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Global Hit
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The World, Global Hit >>
The current war being fought between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has polarized opinions on both sides of the two countries' shared border and beyond. But there are at least six guys publicly appealing for a middle ground. And last night the six were on stage at a Tel Aviv nightclub. The World Marco Werman explains in today's Global Hit.
Last night in Tel Aviv, this was the sound of moderation. The New York based Balkan Beat Box played at a club called Barbi. The band had already lined up two dates in Israel before the war with Hezbollah began. Some artists might be deterred by the fighting. But not Balkan Beat Box.
"For us it's a different story. We have families here and we were born here, so for us coming to visit in times of conflict is nothing new."
That's Balkan Beat Box co-founder Ori Kaplan. He reckons there were about 900 people at the midnight show last night. A third of those he said were refugees from the fighting in northern Israel. Admission was free if they had proof of residency in the north. Kaplan says playing in Tel Aviv right now felt incredibly important.
“You feel a little bit like you're on the front line. And I'm sad that it is. Why should it be? Why can't it be just a normal place? But it does feel like you're in the center, the nerve center of something. It feels like this conflict is in the heart of a bigger conflict that leads to a bigger conflict. Somehow, if this gets resolved a lot of things might get resolved around it. So there is a moment now that I definitely feel is a historical moment.”
That was echoed by the crowd at the club last night who came out to party to the rhythms of Balkan Beat Box's Bulgarian-Yiddish-techno meltdown.
Musicians often draw a line between performance and politics.
But for a group of Israeli artists with clearly moderate views, right now the two are inseparable.
Ori Kaplan: “I hope there's going to be a cease-fire, and I think most people hope for that. And we expressed that last night at the show. The killing has to stop right now, because it's going to twirl into this madness. There's no winning side here. Hezbollah can not be defeated as long as it's an idea. You know you cannot defeat an idea. It's the same thing in Iraq. It's a matter of trying to understand each other, trying to talk.”
Ori Kaplan has a bit of a head start in understanding the other side.
He grew up in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv.
It's known for its multi-cultural mix of Jews and Muslims, Arab and European cultures. And that mix is the trademark of the music of Balkan Beat Box. If they had their way, Balkan Beat Box's next show would be north of the border.
“We wish we could be on the other side as well, to be in Beirut, to be in Lebanon. We have friends in Beirut, we meet musicians, we were just in a festival hanging out with a band from Beirut. They were incredible. They were just like us, Mediterranean, same look, same mentality. They wish they could come tour in Tel Aviv, and we wish we could come to Beirut. And it was just a happy and sad moment.”
For The World, I'm Marco Werman.
www.balkanbeatbox.com 08/11/06 >> go there
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