About the project
The town of Bethlehem, best known as the place where Jesus was born, is located a few miles south of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Foundation supported a historic concert of the Israel Philharmonic in Manger Square in Bethlehem in June of 1973. The concert was designed to demonstrate that cultural events can bridge political and religious divides and to help launch a sister organization to the Jerusalem Foundation, the Bethlehem Foundation. The concert, in which the Philharmonic was led by Maestro Zubin Mehta and included a solo performance by 16-year old violinist Shlomo Mintz, drew an audience of 3,000. Then-Mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kollek, who initiated the project with Mayor of Bethlehem, Elias Freij, wrote of the event, “Relationships between Jews and Arabs are still pretty difficult and will remain so until political solutions are found. But if meanwhile we learn to live together, to work together, to have cultural events together, and to enjoy music together, this is an essential basis without which any peace, when it comes, will not last.”
