What politicians haven’t been able to achieve in years, women are achieving with the power of music. It is a force that unites, beyond any language, nationality or political view. A force which can be stronger than a thousand words, speeches, agreements and promises because it comes straight from the heart.
“Home” – the new single of Israeli-Canadian singer, songwriter and peace activist Yael Deckelbaum and her Ensemble The Mothers – is an invitation to all of us to feel this force within and to follow it. For it can be found where our true home is – within ourselves, in our own humanity. It is what connects us as human beings. It is the deep respect for life and the strong wish for peace and a better world for our children.
After the success of “Prayer of the Mothers”, the song that in 2016 became the hymn of the March of Hope which for the first time brought together thousands of Israeli and Palestinian women, the grassroots movement Women Wage Peace had called again for a march in September:
This time the Journey to Peace united 30.000 women and men marching together for two weeks across the whole of Israel and the West Bank. During this period numerous events and meetings with local communities and groups such as the Bedouin women took place in many different locations before finally reaching Jerusalem. There was also a huge tent where the daughters of Sarah and Hagar, Jewish and Palestinian women, met, talked, discussed, danced, sang and enjoyed themselves together in hope and peace. The positive energy that was created could no longer be ignored by the media and this time it was internationally reported on.
Yael and her ensemble The Mothers, a joint group of twelve women artists “from left and right, secular, religious, settlers, Arab and Jewish women” had once more accompanied the Journey to Peace musically. Their impressions and inspirations are processed in the video clip to the song which documents the highlights of these two weeks.
“We don’t agree on all matters, but there’s a fundamental openness to explore together the humanity that hides behind all the definitions and identities that separate us. This ensemble for us, is the formation of an achievable peaceful existence that can be reached when approached with an open heart and while exploring together the plain truths while using music as a uniting tool.”
“Home” is part of an EP which combines recordings in the studio, live and from the Journey to Peace. It was launched on December 20th during a big event at the Abraham Hostel in Tel Aviv together with Aveva Dese and Ester Rada on the stage, two Ethiopian-Israeli singers and songwriters who also participate in the march.
“I am excited to musically empower the movement of “Women Wage Peace” and any initiative focused on uniting, healing and the formation of a new language, a language that will carry us on the route towards a better existence on this land,” says Yael Deckelbaum.
This call for peace and collaboration, for reason and reconciliation, for nonviolence and mutual respect in the midst of a system of violence and wars is also being heard in the rest of the world, awakening a yearning which is slumbering in the hearts of millions of people. We now need to nurture this yearning with images of peace as those in “Home” and with the universal language of that which unites us: our Humanity.
Home – Lyrics / Music & Lyrics by Yael Deckelbaum
Well I looked in the mirror
And I saw humanity
In my struggle to find freedom endlessly
Still I’m so far away from uncovering the secret
That is hidden in the rhythm of my heart
We all keep progressing
And elaborate our needs
As we hide behind our fierce technology
Still we’re so far away from uncovering the secret
That is hidden in the rhythm of our hearts
There is sun, there is sky
And I want to feel alive
So let us all get together with our wisdom
Out of the system
Remembering to listen
Spinning in the rhythm of our home
We can give politicians the key to build our world
But they’d only give us fake security
Cause they’re so far away from uncovering the secret
That is hidden in the rhythm of our hearts
There is sun, there is sky
And I want to feel alive
So let us all get together with our wisdom
Out of the system
Remembering to listen
Spinning in the rhythm of our home
https://yaeldeckelbaum.bandcamp.com/track/home
