Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., June 21, 2009 Sivan 29, 5769 | | Israel Time: 17:42 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
PA expels founder of Jenin youth orchestra over concert for survivors
By Yoav Stern
Tags: Jenin youth orchestra, PA 

Wafa Younis, a musician from northern Israel who founded a youth orchestra in the Jenin refugee camp, was arrested there on Tuesday by Fatah militants and sent back to Israel from the West Bank. Last week the orchestra played for Holocaust survivors and elderly Arabs in Holon, news that ignited passions in Jenin.

On Tuesday, Younis had been meeting with students' mothers when about four armed men in civilian clothing surrounded her. The militants were led by Zakariya Zubeidi, head of Fatah in the camp, who demanded that Younis go with him in his car to the camp's police station.

"The police chief, who is familiar with my activities, said he would prefer that I leave because those are the instructions regarding anyone with an Israeli identification card," Younis told Haaretz Thursday.
Advertisement
"Zubeidi offered a hudna, where we would suspend our activities for a time, and I agreed. I'll return to Jenin at the right moment because the children are waiting for me, because the community is waiting for me. And if I can't teach them in their classroom I'll teach them in the center I founded in A'ara [where she lives]."

Younis' work in the camp has made her a household name there. After teaching more than a dozen schoolchildren to play the violin, oud, drums and other instruments, she arranged performances in Israel for the orchestra, Strings of Freedom. A year ago it played in A'ara for the families of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Israeli soldiers who were abducted to Lebanon, and of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

On Thursday PA officials said they and Fatah were under heavy pressure from Hamas members in the camp as a result.

"On the Internet there are pictures of the children under photos of the Israeli prisoners, and they performed for Holocaust survivors," one Fatah official said. "Hamas accused us of normalization activities, of identifying with the enemy, so we were forced to expel Younis. The subject is now closed."

Younis, who was interviewed by Arab and foreign news outlets Thursday, told Haaretz that she would appeal directly to the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "I'll ask him to appoint a genuine commission of inquiry that will hear the children and their parents, too," she said. "I will wait until the issue is thrashed out because I cannot continue my work with these interruptions."

Related articles:
  • Palestinian children sing for Holocaust survivors
  • U.S. chorus recreates orchestra from Nazi death camp
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    What now for Iran?
    No one truly knows how the opposition protests in Iran will end
    Shalit slams Olmert
    Noam Shalit: Former PM did not make every effort for Gilad's release
      1.   Palestinians expressing their support for a "peace" 04:40  |  Arie 02/04/09
      2.   PA expels founder of Jenin youth orchestra to Israel 04:47  |  nevets 02/04/09
      3.   Mr Abbas you are disgusting ! Up there with shaking Kuntars hand 04:57  |  PETER SM 02/04/09
      4.   Please remind me 05:03  |  Dan 02/04/09
      5.   If all Palestinians are like her! 05:11  |  MMM 02/04/09
      6.   Normality in Jennin 05:13  |  Jasper 02/04/09
      7.   AND THE EU FIDDLES ON..... 05:15  |  Brant 02/04/09
      8.   Here is the difference: 05:17  |  David Israel 02/04/09
      9.   SO WHERE IS BARENBOIM? 05:25  |  ron 02/04/09
      10.   Political grandstanding through the use of innocent children 09:35  |  Natallie Durson 02/04/09
      11.   #10, Durson 10:24  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 02/04/09
      12.   Natalie - You surprise me 13:14  |  meir gush etzion 02/04/09
      13.   Natallie 15:33  |  Lydia 02/04/09
      14.   Palestinians Working For Peace [sic] 15:54  |  eddie - Haifa 02/04/09
      15.   Typical 18:18  |  Baruch Gold 02/04/09
      16.   Abbas give the children back their teacher! 19:36  |  Realist 02/04/09
      17.   ABBAS dances to the tune of Hamas and Hamas does not want a bar 03:14  |  PETER SM 03/04/09
      18.   WHere is the condenmation from Amnesty, Human Rights, UN & EU 05:33  |  John Phee 03/04/09
      19.   ousting a civilized pal 00:59  |  vs 04/04/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    hotel Jerusalem
    David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
    ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
    IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
    Dead Sea Skin Care
    Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    17:33 Netanyahu vows to back Obama stance on Iran
    16:54 Iran: 17 killed in protests; Rafsanjani's daughter arrested
    09:40 ANALYSIS / Mousavi testing how far he can take Iran protests
    16:49 Ahmadinejad tells U.S., Britain to stop interfering in Iran's affairs
    16:35 Barak: Netanyahu endorsement of Palestinian state 'major step'
    14:12 Iran interactive - images, videos and Tweets from the streets
    16:27 Druze rally against 'state discrimination' near Netanyahu office
    20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
    16:42 'No new developments in efforts to reach Shalit deal'
    11:52 New Tel Aviv bar bans IDF soldiers in uniform, settlement products
    15:37 Israel's richest woman says she receives clairvoyant messages
    10:42 Activists to lecture Border Police on rights of settlers
    13:40 Netanyahu late for cabinet meet due to 'foreign object' in eye
    04:44 Assad spurns Netanyahu offer to resume peace talks
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved