A group of musicians led by the harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani put up a petition overnight, urging the Ghent Festival of Flanders to reconsider its cancellation of a Munich Philharmonic concert, a ban imposed because the orchestra’s music director, Lahav Shani, is Israeli and Jewish.
The decision drew furious condemnation from the Mayor of Munich, but no response from Belgium.
Now, leading musicians are adding their names to a call to withdraw the ban. The co-authors of the petition are Danny Driver, Joshua Weilerstein, and Kyril Zlotnikov. The first to sign are
Martha Argerich
Mischa Maisky
Emmanuel Pahud
Renaud Capuçon
Steven Isserlis
Alisa Weilerstein
Nicholas Daniel
Andras Schiff
Here’s the nub of the petition.
We call on this decision to be reversed with immediate effect, and for the values of dialogue and openness to be upheld. This decision will do nothing to save a single Palestinian life, bring a hostage home, or to make any improvement to the unbearable civilian suffering currently taking place in this conflict. It will, however, resonate loudly with those who equate an artist’s nationality with an excuse to exclude them from the cultural sphere.
More than a hundred people have signed in the last half-hour.
You can sign here.
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