The final concert in Jerusalem was a beautiful, memorable event. An unbelievably large, responsive audience. An intense performance. Some very moving playing. A gift of a dove of peace from Palestinian choirs. Several sorrowful goodbyes.
Four of our number – Palestinians – couldn't perform. Couldn't be there. One was the solo Ney player (a kind of middle eastern flute), who you'll see on a video here shortly. He was denied a permit. One was Ramzi, the violinist/violist who runs the music school in Ramallah. He was denied a permit. I'm told that these are not always random decisions.
One of the people I met in Palestine is a blogger. She, though an audience member not a performer, was also denied a permit, and couldn't come to our final Jerusalem concert because she was not allowed through the checkpoint. Here's her story:
http://dudeh.blogspot.com/2007/04/chronicles-of-dalia-and-permit.html