Mohammed Assaf, the Palestinian singer who escaped from Gaza to become a superstar, has called for ‘an end to the violence’ in his blighted homeland and for ‘the international community to intervene.’
Assaf, who first earned worldwide fame by winning Arab Idol two years ago, is currently in London promoting a new biopic about his life.
Filmed in the Gaza Strip, Jenin and other areas of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in addition to Jordan, The Idol charts Assaf’s life from his boyhood in a refugee camp to triumph in the singing reality show in 2013.
The 26-year-old has used the trip to appear in public with his TV presenter fiancée, Lina Qishawi, 23, for the first time.
But rather than focusing on The Idol, the film inspired by Assaf’s career, the couple said their thoughts were with those suffering across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
‘The violence is horrendous, and we are both calling for it to stop,’ said Assaf. ‘We are urging the international community, including the United Nations (UN), to step in and take concrete action.
‘Words of condemnation are not enough. Illegal Israeli occupation is the primary reason for the regular fighting’, said the singer, who is also a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Palestine.
Assaf said he deplored all forms of violence, and particularly fatalities, but described the horrific spiral as the ‘result of oppressive policies and a blanket ban on all Palestinian dissent.’
‘People have reached breaking point because they’re subjugated. This is because of the apartheid regime, the continuous expansion of illegal settlements, the outlawed demolition of Palestinian homes and farms and the daily humiliation at checkpoints.
‘It’s also because of the constant military offensives, persecutions and lack of hope, and the routine extra-judicial killings and unauthorised detentions, including that of children,’ he said.
‘Palestinians are taking action because of these terrible injustices. This is not new, but things are getting worse, and increased repression, including collective punishment, only leads to more trouble. All Palestinians want is to be a free, independent people, and to live with dignity.’
Referring to the more immediate cause of the latest cycle of violence, Assaf suggested that ‘the Arab League should take charge of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, over Jordan. This will prevent future provocations and illegal incursions by Jewish extremists who want to pray there while being offered protection by Israeli forces.’
‘Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and Palestinians won’t allow any attempt to turn it into a Jewish Temple and Judaise Jerusalem’, said Assaf.
Discussing the political relevance of The Idol, Assaf said: ‘I’m very proud of the film, not just because it’s my life story, but because it’s about the Palestinian struggle, especially of those blockaded within Gaza’.
Speaking for the first time about their relationship, Lina said the couple’s engagement party was held last month in Ramallah, near Beit El, the place where much of the latest violence is happening.
She said she was ‘particularly distressed by the number of children being killed,’ and told of her horror at the story of Rahaf Hassan, a three-year-old girl who died alongside her pregnant mother, Noor, during an Israeli airstrike on Gaza last Sunday.
Calling Rahaf a ‘little angel’, Lina said she had been moved to tears by an online video that showed the child’s corpse being hugged and kissed by her inconsolable father.
Lina added that ‘footage of rubble and devastation in Gaza’ shown in The Idol ‘summed up the ongoing situation.’
There is one scene that evokes the haunting images of the four boys playing football on a beach last summer before being blown to pieces by Israeli ordnance.
A scene in The Idol evoking the haunting images of the four boys playing football on a beach in Gaza last summer before being blown to pieces by Israeli ordnance. (Photo credit: Platinum Records Music).
More than 2200 Palestinians were killed and 10,600 wounded in the Gaza strip during Israeli bombardments last year. In turn, Israel lost 66 soldiers and five civilians to rocket and commando raids.
Knife and gun attacks are currently breaking out across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories almost daily, with serious casualties on both sides.
Since the beginning of the month at least 32 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and nearly 2000 have been wounded in Israeli attacks.
Meanwhile eight Israelis died in assaults, including one in which a victim was run over by a car and then hacked to death by a man using an axe. Numerous others have been injured in stabbing and firearm incidents.
By Nabila Ramdani
The original version of this article was posted on The Middle East Monitor. You can read it by clicking here.
