Gaza's only grand piano seized by businessman
195 views · Published 4 December 2018 · 3:27 · Indexed 17 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(29 Nov 2018) A local businessman on Thursday claimed ownership of the Gaza Strip's only grand piano, just days after it made its public debut in a landmark concert following a complicated international restoration effort. Sunday's recital provided a lucky audience a rare opportunity to see a live concert in Gaza, whose cultural offerings have greater tly dwindled since the Hamas militant group seized power in 2007. The Edward Said Conservatory, which sponsored the concert, had proudly showed off the piano, hoping to make it the centerpiece of Gaza's only music school. Culture Ministry official Fayez Sersawi told the crowd Sunday that the piano "is returning to where it should be - the Edward Said Conservatory." However, the piano has now become the subject of a dispute over ownership. Saed Herzallah, the owner of al-Nawra resort, where the piano was originally kept, said that it had only been on loan to the conservatory, and that at his request it had been returned a few days after the concert. Herzallah claimed that the music school had asked to borrow the piano for three or four days for the concert, but when they asked to extend the loan to a year, he said he rejected the proposal. Herzallah claims that the conservatory had themselves returned the piano after the concert. Herzallah said he bought the property in 2011 "with everything on it, including the piano." He said he is renovating the resort and plans to put the piano in a wedding hall where students can come play on it. Ismail Daoud, the director of the music school, said the resort is far away, hard to reach for students and its humid conditions will damage the piano. Sersawi, whose ministry is still controlled by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, accused the businessman of "threatening" staff of the business school and committing "piracy." The instrument is now locked up in storage, inaccessible to the young students who had hoped to practice on it. Japan donated the black Yamaha 20 years ago - when Gaza was governed by the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. Daoud does not dispute that the piano was donated to the resort, but at the time it was deemed by the Ministry of Culture as a, "cultural lighthouse." Business slowed after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in 2000. After Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority in 2007, the resort eventually closed. The piano was nearly destroyed in Israeli airstrikes that badly damaged the theater during wars in 2008 and 2014. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/90a9e736e04b596b30cd632c186397a1
