Mohammed Jaber Abdul Rahman Assaf (; born 1 September 1990) is a Palestinian pop singer well known for being the winner of the second season of ''

Arab Idol ''Arab Idol'' is an Arabic television show, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol'' created by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment and developed by Fremantle Media and recorded in Beirut, Lebanon. The first season premiered on 9 December 201 ...

'', broadcast by the MBC network. His victory received worldwide coverage from the media and was welcomed with joy by Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world. In 2013, Assaf was named a goodwill ambassador for peace by The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). He was also named ambassador of culture and arts by the Palestinian government and was offered a position with "diplomatic standing" by Palestinian President

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

. Assaf's story is the basis of the 2015 film ''The Idol'', directed by

Hany Abu-Assad Hany Abu-Assad (; born 11 October 1961) is an Israeli and Dutch film director and screenwriter of Palestinian origin. He has received two Academy Award nominations: in 2006 for his film '' Paradise Now'', and again in 2013 for his film '' Omar ...

. After ''Arab Idol'', Assaf has gone on to enjoy huge popularity in the Arab World and the Arab diaspora and has released two albums and a great number of singles and collaborations. Most of his music is sung in the Iraqi and

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

dialects, his most famous song is "Ana Dammi Falastini" which means "my blood is Palestinian" and is a cover of a traditional Palestinian song.

Life

Assaf was born in

Misrata Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...

, Libya, to Palestinian parents. The family of his mother Intisar, a mathematics teacher, hailed from the village of Bayt Daras and his father's family was from

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

, both of which areas were seized and depopulated by the nascent IDF in 1948. He has five siblings. The family lived in Misrata until Assaf was four years old. Then they moved to the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in Gaza, where he grew up and attended an

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fl ...

elementary school. Two of Assaf's siblings have also been involved in performing live music. Their mother stated that Assaf began singing at the age of five and "had a voice of someone who was much, much older." Before his role on the television show he was attending

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

's Palestine University majoring in media and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

. Assaf did not have professional training as a singer; he started his career singing at weddings and other private events. He entered the public view in 2000 during a popular local television program where he called in and sang a nationalist song to the host's praise. Afterward, he was frequently offered contracts with local record companies. Sometime after his first performance, he sang in a local event in Gaza attended by the late Palestinian president

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

''Arab Idol''

Mohammed Assaf travelled from Gaza Strip to Egypt to audition for ''

''. It took him two days to reach Egypt by car due to complications on the border. At the beginning, he had to convince the Egyptian security at the border crossing, where he was stuck for two days, to leave Gaza. Once he reached the hotel where the auditions were taking place, the doors were closed in which they did not accept anymore auditions so he jumped over the wall. After he jumped over the wall, he couldn't get a number to audition; he sat hopelessly in the hall where other contestants were waiting for their turn. He started singing to the contestants, and a Palestinian contestant, Ramadan Abu Nahel, who was waiting to audition heard him and gave him his number saying, "I know I won't reach the finals but you will." He was given the nickname ''Asaroukh'' ("The Rocket") by Lebanese singer and ''Arab Idol'' judge

Ragheb Alama Ragheb Alama ( born 7 June 1962) is a Lebanon, Lebanese music artist and television personality. Alama began his career in the 1980s when he appeared as a contestant on the talent show broadcast Studio El Fan, on which he received the Platinum Aw ...

. Assaf was acclaimed by the jury and the public. His voice and appearance have drawn comparisons to Egyptian singer

Abdel Halim Hafez Abdel Halim Ali Shabana (), commonly known as Abdel Halim Hafez (, ) (21 June 1929 – 30 March 1977), was an Egyptian singer, actor, conductor, businessman, music teacher and film producer. Abdel Halim is considered to be one of the greatest ...

