roseman, like thousands of American students, visited Israel last year to experience the countrys culture and history. But unlike some young tourists, who spend their days getting drunk and tan in Tel Aviv or secretly pleasuring each other in tents in the desert, the junior from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, embarked on a project to bring Israelis and Palestinians together, at least for a day. Since spending four months in Jerusalem, hes been working to create a festival (called Man of a Thousand Teas) that would feature musicians from both sides of the Green Line. I havent heard of anyone trying anything like that before, so I called Andrew to see how it was going.
VICE: What inspired you to try to organize a festival in Israel?
Andrew Roseman: Well, I was in the process of trying to book a [music] show in Jerusalem and I was talking to my [Palestinian] friends, and I was like, Hey, Im going to be playing in Jerusalem in a couple of weeks. And they couldnt come, obviously, because people from the Palestinian territories arent allowed to just enter Jerusalem without a special pass, and its very difficult to get. And on the other side, when I was booking shows in Bethlehem, my Israeli friends said, Oh, I cant go because Im not allowed in Palestinian territory. After a while, we were like, You know, it would be kind of sweet if we could start a music festival that would bring together Palestinians and Israelis in a politically neutral area that both Israelis and Palestinians have access to. There arent many places like that, but there are a few and with my friends help we were able to find a spot that you dont need a pass or any sort of form to accessa Bedouin area in the Jerusalem wilderness, basically in the Judean desert. Little by little, its coming together, and Im pretty excited about it.
Whats your perspective on how Palestinian and Israeli youth feel about the conflict between the two sides?
I was there when the most recent Gaza conflict was happening and the rockets were going back and forth. There were a bunch of protests and during one, you had Israelis on one side waving Israeli flags and shouting, Get Hamas out of Gaza, and then on the other side you had Palestinians waving Palestinian flags and yelling somethingI dont speak Arabicabout the Intifada. Those are two very different messages. I think young people from this part of this world just kind of grow into their context and they dont necessarily get many chances to intermingle with each other and actually chill. Most of the people Ive spoken to have really good intentionsat times, it appears that the issue is too complex and people are dug in too deep for anyone to make any sort of differencebut with that attitude well never get anything done.
http://www.vice.com/read/the-american-student-planning-an-israeli-palestinian-music-festival
King_David
(14,851 posts)Ben Blackwell - Israel We Go Hard
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