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Herald Reporter

Zimbabwe and Palestine have taken a step higher in consolidating their bilateral relations after they collaborated through music in condemning Israeli occupation.

The Palestine Embassy in Harare partnered Music for Development Choir under the arm of Esteem Communications to produce a song titled “Save Palestine”, as an advocacy tool for peace.

The video of the song is being premièred on Palestinian television.

Lyrics of the song are in English and Shona, and are a war cry for peace and justice imploring Palestinians to continue fighting just as Zimbabwe did when it waged the liberation struggle that led to independence in 1980.

The video has images of scenes depicting Palestinians fighting Israeli apartheid.

This is the first time there has been such collaboration between Zimbabwe and Palestine in music just as it is the first time to have a Zimbabwean production being shown on Palestine television.

In an interview, Palestine Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Tamer Almassri, said collaboration on the project reflected the close bilateral relations that exist between Zimbabwe and Palestine.

“It reflects the solidarity between the two countries which is deep-rooted in history and culture even before the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980,” he said.

“It is the second cooperation in music between Zimbabwe and Palestine after we had another project titled ‘Beautiful Zimbabwe’ comprising different artistes and the embassy will continue to support cooperation in all fields.”

Ambassador Almassri said the song was released in November to coincide with the commemoration of the Balfour Declaration, which was a public pledge by Britain in 1917, declaring its aim to establish “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

The Balfour Declaration, which resulted in a significant upheaval in the lives of Palestinians, was issued on November 2, 1917.

Esteem Communications representative Takemore Mazuruse said as a Zimbabwean entity, they felt duty-bound to play their part in advocating for peace and justice among the people of Palestine.

“The song is an advocacy tool for peace, justice and equality as we push for co-existence and respect of human rights for all. Palestine, just like any other country, deserves a chance at peace and it is our hope that an end to the invasion is achieved.

“The struggle for self-determination in Palestine is similar to Zimbabwe’s fight for independence and in view of the cordial relations enjoyed by the two countries, we felt compelled to play our part in pushing for peace in Palestine using our creative acumen.”

Mazuruse said when approached to do the “Save Palestine” song, they then organised a choir made up of adults and children under their stable.

“We are happy that the team at the Embassy and the people of Palestine have embraced this production. Our drive is to effectively communicate developmental issues through creative art and music.”

Last week, the Palestinian Embassy was one of the new sponsors of the National Journalistic Media Awards after sponsoring the Yasser Arafat Award in recognition of the late former leader of the State of Palestine.