In 2004, conductor Daniel Barenboim, founder of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, started a project to help Palestinian youngsters learn classical music, while backing the Palestinians’ demand for a state of their own. Barenboim, who was born in Argentina and raised in Israel, was awarded the 2004 Wolf Prize for “achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples,” in a ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. He later contributed the $100,000 award to a Palestinian music conservatory in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Israeli Education Minister, Limor Livnat, was also present at the award ceremony and was visibly unhappy with the maestro's speech.
In 2001, Barenboim already defied an informal Israeli ban on public performances of the works of German composer Richard Wagner, Hitler’s favorite composer.

This is an excerpt of "Knowledge is the beginning", Paul Smaczny's film on Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (2005).

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