PALESTINIAN SINGER/SONGWRITER MIRA AWAD JOINS SHOW WITH ISRAELI SINGER KOBI FARHI AT LONDON’S WATER RATS

Last month, ORPHANED LAND frontman KOBI FARHI announced the English Language version of his book The Jewish Muezzin, as well as an “Evening With” Concert at London’s Water Rats, with Israeli singer-songwriter Geva Alon on 5th October.

Today, Kobi announces the next guest to join this intimate show will be Palestinian Singer/Songwriter and multidisciplinary activist MIRA AWAD.

MIRA appeared on ORPHANED LAND’s acclaimed 2013 album All Is One, and later joined Kobi and legendary GENESIS guitarist STEVE HACKETT on “West To East.” Although their musical backgrounds may seem worlds apart, their collaborations are driven by a shared belief in music’s ability to transcend borders, genres and identities.

MIRA says:

“To the naked eye, my collaboration with Orphaned Land might have seemed like an unlikely pairing. We came from seemingly very different musical worlds, but beneath the surface there was an immediate human connection, and a shared belief in the power of music to serve a higher purpose.

“I loved the way the band fused metal with Middle Eastern sounds, but even more, I connected deeply with the message they carried through their music. So when the invitation to collaborate came, I didn’t hesitate.

“And here we are, years later—still making music, still doing the work, and still holding on to the same belief: that beyond genres, borders and identities, our shared humanity is what connects us.”

Kobi adds:

“While some artists use their platforms to fan the flames of hatred – whether through inflammatory rhetoric from festival stages, posing with artillery shells or promoting artistic boycotts – I have always believed, throughout my 35-year career, in the power of songs and the ability of music itself to create change.

“I have been fortunate along the way to find other like-minded artists, and one of those I have been blessed to work with is Mira.

“Mira sang in Arabic on All Is One, bringing a powerful and unmistakable voice to the message we shared. Our collaboration continued when she invited me to join her and a group of friends in performing ‘Think of Others,’ based on the words of the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

“Our musical journey reached another remarkable moment when legendary Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett invited Mira and me to sing together on ‘West to East’ – a song about displacement, division and the hope that our shared humanity can transcend borders.

“Music can create a space where people from different sides of a conflict can meet, listen to one another and make something special together. This may not be the MetLife Stadium, Glastonbury or Coachella, but performing with Mira at The Water Rats in London will be a very special moment – and another small step towards the change that music can help create from the ground up.”

Tickets for the show are available here.

As the frontman of ORPHANED LAND, Kobi has spent his life trying to use metal music as a force for positivity, hope and change. The band are known for using their platform to promote peace and unity, shunning calls for artistic boycotts and collaborating with artists who may be considered “enemies” by their respective leaders, including taking Palestinian band Khalas out on their 2013 European Tour and sharing their Metal Hammer Golden God Award with them.

Kobi built something that brought generational enemies together. Long before it became a global symbol of activism, he took to the stage with the keffiyeh as a call for reconciliation. But some fans in the Arab world have often paid a price. One was imprisoned because of his connection to the band. Others tattooed the band’s forbidden lyrics and symbols onto their skin.

The Jewish Muezzin is the remarkable true story of Kobi Farhi, a boy from Jaffa who grew up amid conflict and tribal hatred, yet defied the odds to form one of the most improbable cultural phenomena in the Middle East – the award-winning band ORPHANED LAND.

“I am truly delighted that my memoir is finally making its way into the world in English.” he continues. “I believe the stories it tells, and the small miracles we have been fortunate enough to witness over the years, offer a powerful lesson in music’s ability to heal, to create dialogue, and to foster friendship, brotherhood, and compassion across divides. Even today, after all these increasingly bloodied years, with some artists choosing to promote division over unity, I remain convinced that music is one of the greatest forces for bringing people together, and the finest medicine for humanity”.

This is Kobi’s astonishing account of what it feels like to build bridges through music, to bring light under the darkest of shadows, to find Palestinians and Israelis singing together – an inspiring glimpse of coexistence in one of the most fractured places on earth.

The Jewish Muezzin: Radical Sanity in an Orphaned Land – with a foreword by Genesis gutarist Steve Hackett – will be released on October 7th 2026. Pre orders are available now via Waterstones, Amazon and all good book retailers, with a limited number of signed and dedicated copies available via Lemon Soul.