, which has garnered Assaf both fame and controversy. Fans merged part of Hafez's name with Assaf's, as in ''Assaf Hilm Falastine'' ("Assaf Palestine’s Dream"). Assaf's final performance was his own song that was well known before his rise to fame, "Ali al-kuffiyeh" ("Raise The Kuffiyeh"), a Palestinian song that called on Palestinians to raise their kuffiyehs (a traditional Arab headdress that has become a Palestinian nationalist symbol) and to unite, in light of the split between the two major Palestinian factions,

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

and

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had tuned in to watch his performance. On 22 June, Assaf was declared the winner of ''Arab Idol'', winning the most votes and coming ahead of two other competitors, Ahmed Gamal and Farah Youssef, from Egypt and Syria, respectively. Massive celebrations by Palestinians ensued after the announcement of his victory, including festivities held on the streets of Gaza City,

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis (), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war. Before the 14th century, Khan Y ...

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, And when his professional career as an artist began after the title of

, he was accompanied by Awtar Band led by The Maestro Yacoub Al-Atrash in

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and international festivals since then.

Performances in ''Arab Idol''

;Performances during the auditions * Casting (Cairo): "Safini Mara" by

* Casting Beirut (Group audition) : "Ana Elli Alayki Mishtaq" by Joseph Sakr * Casting Beirut:" Ala Babi Waef Amarin" by

Melhem Barakat Melhem Barakat (‎; 15 August 1945 – 28 October 2016), also known as Melhim Barakat or Abou Majd, was a Lebanese singer, songwriter, and composer. Barakat was a renowned singer in Lebanon and the wider Arab world. He toured Australia, Sout ...

;Performances during the primes * Top 27: Ya Sghiri –

Melhem Zein Melhem Zein (; born 21 October 1982) is a Lebanese singer. Career When he was 16, Melhem Hussein Zein first participated in an Amateur Singing Program called ''Kaas Al Nojoum'' (The Cup of the Stars) on the Lebanese LBC Channel for singing ...

* 1st Prime: Aala Hisb Oudad – Abdel Halim Hafez * 2nd Prime: Ya Reit –

* 3rd Prime: Gatalouni Oyoun Essoud – Wadih El Safi * 4th Prime: El Zina Labsat Khalkhalaha – Samir Yazbek * 5th Prime: Aanabi – Karem Mahmoud * 6th Prime: Wa Baad Kentom –

Mohammed Abdu Mohammed Abdu (; born June 12, 1949) is a Saudi singer. He has been described as the "Artist of the Arabs". Early years Mohammed Abdu was born on June 12, 1949 in Al Shuqaiq, Jazan. His father, Abdu Othman Al-A'asiri, was a poor fisherman ...

* 7th Prime: Sawt El Heda –

Assi El Helani Mohammed Muzen El Hallani (), widely known as Assi El Hallani; born 28 November 1970), is a Lebanese singer and actor. El Helani's musical career started after winning Studio Al Fan, a TV program for young artists, at the age of 17. Biography ...

* 8th Prime: Kol Da Kan Leih –

Mohammed Abdel Wahab Mohamed Abdel Wahab (), also transliterated ''Mehammad Abdelwehab'', (March 13, 1902 – May 4, 1991), was a prominent 20th-century Egyptian singer, actor, and composer. He is best known for his Romantic and Egyptian patriotic songs. He ...

and Nemshi wa Nemshi –

Saber Rebaï Saber Rebai (, ''Saber al Ruba'i''; born 13 March 1967) is a Tunisian singer, actor, and composer. He is known for his song " Sidi Mansour". Some albums carry the variant transliteration Saber el Rebaii. He is one of the most well-known artists ...

* Final: Ya Ain Ala Saber – Wadih El Safi and Lena Allah –

and "Aali El Kuffiyeh" – Mohammed Assaf*

International attention

Assaf has gained widespread popularity throughout the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

and among fellow Palestinians from the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, Gaza Strip and the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

through his performance of well-known Arabic love songs and patriotic hymns for the

Palestinian cause Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people that espouses self-determination and sovereignty over the region of Palestine.de Waart, 1994p. 223 Referencing Article 9 of ''The Palestinian National Charter of 19 ...

