Dear Friends in the Palestine Strings,
I was so happy to see the work we did on dynamic contrast, intonation and really listening to each other being realized at such an extraordinary level. Congratulations! I am looking forward to working on Bach with you and other styles of music in which we can further progress the musical parameters we have already established. Your performance at the Royal Albert Hall was something to be proud of and demonstrated the benefits of people being treated equally as opposed to being decimated and robbed by an apartheid system.
As you have seen, there is huge support for stopping the abuse of your human rights. There are many people who are neither infatuated nor indoctrinated by the evil of Zionism.
The sequence of events as described so succinctly by my brother Roger Waters seems to imply that the Head of Radio 3 is at the beck and call of Baroness Screech (who has undermined his position with no right to do so) but we should remember that he gave us the chance to play that beautiful concert. Perhaps we should also remember, title, or no title, Baroness Screech’s opinion is no more important that yours or mine, so one would have thought that none of us should have the right to censor the BBC or the general media in any way. The myth that the BBC is too pro-Palestinian, by the way, has obviously been completely dispelled when a few relatively innocuous words from a violinist can so easily be deleted from a TV broadcast. My short comment was purely observational and humanist. It surely wouldn’t have been censored if it had been referring to the benefits of the demise of the apartheid in South Africa when playing with an African ensemble.
Many thanks however to the people mentioned above and everyone else for giving a world platform to the important discussion concerning Zionist apartheid.
I hope life is treating you ok. We all miss you over here. I’m sorry to hear that the “normal” treatment of Palestinian people by the Israeli authorities led to you being detained for twelve hours. I am looking forward to playing with you again soon and to the days when we can play on a level playing field in Palestine and throughout the world.
Love and respect,
Nigel Kennedy
PS Mostafa – I really look forward to playing Melody in the Wind with you in Hyde Park on September 7th. See you at rehearsals on the 5th
Nigel Kennedy, Palestine Strings, Members of Orchestra of Life, Gwilym Simcock, Krzystof Dziedzic and Yaron Stavi.
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and more.
Live at The Proms Festival at Royal Albert Hall.
Related Links
Official Statement from Nigel Kennedy on BBC Censorship
BBC to censor violinist Nigel Kennedy’s statement about Israeli apartheid from TV broadcast
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