Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim expressed his desire to lead the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as it is now a symbol for Egypt's 2011 Revolution. The general music director of the Berlin State Opera said, "We'd like to have concerts with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in Gaza, Tahrir Square and Israel." Barenboim also said that the current Arab uprisings and the Fukushima nuclear disaster have demonstrated the fragility of the global system and how totalitarian governments can be easily collapsed. He said the revolutions in the Arab world call for hope. Barenboim had an extraordinary concert in the Cairo Opera House back in 2009. The concert was widely controversial for hosting an Israeli conductor, and the Egyptian Minister of Culture at that time was accused of cultural normalization with Israel. He defended the Israeli musician, saying he is considered as one of the prominent peace supporters in the world and he came for his artistic personality not his nationality. It should be noted that Barenboim and his friend the late American-Palestinian thinker Edward Said established the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to set the values of peace in the Middle East and support relations between Israeli and Arab musicians. Barenboim always supports peace initiatives in the region, and he was banned several times from going to the Gaza Strip through Israeli territory.