. Family members, neighbors and Palestinians in general have been waiting for his performance in Beirut every Friday night. Board member of Gaza Association for Culture and Arts Jamal Abu Qumsan stated Assaf "has struck a chord with Palestinians by singing classic Arabic songs that deal with issues other than war and struggle ... To many here, that kind of music offers them a sense of stability" amid constantly unstable circumstances due to the conflict with Israel and intra-Palestinian strife. Mohammed Assaf sang in English during one of the live shows of ''Arab Idol'', performing the song "

I Want It That Way "I Want It That Way" is a song by American boy band Backstreet Boys. It was released on April 12, 1999, as the lead single from their third studio album, ''Millennium''. It was written by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, while Martin and Kris ...

" by the

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

. The buzz Assaf created has reached the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and recently other parts of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

due to articles posted by American-based news websites such as '' Wet Paint'', ''

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

'', ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'', the

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

news website

CNN International Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...

, as well as European-based news sites such as Germany's ''

Frankfurter Rundschau The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (''FR'') is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. The ''Rundschaus editorial stance is social liberal. It holds that "independence, social justice and fairness" underlie its journalism. In Post-wa ...

''. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' published an article titled "Arab Idol favourite Mohammed Assaf carries hopes of Palestinians into final". Post his widely expected win,

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

interviewed him in

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's ...

, during his tour, and dedicated an entire episode of the programme '' Inside Story'' detailing Assaf's journey through ''

''. He was described as "the wedding singer from Gaza who was brought up in a refugee camp, to become an international star and a Palestinian hero." In May 2023, his 2015 Track 'Ana Dammi Falastini' (My Blood is Palestinian), was removed from Streaming Platforms

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

and

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

which led to a huge public uproar online. Assaf told The New Arab's Arabic-language site that he received an email from Spotify saying his song "Ana Dammi Falastini" was removed under the pretence of "inciting against Israel." A Spotify representative responded to this with a statement regarding the deleted song: “The removal of some of Mohammed Assaf’s content was not determined by Spotify, but rather by the

distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...

. We anticipate its return in the near future and apologise for any inconvenience caused.” The song was back on Spotify after a couple of days.

Political impact

While Assaf has normally avoided politics on the show, he has stated "I can't differentiate between my art and my patriotic attitude." Assaf condemned the ongoing Israeli occupation of West Bank and the poor living conditions in the Gaza Strip. He also stated that Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi's long-term hunger strike protest had inspired him. He frequently performed donning the checkered

keffiyeh The keffiyeh (), also regionally known as a hattah (), ghutrah (), or shemagh (), is a traditional headdress worn by men from parts of the Middle East. It is fashioned from a square scarf, and is usually made of cotton. The keffiyeh is commonly ...

popularly associated with Palestinian nationalism. He is highly popular in the Palestinian territories, where the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' notes that the "streets of Gaza empty out" when the show goes on air on Fridays and Saturdays. Throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, large posters promoting Assaf have been hung on residences and shops. A source of pride, Assaf has been able to unite Palestinians' sympathies in a way that Palestinian political factions have not been able. Some Palestinian politicians have shown their support for the singer who has been creating a sense of unity among Palestinians, regardless of differing political beliefs.

Salam Fayyad Salam Fayyad (; born 12 April 1952) is a Palestinian politician and economist who served as the first prime minister of Palestine from January 2013 until his resigned in July of that same year. He was previously the fourth prime minister of the ...

, former

Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority The prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority was the position of the official head of government of the Palestinian Authority government, which operated between March 2003 and January 2013, when it was officially transformed into t ...

, called on all Palestinians to support Assaf. Palestinian President

had also called for Palestinians everywhere, including the

, to vote for Assaf. Although prior to his participation in ''Arab Idol'', Assaf stated he had been briefly detained by the security forces of the conservative

party and paramilitary group—which maintains '' de facto'' control over Gaza—on over 20 different occasions in an effort to dissuade him from singing, the group has not suppressed Palestinian support for Assaf or viewership of the show. Signalling a shift in attitude, a Gaza-based Hamas MP, Yahya Mousa, lauded Assaf and referred to him the "ambassador for Palestinian art."

