"...The very young traveller knows little of this phenomenon, but before i knew it in myself, I saw it in my father, at Saint-Mattheiu der Pyrenees. I sensed in him, rather than read clearly, the mystery of repetition, already knowing he had been there years before. And, oddly, this place drew him into abstraction in a way no other we'd visited had done. He had been to the region of Emona once before our visit, and to Ragusa several times. He had visited Massimo and Giulia's stone villa for other happy suppers in other years. But at Saint Mattheiu I sensed that he had actually longed for this place, thought it through over and over for some reason I could not excavate, relieved it without telling anyone. He did not tell me now except to recognize aloud the curve of the road before it finally ran up against the abbey wall, and to know, later, which door opened into sanctuary, cloister or finally crypt. This memory for detail was nothing new to me; I had seen him reach for the right door in famous old churches before, or take the correct trun to the ancient refectory, or stop to buy tickets at the right guardhouse in the right shady gravel drive or recall even where he had previously had the finest cup of coffee
The difference at Saint-Mattheiu was a difference of alertness, an almost cursory scanning of walls and cloistered walkaways. Instead of seeming to say to himself," Ah there's that fine tympanum above the doors; I thought I remembered it was on this side", my father appeared to be checking off views he could already have described with his eyes closed. It came over me gradually, even before we had finished climbing the steep, cypress-shaded grounds to the main entrance, that what he remembered here were not architectural details, but events... "
This years Eurovision Song Contest to be held in May in Moscow - Russia, is going to witness a un-expected move by the Israeli Broadcasting Television. They decided to send an Arabic & Hebrew Duet to the prestigious european song contest.
For that purpose the duet selected was by two female singers: Mira Awad and Noa and their song titled "There must be another way". Both singers have a long history of Peace Advocacy of the Palestinian Israeli Conflict, and the Israeli's decision to send them certainly has a message folded between the lyrics of the song to the world.
Mira Awad - Born in Rameh in 1975 in Galilee - Occupied Palestine, to an Arab father from the Galilee (Anwar), a physician by profession, and a Bulgarian mother (Snejanka) , currently she lives in Tel-Aviv. Awad is currently starring in a play about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the Cameri Theater. She became an instant star on Israeli television after appearing in the sit-com "Arab Labor"and "Noah's Ark".
While she has been the butt of criticism on either sides of the Arab-Israeli divide, she has many fans in both camps. The debate has exposed the uneasy position of Israel's Arabs, those Palestinians and their descendants who remained after 1948.
Achinoam Nini or Noa is born in Tel Aviv in 1969 Noa lived in New York City from age 2, but orignally her family is from Yemen.Noa has recorded numerous songs in Italian, French, Spanish, Galician, English, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Hindi, Yemenite Jewish and folk & Arabic pop.
Noa have collaborated frequently with Arab and Palestinian artists from around the world, including Khaled from Algeria, Nabil Salameh from Lebanon, Handallah from Nablus ,Rim Banna from Nazareth, Amal Murkus from Kfar Yasif, and Mira Awad from Kfar Rameh. These collaborations enable the duo to express, musically, their belief in the power of communication and dialogue as a means of promoting peace and understanding.
On November 4, 1995, Noa was on stage performing for an audience of 50,000 at the historic peace rally in Tel-Aviv just minutes before the late Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated.
In September 2002, she included a duet in her album "Now" with Israeli-Arab singer Mira Awad, a cover version of the Beatles' song We Can Work It Out in an effort to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Will leave you with the song they will sing at the Eurovision Song contest 2009 in Moscow :
