Song played at EU funded event glorifies the rifle as the only “way to Palestine”
“On Thursday evening [July 25, 2013] the Yabous Cultural Center and the National [Palestinian] Institute of Music held the second Ramadan evening of ‘Ramadan Nights’ in which the Institute’s Maqamat Al-Quds choir performed. […]
The Maqamat Al-Quds [choir] performed a medley of songs and Eastern music selections committed [to the Palestinian cause], which it opened with the song ‘Oh, you have forgotten me’ by Riyad Al-Sunbati… and ended with a rifle that has become a symbol and united Nizar Qabbani (Syrian poet), Umm Kulthum (Egyptian singer), and Abdel Wahab (Egyptian singer and composer) together (i.e., the writer, the performer and the composer of the song), in ‘Now I have a rifle.’
These nights are part of the Yabous Cultural Center’s and the National Institute of Music’s joint project and are funded by the European Union.”
“Now I have a rifle” lyrics:
“Now I have a rifle
Take me with you to Palestine
To sad hills
Like the face of Mary Magdalene
To the green domes
And the prophetic stones
(this stanza was sung twice)
Twenty years, I’ve been searching for a land and an identity
Sixty years I’ve been searching for a land and an identity
I’m searching for my home that is there,
for my homeland, surrounded by barbed wire
I’m looking for my childhood
And for my neighborhood friends
I’m looking for my childhood
And for my neighborhood friends
For my books
For my pictures
For every warm corner
For every flowerpot
Take me with you to Palestine, oh men
I want to live or die like men
Now I have a rifle
Say to those who ask about my cause
That now the rifle is the cause
Now I have a rifle
now I’m on the list of rebels
I’ll trample the thorns and the dust
I’ll wear death
I’m with the rebels
I’m from the rebels
From the day I carried my rifle
Palestine is a few meters away
Oh rebels
In Jerusalem
In Hebron
In Beit Shean
In the Jordan Valley
In Bethlehem
Wherever you are, Oh free people
Move forward, move forward
There is one way to Palestine
That passes through the muzzle of the rifle.”
The Maqamat Al-Quds [choir] performed a medley of songs and Eastern music selections committed [to the Palestinian cause], which it opened with the song ‘Oh, you have forgotten me’ by Riyad Al-Sunbati… and ended with a rifle that has become a symbol and united Nizar Qabbani (Syrian poet), Umm Kulthum (Egyptian singer), and Abdel Wahab (Egyptian singer and composer) together (i.e., the writer, the performer and the composer of the song), in ‘Now I have a rifle.’
These nights are part of the Yabous Cultural Center’s and the National Institute of Music’s joint project and are funded by the European Union.”
“Now I have a rifle” lyrics:
“Now I have a rifle
Take me with you to Palestine
To sad hills
Like the face of Mary Magdalene
To the green domes
And the prophetic stones
(this stanza was sung twice)
Twenty years, I’ve been searching for a land and an identity
Sixty years I’ve been searching for a land and an identity
I’m searching for my home that is there,
for my homeland, surrounded by barbed wire
I’m looking for my childhood
And for my neighborhood friends
I’m looking for my childhood
And for my neighborhood friends
For my books
For my pictures
For every warm corner
For every flowerpot
Take me with you to Palestine, oh men
I want to live or die like men
Now I have a rifle
Say to those who ask about my cause
That now the rifle is the cause
Now I have a rifle
now I’m on the list of rebels
I’ll trample the thorns and the dust
I’ll wear death
I’m with the rebels
I’m from the rebels
From the day I carried my rifle
Palestine is a few meters away
Oh rebels
In Jerusalem
In Hebron
In Beit Shean
In the Jordan Valley
In Bethlehem
Wherever you are, Oh free people
Move forward, move forward
There is one way to Palestine
That passes through the muzzle of the rifle.”