Three Irish artists release song featuring Palestinian West Bank children.
Rand, Rwand, Reem, Sara, Omar and Ahmad are the children who live in Aida Refugee Camp in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine, and they feature on the song ‘We Are’ speaking about what it means to be Palestinian.
The loose translation is “we mean… power, strength, obstacles, joy, love, hope, victory, with the words “no one is free until Palestine is free” in English, Arabic and Irish towards the end of the song.
All proceeds from the song will benefit the Lajee Center in Aida Refugee Camp in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine, where MayKay has spent time, as she told us last year on the podcast.
“I’ve spent some time in the amazing Lajee Center in Aida Refugee Camp in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine. Despite the best efforts of the occupation forces to suppress, depress and break the spirits of the young people in the camp, they are made of resilience, joy, steeliness and humour.
“Working with this group of young people was the honour of a lifetime. When Elaine sent me some tracks to listen to from her new record it felt like a great opportunity to have their voices, their language, their strength, their joy and their power on a record being released in Ireland, that will hopefully echo throughout the forests and fields of festivals and clubs for years to come and remind us all what’s important in this world. I recorded them in the centre itself and honestly, they were unbelievably easy to work with, considering it was their first time writing lyrics and recording. There’s nothing they can’t do. I can’t wait to see them all again.”
MayKay.
“I’ve been working on a new record with MayKay and Faye and as we put the different parts of this track in place, it came together really easily and felt right. Giving a platform to these incredible voices is a privilege. I’m really happy to see this track out in the world and all proceeds will go directly to the Lajee Center.”
Elaine Mai.
The very first feeling I had after Elaine played me the children’s voices was hope. In a world marred by division and discourse, to me this song serves as a little mantra towards the light. It’s an honour to be a small part of such a beautiful collaboration.”
Faye O’Rourke
The Lajee Center is a community-based grassroots creative cultural centre that works with new generations of Palestinians as they continue their ongoing struggle for justice and rights for Palestine and all Palestinians.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
