Local singers bring MLK Jr.'s message to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A group of singers from Tampa Bay traveled to Israel and the West Bank to perform a play about Martin Luther King Jr. Sponsored by the Unted States Department of State, the play, Passages of Martin Luther King, Êexplores the philosophy of non-violence that guided the American civil rights movement.

Working with Palestinian actors, the singers discovered that the historical drama they were presenting to Palestinian audiences had more relevance to current events than they imagined. During their three-and-a-half-week tour, they experienced a fatal bombing and even the assassination of the founder of a theater where they performed.

The singers left Israel with a newfound appreciation of the complexity of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. But they also gained a deeper conviction that all Palestinians do not endorse violent protest and that many are open to Martin Luther King's message of non-violence.