People are generally cowardly. They don't want to risk their career. They don't want to risk also the kind of socially awkward situations. They don't want to take part in these.

And all of this sounds ridiculous in the face of a genocide, but it's still undeniably what is going on in Germany.

So I always hope that me doing what I'm doing, if it can motivate

a few of my colleagues in academia and in culture, they don't have to do as much as me, but

if they do a little, a little more than nothing is still better than nothing, that would make

what I do even more worthwhile.

Welcome everyone to a new episode of Marti C Street.

My name is Usama and I'm here with my brothers, Karim and Sadi as usual.

And today we are delighted to welcome a very special guest, Michael Baramboyim, who is a world-famous violinist, a professor at the Baramboym Saeed Academy, and a concert master of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, which was founded by his father, Daniel Baramboym, and our uncle, Edward Saeed.

Since early 2024, Michael has come into the spotlight for speaking out about Gaza, about the situation

of Palestinians. He is part of Make Freedom Ring, which is a classical musicians collective

supporting Palestine, and a member of the Palestinian and Jewish academics, PGA, which

is based in Berlin. He is also a co-curator of the Kilime talks, platforming Palestinian artists

and academics and leads this ensemble called the Ensemble Nesmi, which is a classical ensemble of Palestinian

musicians. Michael, welcome to Maghtisi Street.

Hi, it's thank you for inviting me.

Well, Michael, I guess our first and inevitable question would be, how did someone such as yourself,

you know, a brilliant violinist, how did you go from being

a violinist or why did you go from being a violinist to becoming a voice of conscience,

in a sense, speaking out about the Gaza genocide so forcefully and for Palestinian equality

and rights? What made you go from one to the other?

Right.

...