Daniel Barenboim
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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: September 5, 2005 |
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Conductor Daniel Barenboim on Monday defended his decision to deny an interview to an Israel Army Radio reporter, saying she was insensitive to have appeared in military uniform at a literary function attended by Palestinians.
The incident took place Thursday at the Jerusalem launch of a book on music he wrote with the late Edward Said, a Palestinian intellectual. Barenboim, a Jew raised in Israel, dismissed as "nonsense" the suggestion that he dishonored Israeli national pride, the Israeli army or the Israeli people by refusing to grant the interview.
The problem, he said after taking a question from a different Army Radio reporter, was the setting.
"For you, a uniformed soldier may be a symbol of honor and security and all sorts of very positive things that are necessary for your life in Israel, and I respect that," he said. "But the symbolism of a uniform for a Palestinian who has come here to celebrate the fact that one of their own wrote a book with me -- I think that displays insensitivity."
Some Cabinet ministers and lawmakers have denounced Barenboim and called for a boycott of his music.
"Let them do it," Barenboim said. "Go right ahead."
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