- Title: ISRAEL: Palestinian and Israeli bands unite ahead of European tour
- Date: 21st July 2013
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABED HATHUT, MUSICIAN, SAYING: (AUDIO AS INCOMING) "We are here to make rock and roll, it's.. you can't... there is no more peace than that. You know two band Israeli band Palestinian band sharing the same bus. What do you need more than that?" WIDE OF TWO BANDS DURING PRESS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 5th August 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: General,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAC1IHS9SBL5N4LVZISN34KIDH
- Story Text: Performing in Tel Aviv in front of hundreds of fans, Israeli band Orphaned Land and Palestinian band Khalas received rapturous applause from music fans who had gathered to witness a rare collaboration between these two heavy metal rock bands.
Speaking ahead of the concert on Thursday (July 18) , lead singer from Orphaned Land, Kobi Farhi said the band held a philosophy that music transcends politics and delivered a message of peace through heavy metal.
"I'm strongly against boycotts of any kind, I don't think that artists should ever be taken by politicians into their needs. I don't think that artists should boycott. I think that the purpose of art is to represent harmony and coexistence in places of this harmony, that's the purpose of the artist to come and bring hope and bring good times," he said.
Referring to the band's popularity across the Arab and Muslim world, the artist said politicising the band's music would alienate a majority of their fans.
"'Orphaned Land is an Israeli band and we are famous in the Arab world. Imagine that we were to boycott the Arab world then we would have no connection with them, why would we do that instead of what we are doing getting all the fans from the Arab world?" Farhi told Reuters Television.
Formed in 1991 under the name 'Resurrection', the band has been credited with inventing 'Oriental Metal', now a recognised offspring of heavy metal, which has produced hundreds of bands of this genre throughout the Middle East.
Relatively unknown in Israel, the band has gained thousands of fans across the Arab and Muslim world, who regularly post comments on its Facebook and MySpace pages.
Banned from entering most Arab states, the band performs across Europe to enable fans to see them in action.
Palestinian band Khalas have joined Orphaned Land for their European tour as part of an initiative to include metal bands from Arab countries in their music.
Khalas member Abed Hathut said their concerts brought people together in a way that politics failed to do.
"We are here to make rock and roll, it's.. you can't... there is no more peace than that. You know two band Israeli band Palestinian band sharing the same bus. What do you need more than that?" Hathut added.
Formed 12 years ago, the band Khalas draws inspiration from classical oriental music merged with rock and metal.
Revellers at the concert were delighted by the combination the two bands produced.
"It was great. The Khalas show was very very good, just specially because of the combination with Arab music and rock and the metal. I think music is a bridge," said one fan, Hagit Sabat.
The two bands, who are set to share the stage in Europe, will be sharing a tour bus for the next three weeks. The group will perform in France on October 26. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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