ISRAEL: Locals in the Yemeni capital have taken to a hit song about the beauty of their city - but the singer, an Israeli with Yemeni roots, has never even been there

Record ID: 271358

  • Title: ISRAEL: Locals in the Yemeni capital have taken to a hit song about the beauty of their city - but the singer, an Israeli with Yemeni roots, has never even been there
  • Date: 6th February 2014
  • Summary: MERKAZ SHAPIRA, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) ISRAELI SINGER OF YEMENI DESCENT, ZION GOLAN, SINGING HIS HIT SONG 'SANA'A AL-YEMEN' RECORDING EQUIPMENT VARIOUS OF GOLAN SINGING SANAA AL-YEMEN
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Arts,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA7N3OVHX1GPJP92MXFA3SN3PPW
  • Story Text: Israeli singer Zion Golan has never been to Yemen, but that doesn't stop him singing - in Yemeni-accented Arabic- about its beauty.
    As an Israeli of Yemeni descent, Golan was raised within the strong cultural bonds of his community. As a boy he learned to speak Arabic, ate traditional Yemeni foods, and later married his wife, also of Yemeni descent.
    His Yemeni mother-in-law has written the lyrics to many of his songs.
    So it's not all that surprising that his dream is to visit the country he sings so fondly about, but has never been to visit. Perhaps more surprising are the reports of what he says is his rising popularity in the country he's never even seen.
    "I know that I am well-liked there, I don't mean to sound arrogant. Well-liked, and so I provide them with songs and I enjoy that they are enjoying my songs, it makes me feel good," he told Reuters television.
    "I sell very well there, that's what I've been told. It's a pity that I can't make something of it. I would be a millionaire!" he joked. "It's a great loss. I wish there would be peace and then we could connect, that would be the best dream for all of Israel."
    A recent report in The Economist magazine suggested many residents in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa had taken a liking to Golan's song about their city. The catchy song, Sana'a Al-Yemen, could often be heard blaring around town, the magazine reported, despite a ban on any trade with Israel.
    Israel and Yemen do not have diplomatic relations, and Israelis are not allowed to travel there. Barring special permission, an Israeli law outlaws travel to Yemen, listing it along with other enemy states that fought against it during the 1948 war that led to the establishment of the state.
    In Israel, Golan's songs are relatively well-known, and he has a modest following. His parents' recollections about life in their birth country pushed him into singing about it, he said.
    "My parents told me many stories about Yemen, about Sanaa, about Aden, all about Yemen, so I felt it was right to write, to perform songs in a Yemeni style, which I feel is part of me. And my big dream is to be in Yemen," he said.
    In 1949 Israel organised the departure of the bulk of Yemen's Jews, around 50,000, a project known as 'Operation Magic Carpet.' Today, a tiny remnant of what was once a vibrant Jewish minority remains in Yemen, estimated at around 100 people. Many Jews left due to economic distress and fears of persecution.
    In Israel, Yemeni culture thrives, and the Yemeni community is estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands. In the trendy southern Tel Aviv neighbourhood of 'Kerem HaTeymanim,' or the 'Yemeni Orchard,' locals flock to the area for a traditional meal or to experience other aspects of Yemeni culture.
    A tour guide for the area says it is unlikely that Golan is wanting to return to the Yemen that so many left in the 1950s.
    "It's very nice to sing from Israel that you want to return to Yemen, but the intention is to return to a certain period, to visit ancestral roots. I assume that he doesn't want to be in the situation Jewish Yemenis were in when they left Yemen back then," said Shlomo Mussman.
    In the restaurants of the Yemeni Orchard there is still great fondness for Yemeni tradition.
    "The singing is beautiful, you can't ignore it. At every event, if there isn't Yemeni singing, it's not happy, it just isn't right," said Tzadok Khabura, a restaurant owner of Yemeni descent.
    "We must continue these traditions, so the many coming generations will continue with the torah, with all the festivities, with the traditional Henna ceremony," said Yocheved Domrani, a restaurant worker also of Yemeni descent.
    Both Domrani and Khabura were born in Israel to parents who arrived in Israel as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Like many of the waves of immigrants that arrived during the early years of the state, the Yemeni community was poverty-stricken, and their neighbourhood in Tel Aviv was considered a slum. Today, the gentrified area has undergone a face-lift and real-estate prices have skyrocketed.
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