Help the Children

Rim Bana brings hope and joy through song This summer Holy Land Trust helped organize a four-day children's concert tour for Rim Banna, one of the world's most beloved Palestinian singers, lyricists and composers. The purpose of these concerts was to provide Rim a venue to perform for the children of several different Palestinian refugee camps: children who face extreme poverty, depression, and violence. According to a recent UNICEF report, 100% of all Palestinian children suffer from the symptoms of trauma. Living out their entire lives in a virtual war zone has caused many of these children to lose any sense of hope for the future. These concerts provided some much needed relief from the horrors of poverty and conflict. Though the style of her songs is deeply rooted in Palestinian tradition and culture, Rim Banna has been described by some commentators as a "postmodern" musician. She performs modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian folk songs, children's songs and lullabies. Hoping to preserve a long tradition of stylized Arabic music, Rim, in her songs, also touches on the current sufferings and tragedies that the Palestinians have been forced to endure. When composing her songs, Rim sometimes partners with her husband, Leonid Alexientic, a Ukrainian artist. Rim has been involved in other Holy Land Trust projects through the Remember the Innocents Department, which is a humanitarian program created to help the children of Palestine. Last year, she performed at the Remember the Innocents Festival on December 28th. The first concert was performed in Jericho and treated 1,000 refugee children to an hour of musical entertainment. The second day of Rim's tour was spent in the Al Aroob refugee camp of Hebron, which is 15 kilometers South of Bethlehem. The population of the camp is 8,184. The camps' inhabitants suffer under extreme poverty, terrible living conditions, and face sporadic Israeli military attacks and closures. The camp contains two schools and Rim's concert attracted 1,500 children, some of whom came from neighboring areas. The third concert took place in the Orthodox Club in Ramalah, where children and adults from nearby refugee camps were able to enjoy an hour-long concert. The last performance took place in Manager Square. 600 children from several different refugee camps were able to attend. For more information about Rim Banna, visit her website: www.rimbanna.com Holy Land Trust remains committed to blessing all of the children of the Middle East and to helping restore the hope and joy that has been lost in the turmoil of recent political conflicts