Film ''The Idol''

'' The Idol'' is a 2015 Palestinian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

and

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

about Assaf's life, directed by

. It was shown in the Special Presentations section of the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and N ...

. ''The Idol'' was partially filmed on location in Gaza, the first feature film to be shot there in decades, with further filmings in

Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. ''The Idol'' was produced in association with the

Doha Film Institute Doha Film Institute (DFI) is a nonprofit cultural organisation established in 2010 by Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani to support the growth of the Qatari film community and to provide funding and international networking oppo ...

and the support of the Netherlands Film Fund. the film was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

89th Academy Awards The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2016 in film, films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californ ...

but it was not nominated.

After ''Arab Idol''

Assaf has enjoyed pan-Arab and Arab diaspora popularity internationality engaging in sold-out tours. He released a number of music videos and in 2014, was invited to sing during

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

celebrations with "Yalla Yalla". He has also released a number of collaborative singles. His 2017 hit "Baddek Enayah" (in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

بدّك عناية) features the Cuban reggaeton group

Gente de Zona Gente de Zona (; ) is a Cuban music, Cuban reggaeton duo made up of musicians Alexander Delgado and Randy Malcom Martínez. In 2016, the duo gained success with the song "Bailando (Enrique Iglesias song), Bailando" with Enrique Iglesias. This hi ...

. Also in 2017, he released "Rani" as a bilingual Arabic and French duet with French Algerian

raï Raï (, ; , , ), sometimes written rai, is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. Singers of Raï are called () or (), i.e. 'young', as opposed to (, 'shaykh'), i.e. 'old', the name given to Chaabi singers. The tradi ...

singer

Faudel Faudel Belloua (; born June 6, 1978) is a French raï singer and actor of Algerian descent. He released studio albums, notably '' Baïda'', '' Samra'', ''Un Autre Soleil'' and ''Mundial Corrida'' and the live album '' 1,2,3 Soleils'' jointly w ...

and in 2018 collaborated with Lebanese-Canadian

Massari Sari Abboud (; born December 10, 1980), better known by his stage name Massari ( ), is a Lebanese-Canadian singer and songwriter. He began his career in the early 2000s and went on to release two contemporary R&B, R&B albums, ''Massari (album), Ma ...

in the single "Roll with It". Along with Wafaa Alnjeili, Badeel Band, and Palestine's first heavy metal band, Osprey V., Mohammed Assaf was one of the artists to take part in the April 2021 "Live for Gaza" livestream concert event that also included

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...

, and

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

Personal life

Assaf married the 28-year-old Reem Ouda in an intimate wedding on August 8, 2020. Only family and handful of friends attended. Ouda is a Palestinian-Danish woman who lived with her family in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

for a few years, before moving to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

after her father died.

Discography

Albums

* 2014: ''Assaf'' () * 2017: ''Ma Wahshnak'' () * 2021: ''Qesas min Flistin'' ()

Singles and music videos

*2014: "Ya Halali Ya Mali" () *2015: "Aywa Ha Ghanni" () *2015: "Dammi Falastini" () *2016: "Seyouf El Ezz" () *2017: "Baddek Enayah" (feat.

) () *2017: "Rani" (with

) *2018: "Roll with It" (with

) *2019: "Kermalak Enta" *2020: "Shhalhalawa" *2020: "Dalaa Dalouna" *2020: "Salam Allah" *2020: "Filastin 'int alruwh" *2020: "Al Hayat" *2021: "Mraytak" *2021: "Al Hara" *2021: "Bahrek Gaza" () *2021: "Salute to Al Quds" *2021: "Ya Banat Bladna" () *2023: "Ben Jeddah" *2024: "Salam Lighaza" ( سلامُ لغزة)

References

External links

Official Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assaf, Mohammed 1989 births Living people People from Khan Yunis Governorate Palestinian male singers 21st-century male singers Arabic-language singers of Palestine Contestants from Arabic singing competitions Arab Idol winners