We are thrilled to finally be able to share the result of a two years collaboration with UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.We release today “United as One”: a song-hymn to hope and brotherhood, composed by a group of 23 young Palestinian refugees, in collaboration with a collective of international songwriters and musicians (Davide Dileo, Jordan De Maio, Lydia Lyon, Zeina Barhoum, Amir Issaa), under the artistic leadership of Paolo Petrocelli (Founder and President of EMMA for Peace).The song represents the voices of over half a million Palestine refugee girls and boys studying in more than 700 schools operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.Paolo Petrocelli, Artistic Director and Coordinator of the project, calls the collaboration once-in-a-lifetime experience. “We worked all together, students, musicians, cultural operators as one team for two years. Through music we were able to break down all language barriers and cultural differences. The song we have created is the new anthem of young Palestine refugees: a message of peace and love for the entire humanity. For the first time, living through the COVID-19 pandemic, we too experienced everywhere in the world, for a limited period of time, difficulties in freedom of movement and living under a state of emergency. Although this does not compare to the reality that people in Gaza are living, we were able to gain a glimpse of their suffering. With this song we turned their grief and sense of helplessness into strength and hope”.
