Destroyed by arson, Jenin music center vows to play another day

Arsonists set fire to a music center in the West Bank town of Jenin on Tuesday, causing extensive damage to the building and destroying expensive musical equipment.

"We are shocked and deplore this act but we will not stop teaching," violinist Ramzi Abu Radwan, the founder of the center, said. "We still don't know who did it and the police are still investigating."

The center opened three years ago as the second branch of a music center in Ramallah. Abu Radwan grew up in a refugee camp and sold newspapers as a youth. His dream to learn how to play a musical instrument was realized after a chance meeting with a music teacher from Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, after which he began playing the viola. Since then he has studied abroad and become a professional musician.

"We have about 80 students and teachers were back at the center on Wednesday holding classes in the garden," Abu Radwan said.

"Together with the Freedom Theater we are the only institutes present in Jenin. We shall not give up: We teach the children about their inner selves, their consciousness and their spirit. The material side of things is secondary. It will be difficult to replace everything that was lost but we shall overcome."

Most of the musical instruments were with the students at the time of the fire. However, a piano and most of the other contents of the school were lost in the blaze.

Gaza center pledged rebuilding funds

A music center destroyed by the Israel Air Force in Gaza Strip fighting received a donation of $50,000 for rebuilding.

The money was a joint contribution by Israeli composer Daniel Barenboim; Miraim Said, the wife of the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said and the West-Eastern Divan orchestra, which consists of Israeli and Arab musicians.

The center had been open for only a few months before it was destroyed in January.