Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Palestinian joy as Gaza singer wins Arab Idol

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Monday, June 24, 2013

Palestinian joy as Gaza singer wins Arab Idol

Google – AFP, 23 June 2013

Thousands of Palestinians celebrate the victory in the Arab Idol contestant

of Mohammed Assaf on June 23, 2013 (AFP, Abbas Momani)

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Tens of thousands of jubilant Palestinians celebrated into the early hours of Sunday after a 23-year-old Gazan singer won the prestigious Arab Idol talent show that has captivated millions across the Middle East since March.

The meteoric rise of Gaza's Mohammed Assaf to snatch the top prize in the pan-Arab singing contest sparked an unprecedented outpouring of joy across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, unifying an often divided public.

Assaf's victory in the finals, held in Beirut and screened live on television across the Arab world, marked the first such success for a Palestinian entertainer.

"Mohammed Assaf is the Arab Idol!" declared the presenter of the show which is modelled on the US hit show Pop Idol, as coloured confetti rained down on the cheering audience.

The handsome, tuxedo-clad singer immediately dedicated his win to "the Palestinian people, who have been suffering for more than 60 years from (the Israeli) occupation".

Fans of Mohammad Assaf celebrate in

Khan Yunis after the Palestinian singer

won the final of the Arab Idol

competition (AFP, Said Khatib)

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas immediately crowned him a national goodwill ambassador, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees named him their UNRWA Youth Ambassador.

Since the contest began in March, Assaf has earned himself an army of followers who have been glued to the big screens in cafes and restaurants across the territories, listening enraptured as his powerful voice propelled him further and further ahead in the weekly sing-off.

As his name was read out, his mother, who was wearing a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, her shoulders wrapped in the black, green, white and red of the national flag, burst out crying.

Spontaneous celebrations broke out across the Gaza Strip, and in the West Bank, where tens of thousands took to the streets, cheering and dancing, car radios blasting the traditional Palestinian song which propelled him to victory as people handed out sweets to passers by.

His victory was splashed across Sunday's front pages with many making a play on words linked to a remark by one of the judges who described him as "the best rocket" to have come out of Gaza - "a rocket of peace, not war".

"'The rocket hit the target and brought joy to the Palestinians," said Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, while the rival Al-Ayyam went with: "Assaf - the Palestinians' art rocket."

Each edition of the twice-weekly show, aired by the pan-Arab MBC channel in Beirut, has been followed with increasing anticipation, with social networks mobilising to boost votes for their favoured candidate.

In Ramallah, the West Bank's political capital, the streets were jammed with people until the early hours of Sunday.

Similar scenes were played out in Gaza, where a sea of smiling faces packed the streets.

"The mood is indescribable. Everyone is celebrating. Thank you, Mohammed Assaf, for bringing joy to our hearts!" said Gaza resident Mohammad Dahman.

"We haven't felt this joy in a long time!"

Celebrations also erupted in annexed east Jerusalem, but soured as young Palestinians clashed with Israeli police, resulting in several arrests.

Mohammed Assaf performs after winning

the "Arab Idol" singing contest in Beirut,

on June 23, 2013 (AFP, Anwar Amro)

In northern Lebanon, Palestinian refugees in the Beddawi camp fired into the air and honked car horns to celebrate, while major partying also took place in the southern city of Sidon, an AFP correspondent said.

Born in Misrata, Libya, Assaf grew up in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza, one of the world's poorest and most densely-populated areas which has been subjected to a tight Israeli blockade since 2006.

Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers disapprove of shows such as Arab Idol, which are considered to be un-Islamic, but they have not clamped down on support for the contest.

"All Palestinians share in his success. Mohammed's music is a universal language and speaks to all of us," said UNRWA chief Filippo Grandi.

"How fantastic that a Palestine refugee from Gaza should bring us all together in this way."

There were even congratulations from Israel, with the army's Arabic spokesman Avichai Adraee hailing his victory on Twitter.

"Congratulations Assaf on winning - we wish Hamas would allow the people in the Strip to be happy instead of restraining all signs of happiness as they have been doing so far," he said.

And the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper also hailed his success saying: "A Palestinian hero is born."

"Not since the IDF (army) incursions into Gaza in 2002, have Palestinians had a unifying experience on par with Mohammed Assaf's success on Arab Idol," the paper said.

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Gaza singer Mohammed Assaf wins Arab Idol contest