SPIEGEL Interview with Daniel Barenboim
'The Germans Are Prisoners of Their Past'
World-famous Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim is noted for his strong views on the Middle East peace process and for performing Wagner's music in Israel. In a SPIEGEL interview, he explains why the Israeli antipathy toward Wagner is grotesque and argues that Israel shouldn't depend too much on Germany and the US for support.
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Barenboim: Well, since the Six-Day War, Israeli politicians have repeatedly established a connection between European anti-Semitism and the fact that the Palestinians don't accept the founding of the State of Israel. But that's absurd! The Palestinians weren't primarily anti-Semitic. They just didn't accept their expulsion. But European anti-Semitism goes much further back than to the partition of Palestine and the establishment of Israel in 1948. It even goes further back than the Holocaust. Just think of the pogroms in Russia and in Ukraine, the Dreyfus affair in France and anti-Semite Richard Wagner. There is no connection between the Palestinian problem and European anti-Semitism, except that the Palestinians are now expected to pay for historic sins. There are probably many people in Israel who believe that Wagner, who died in 1883, lived in Berlin in 1942 and was friends with Hitler
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Comments: 3
It is built already on something based on an idea, a feeling, a paranoia and the process is presently reproduced by Israel itself towards its neighbors.
There are 2 extremes and no one accept to listen to the other one. This went on for 3,000 years and no one yet learned that such behavior is not going to help for peace.
If so, we may start feeling that peace and freedom are not a goal; the real goal is to be "enemies" to such a point that America and Saudi Arabia fund them for living.
Of course some people would like to cooperate but this goes against both expectations to be funded as beggars. Of course, Israel develops many new ideas, however the authors are dependent from politicians and their love for extremism.
Wagner was anti-semitic but his music was Universal. Von Karajan was anti-semitic as well: maybe he never performed in Israel but many Jewish people have listened him performing.
Any way, Wagner music is far more sensible than lifting a hand to salute ...