December 28: The Pluralistic Spiritual Centre hosted a peace concert organised by the Tamera Institute for Global Peacework, Portugal.  The evening was originally intended  to take place in Bethlehem, but this proved impossible due to the political situation.  At the last moment, Tamera approached the Pluralistic Spiritual Centre of NSWAS, which agreed to host the concert in the auditorium of NSWAS and help publicize it.

The evening included performances by Israeli musician Yair Dalal, by a young dance troupe from the Mount of Olives, and by Palestinian musician Samir Makhoul (from northern Israel).  Bethlehem musician and peace activist Elias Hazin (click for homepage) was to have appeared too, but instead explained that this was impossible since two musicians from his band had been denied entry permits by the military.  In a moving speech, he said that peace activists were a minority on both sides, and that we must exert harder and work together for change in both our societies.

Hazin arrived together with a large delegation of other peace workers from Bethlehem, who were greeted with cheers and applause from the audience at their persistance and consent in coming to Israel during this difficult period.

The performances were excellent.  Dalal and his ensemble play classical Arab music and original compositions with lyrics in Hebrew and Arabic. Among the songs was his well-known peace song, "Zaman El Salaam" (Time for Peace) which he previously performed at the ceremony of the Nobel Peace prizes awarded to Yassir Arafat, the late Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.  (The children of NSWAS also sang this song during the visit of Hillary Clinton in December 1998.) Towards the end of the concert, Yair Dalal and other musicians returned to the stage to play together with Samir Makhoul and his accompaniers.

Tamera will use the money raised from the concert to support a workshop for Palestinians and Israelis  in Portugal during 2003.