“An Israeli orchestra played in Cairo for the first time in 40 years, at the Independence Day festivities in the Israeli Embassy to Egypt last week,” writes Lahav Harkov in Monday’s (5/23) Jerusalem Post (Israel). “The orchestra, Firqat Al Noor, is an Israeli orchestra established in 2013 that plays classical Arabic and Mizrahi music with the goal of encouraging the revival of shared Jewish-Arab culture. The orchestra plays music from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and North Africa, and features members who are Jewish, Arab and Druse. ‘Events such as these express the way that the words peace and stability, which diplomats use so often, can turn into practical reality,’ Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Amira Oron said. ‘Every day, the staff of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo creates more peace.’ The embassy hosted Egyptians and foreign dignitaries at the event. The Independence Day celebrations came as Israeli-Egyptian economic ties have grown, and the embassy hosted the orchestra in an attempt to expand relations to include culture and greater people-to-people ties.”
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