The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was founded as a space for musicians from across the Middle East, especially Palestinians and Israelis, to come together and find common ground through music. From the very beginning, our musicians have remained committed to dialogue and nonviolence, even in the most difficult moments of conflict.
Over the past two years, the violence between Israel and Palestine has deepened wounds that were already profound: personal, generational, and collective. For many of us, this is not only a political crisis but a deeply human one. We carry grief shaped by decades of displacement, fear, and loss. Some among us are mourning loved ones, while others live each day under the weight of uncertainty, anxiety, and enforced silence. All of us are touched by this pain.
The ongoing cycle of aggression, marked by recurring tragedies, unresolved injustices, and immense civilian suffering, underscores the urgent need for lasting peace and accountability. We acknowledge the efforts of the international community to help end the current escalation by encouraging all parties to agree to a ceasefire and return to the negotiation table, while recognizing that meaningful action came too late for those who continue to bear the cost of inaction. Sustained engagement remains essential to fostering a just and durable peace that safeguards life, dignity, and stability for all.
As we move through this shared grief and trauma, we must resist the impulse to cancel or erase one another’s pain and history. Instead, we seek a way forward that honours complexity, where conflicting narratives can coexist, and where listening becomes an act of recognition rather than denial.
This moment, like so many before it, threatens to erode our sense of hope. And yet, even within this shared grief, we reaffirm our commitment to one another by returning to the foundations that have always guided our work — to the vision of Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim, who believed that music could hold differences without denying them, and that dialogue itself can be a form of courage.
Out of this spirit, we have now articulated a shared framework, a set of principles that give language to what has long lived within the orchestra. They are not offered as solutions, but as an ethical compass: grounded in nonviolence, in the power of listening, and in the unwavering belief that every human life holds equal worth, complexity, and dignity.
October 2025