While Israelis and Palestinians have battled ineffectively for decades to find a common ground, there are a few individuals that unite through a mutual love for heavy metal and the belief that music can surpass politics and religion, bringing people together despite their differences.
Two Israeli bands, one Jewish and one Arab, have joined forces in ‘metal brotherhood’ to practice what they preach – a message of coexistence and peace.
Israeli-Jewish band Orphaned Land and Israeli-Arab group Khalas (which means ‘enough’ or ‘stop’ in Arabic) are currently en route an 18-day European tour to help spread the message of coexistence and harmony between the two conflicting sides.
The two bands will not only share the stage, but also a tour bus for three weeks to be an example of tolerance. Their music styles are similar as they fuse classic heavy metal elements with Arabic rhythms and instruments. The result? Oriental Metal.
Shalom Life had a chance to speak to Kobi Farhi, the vocalist for Orphaned Land, and his good friend, Abed Hathout, guitarist and band manager for Khalas, on how these two bands got together for this peace-promoting heavy metal tour.
“Kobi and have been friends for years now, and we’ve always talked about hitting the road together,” Hathout tells me. “One day he gave me a call and told us he wants us (Khalas) on board with an Orphaned Land tour. We reached out to this publishing company ‘Media Men Group’ and they were really excited when we told them about the idea, because luckily, the tour represents what they believe in: peace. They’ve helped make this dream come true.”
“We are simply showing that music is one of the strongest hopes of our times,” adds Farhi. “While politicians and religious leaders work for years just to get themselves into the negotiation table, Orphaned Land and Khalas would share and live inside of a bus. Thats a lesson to our leaders from any kind, religion or politic – grow up!”
Orphaned Land, which have been playing music together for nearly a quarter century, are known for spreading political messages across their music while promoting peace. On the cover of their latest album, All Is One, the symbols of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are depicted united as one.
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