The Musical Oslo Accords

Musicians from Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Norway, and the United States, joined together to promote Middle East peace. 

Itamar Eichner in Yedioth Ahronoth:

In a pastoral farm near Oslo, capital of Norway-far from the eyes of the media-a group of Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian musicians gathered this past week, and tried to make music together for the sake of peace.

Behind this initiative stands a Norwegian peace activist.  He invited musicians from the region for a joint 10-day workshop.  Participants from Israel included Kobi Oz, Aya Korem, Ohad Hitman and Mika Sadeh.

Three musicians came from the Palestinian Authority, and four arrived from Jordan.  They were joined by Norwegian and American musicians.

For 10 days, the musicians wrote songs together.  The Israelis learned to sing in Arabic, the Palestinians and Jordanians learned to sing in Hebrew.  They are slated to present the result on Saturday night [June 27] in a concert to be held in Oslo with the participation of about 1,000 people.

"Peace in the Middle East is important to us, and we think that musicians in the region have a great responsibility to promote peace.  After all, young people listen much more to musicians than to politicians," he added.