Israeli, Iranian singers unite for concert
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli rocker Aviv Geffen broke into The Hope Song, a signature hit he wrote after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin that is often referred to as the Israeli version of John Lennon’s Imagine.
But his peace anthem took on new meaning when his on-stage partner sang along in Farsi — the language of Israel’s archenemy, Iran.
In a rare collaboration, Geffen has teamed up with Iranian dissident musician Shahin Najafi in what they describe as an effort to prove that despite bitter enmity between their countries, ordinary people can find common ground. As they performed the rare Hebrew-Farsi fusion this week, the standing-room-only audience of 6,000 gave a rousing applause.
“I think it is a great opportunity to show the world that Iran and Israel can stand together on the same stage and respect each other,” said Geffen, 43. “People can talk, people can make music together and it’s all fine. We’ve got no problem at all.”
In the early years after its founding in 1948, Israel had close ties to Iran and the Persian country was home to a thriving Jewish community. But after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, they quickly devolved into bitter enemies, with the new Iranian leadership often referring to Israel as “little Satan” and calling for its annihilation.
In recent years, Israel has regarded Iran as its most dangerous adversary because of its suspect nuclear program, its development of long-range missiles and continued support for hostile militant groups along its borders — particularly Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and the Palestinian Hamas of the Gaza Strip.
Meeting with Israelis, let alone visiting their country, is considered an offence in Iran that could have severe repercussions.
“I am very pleased to break that taboo. I do it in the name of art,” Najafi, 36, said through a translator. “What art does is to get rid of the gaps and differences.”
Najafi is no stranger to controversy. He was forced to flee the Islamic Republic more than a decade ago because of his activism and was later issued a death sentence for a song about a Shiite cleric that was deemed blasphemous. Now based in Germany, he still has a strong following among those opposed to the regime in Iran.
In Israel, Geffen became known as the rebellious voice of a younger generation in the early 1990s, when he would appear on stage in makeup, often without a shirt, and challenge his fans by screaming: “Do you want a change?”
His songs dealt with charged issues such as suicide, religion, drugs and military service, which is compulsory for Israeli Jews, but which he himself skipped. He performed at a peace rally in 1995 shortly before Rabin was assassinated by a religious extremist Jew opposed to his peace efforts, and Geffen’s songs came to symbolize that era.
In recent years, he has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he has called a “tyrant” who needs to step down. “If you’re a man, you’ll resign,” Geffen said at one of his concerts.
Geffen said he heard about Najafi through a German journalist and, after a few emotional meetings, began working with the Iranian musician and helped arrange his current five-day visit to Israel.
Leili Bazargan, Najafi’s 33-year-old U.S.-based manager and fiancée, said that as soon as they landed in Tel Aviv, both felt the people and surroundings reminded them of their native Iran.
As children, they were taught to hate Israel, “and I hate that I had all this hatred in me,” she said.
Addressing the audience afterward in English, Najafi asked all the politicians to “stop dividing people before it’s too late.” He then thanked Tel Aviv and shared a long embrace with Geffen as the crowd roared in approval.