Singing for Shalit
Photo: Ido Beker
Simple message. Shalit
Reproduction photo
Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze musicians gathered in the village of A'ablin on Tuesday to perform in order to raise awareness for Gilad Shalit.
During the event, singer Yuval Dor of "Hakol Over Habibi" performed a musical adaptation of a book the kidnapped IDF soldier wrote when he was 11-years-old, "When the Fish and the Shark First Met." The song was also translated into Arabic."We are all human beings, we all have mothers and we all feel terrible that a person is being held captive," Dor told Ynet.
'Brief moment of happiness'
According to Dor, it is the book's simple message that will eventually capture readers' minds. "The story Gilad wrote is, in essence, a story about life. Every society has its sharks and its fish, and there is no other choice but to coexist - reach some sort of balance. Music is one way of achieving this balance."
Dor said the musical rendition to Shalit's tale was not meant to convey a political message. "Maybe when people hear this song they'll enjoy themselves and think of peace," he said, "it's enough that people experience a brief moment of happiness; that is our goal in this project."
Zuher Daim, the writer who translated the song into Arabic, said with a smile that he wished Shalit's book was about two fish of the same size and did not involve a shark, but made it clear that the collaboration was apolitical.
"We want to bring about the day when all of the Israeli and Palestinian prisoners are freed; there is no other choice," he said. "We want to instill one message: Peace, peace and peace."
The song will also be performed during the "Pyramid of Light" project, which the City of Ashdod organized to raise awareness for the three kidnapped Israeli soldiers – Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Shalit was kidnapped in a cross border raid near the Gaza Strip by Palestinian terrorists on 25 June 2006. Goldwasser and Regev were captured by Hizbullah gunmen who infiltrated into Israel from Lebanon on July 12, 2006.