The conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim—an Israeli citizen who lives and works in Germany—has a history of instigating controversy, whether by co-authoring a book about Israel with Edward Said or performing Wagner in Jerusalem. Ruthie Blum cautions against making too much of his most recent leftish stunt: trying to arrange for the Berlin State Opera, or at least its orchestra, to perform in Iran. She writes:
[I]t is pointless for the Israeli culture minister, Miri Regev, to make a stink about [Barenboim’s] latest maneuver, as she has been doing. In the first place, Barenboim is not the only one desiring entry into Iran right now. A German delegation has already graced the place; the UK has reopened its embassy in Tehran; and businessmen and “rapprochement” fantasists alike have been flocking in droves for a foothold there.
And Barenboim’s overall ideology makes him an obvious member of the lunatic left, which ostensibly champions human rights while apologizing for the greatest abusers of it.
Furthermore, in light of repeated statements from Iranian officials reiterating the regime’s intention to destroy Israel and [its] view of America as the “Great Satan”—an enemy with which it signed a pact enabling it to proceed with its nuclear-weapons program—Barenboim’s advances could well be rejected. He is a Jew with Israeli citizenship.
Read more on Israel Hayom: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=13613