An appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is usually a special moment in the life of any band. But when you are a group of musicians from Israel and the Palestinian territories who haven’t seen, let alone played with each other for five years then it takes on an even deeper significance. 

White Flag, a mix of five Israelis and four Palestinians, are a "band in exile". After forming in 1999 they played around 20 gigs in Israel before the outbreak of the second intifada the following year scattered members to the four winds. 

A couple ended up in the United States, one came to Switzerland, while two others were trapped in the Gaza Strip. 
But five years on, thanks to the dogged persistence of a Swiss television editor and the pulling of several diplomatic strings, the band have reunited in Switzerland. 

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