6.What are your favourite websites?
I have a special relationship with the Palestine Chronicle, the well-known news and analysis website that I have been contributing articles to since as early as 2002. I think the newer website Middle East Eye is also doing some very nice things. I also admire the work of those behind the Electronic Intifada. Besides this, I follow the English-language blogs of young Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and the diaspora, and I highly recommend that others around the world do so as well. I believe that their perspective is highly relevant, and that there are many talented writers and thinkers among them. I have a lot of confidence in the new generation of our people. I tried to express this in my song ‘Al Jeel Al Jadeed’ (’The New Generation’). I also want to emphasize that despite our situation of forced separation and exile, we are still one people, and we remain connected with one another, defying all the efforts of our enemy to create as many divisions as they can among us. I think these websites play an important role in maintaining this connection. This is also one of the reasons why I have a clear preference for Palestinian-led web projects and websites, although there are some good initiatives from non-Palestinians out there as well.
7.Where do you see yourself five years from now? What are your plans for the future?
I am a surgeon, and this is my true calling, so I expect and hope to still be doing that five years from now, and for many years after that. This is a profession that involves continuous evolution, growth and development, so my deepest wish is that as time goes by, I keep growing as a doctor and a surgeon. As for my other activities, I pray that I will still be able to continue doing them next to my full-time job. My current plan is to continue to further develop my musical skills, not with the political aim of their message, since I believe I’ve more or less said what I wanted to say in my huge number of songs on that topic, but for the enjoyment of musicianship itself. It does n’t matter so much to me how my new songs will be received. I will continue to express myself in other ways about our cause, through writing and through educating the masses on the many aspects of our struggle.
8.Define success. What does success mean to you?
I suppose my answer to this will be perceived as the typical answer of a Palestinian, but for me the only real success is the defeat of Zionism. Any other successes are just small steps towards that goal, and if they don’t contribute to it, I don’t consider them to be true successes. That said, I believe the success of any Palestinian who is true to his cause is a success for all Palestinians and for our cause. This idea does not stem from some impoverished ideology of nationalism, but from the simple and realistic notion that Zionists clearly are aiming to destroy our people on all possible levels, from our national identity, to our cultural heritage, to our personal lives. Every success booked by a Palestinian, regardless of whether this is in their professions, or in their arts, or in science or business, is a slap in their faces and a defeat for Zionism. Keep moving forward, my Palestinian brothers and sisters, and keep aiming for the highest level of achievements in all fields, whilst never forgetting your roots and your rights.
9. As a Palestinian, what is your opinion about the illegal invasion of Palestinian land by Zionist Jews. In your opinion how can the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians be resolved?
The illegal invasion of Palestine, and the massive ethnic cleansing and appropriation of land by the Zionists, known as the Nakba, is one of the 20th century’s most significant and most severe crimes against humanity. What turns it into one of the worst among them, is that the ruling powers have been protecting and nurturing this brutal invading power in almost every thinkable way, in total defiance of international law and global conventions. This has turned this issue into the massive crime that everyone knows about, but nobody wants to solve. The excuses that people - mostly in the Western World - make up for themselves that keep them from forcing ‘Israel’ to comply with international law, are as morally corrupt as their hypocritical eagerness to please Zionist lobbyists in politics and media. While everyone is well aware that these attitudes are purely given in by opportunism, there seems to be a common consensus among many in the West that these immoral attitudes are best maintained, despite the fact that people are no longer oblivious to the fact that the Palestinian people are paying a heavy price for these inhumane policies.
Fortunately, on the level of ordinary citizens, things are changing significantly, and people are starting to realize that the unholy alliance with Zionism of their governments is not to their own benefit, but only profitable for the ruling elites in their countries. The heinous atrocities committed by Israeli forces upon the Palestinians of Gaza in the summer of 2014 have done their share of waking up large numbers of people who were in a deep slumber on the issue.
The resolution of the issue can only come from significant numbers of people deciding to redeem their own moral integrity, and starting to pressure the Zionist state by calling upon their governments to cut off arms supplies, eliminating trade agreements, boycotting Israeli products, and implementing an academic and cultural boycott as well. Without the existing economical lifelines, the Zionist entity will be forced upon its knees, since it cannot survive without them. The euphemism, "a conflict between ‘Israelis' and Palestinians” is outdated and misleading: in truth, this is a matter of violent invading hordes oppressing, persecuting, robbing, expelling and destroying the indigenous people of a country, for all to see. It is a harsh reality that is inevitably becoming more and more visible to a growing number of people, despite decades of cover-up, brainwash and propaganda. The fake dream induced by the treacherous Oslo-agreements of the 90’s has run its course. It’s high time to wake up from this deceitful hoax, and people are doing that. They just need to hurry up more doing it. Facts on the ground are changing on a daily basis, to the advantage of the Zionists. The situation grows more urgent every day.
10.Do you teach music? Would you consider teaching music in the future?
I don’t consider myself to be in any position to teach music. Despite the many instruments I play on in my recordings, I am entirely self-taught, and I don’t even know how to read musical notes. I don’t think I would even know how to teach other people to make music. I have of course, over the years, developed my own set of skills and knowledge, but I wouldn’t dare compare that to the background that people who have had a true musical education possess. I think teaching music should be left up to those professionals.
11.What advice would you give to young aspiring musicians out there?
I would rather give an advice to young people out there including not only those who aspire to make music, but those who have any other skills and dreams as well. Achievement is always the result of dedication and perseverance. It does n’t usually come presented to you on a silver platter, so don’t count on that to happen. Work hard on what you wish to accomplish, and don’t waste your energy on whining over failures on your way there. All these failures contain lessons that actually help you grow and advance, if you only open your eyes wide enough to see what those lessons are. Don’t give up on what you wish to achieve, and just hang in there long enough until you start seeing things happening, and if you are stubborn enough about it, you will. It’s like the slogan in my song ‘Intifada’: never give up!
