36 Zad Moultaka: peace war and children

Last year a bloody war between Israel and Libanon.
My friend Zad Moultaka is Lebanese. He is a warchild, struck by the atrocities in Libanon in the
eighties.
He is composer now and we from Schouten&Nelissen invited him 2 years ago to direct his own work for an audience of 1200 at the famous Concerthall DE VERENIGING in Nijmegen Holland.
It was a moving, great concert.
But why did we invite him?
There is and was a lot of discussions over the Islam in Holland. Words words insults hate murder.
Zad has been educated in France as a professional composer and concertpianist and now his compositions are rooted in both cultures: his arab roots and western music tradition. So he tries
building bridges without words, hate and murder. I saw him again last weeks and listened to his
great symponic work at the CONCERTGEBOUW.

After the slaughter a year ago, where many innocent persons and children died, he wrote me this.
...c'est une periode tres difficile ou il faillit chaque jour lutter contre la haine et l' amertume,
lutter contre cette idee".. "l' ennemi c' est l' autre...
Quel autre?
La folie et la violence sont propres aux hommes et la mort se fout de l'identite des infants et des innocents.
Aujourd'hui la machine avide de sang semble rassessie, mais por combien de temps...?

Thinking of Zad, of the cruelties of war..the Anne Franks...the children in Lebanon, the massacres in China in the thirties, the unbelievable atrocities in past and present..I only have one wish:

Happy new year to all the children of the world.

(translation: in this difficult times one has to fight every day hate and bitterniss, fight against the idea" "the ennemy is the other". Which other? Madness and violenc are common to people
and death mocks the identoty of children and inncents...Today the cruel longing for blood seems quiet..but for how long..?)