Drawing from Palestinian oral tradition, Lullaby offers solidarity without spectacle, centering Palestinian voices rather than Western moral performance.
This December, a powerful new single titled Lullaby emerged not simply as a piece of music, but as a cultural and political intervention, one rooted in Palestinian history and directed toward tangible humanitarian support for Gaza.
Released as part of the Together For Palestine initiative, the song reimagines a well-known Palestinian folk melody, Yamma Mwel El Hawa, transforming it into a collective act of remembrance and solidarity at a time when Gaza’s devastation at the hands of Israel has been relentlessly normalized.
The decision to release Lullaby followed months of large-scale mobilization by Together For Palestine, including a major benefit concert held at London’s OVO Arena Wembley, which brought together Palestinian and international artists and raised millions in humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Crucially, Lullaby is not an external gaze imposed on Palestine. Its foundation lies in Palestinian cultural memory.
The melody itself belongs to a long oral tradition in which lullabies function not only as songs of comfort, but as vessels of survival, intimacy, and continuity under conditions of dispossession.
By working from this tradition rather than composing an abstract ‘song for Gaza’, the project situates itself inside Palestinian experience, not alongside it.
The artists involved reflect that grounding. Palestinian vocalists Nai Barghouti, Lana Lubany, and Amena El Abd are central to the track, not decorative. Their voices carry the emotional weight of the song, shaping its tone and restraint.
They are joined by international artists, including Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Neneh Cherry, Celeste, Dan Smith, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and the London Community Gospel Choir, who participate in a clearly supportive role, lending reach without displacing authorship.
This balance is deliberate, and it sharply distinguishes Lullaby from earlier eras of humanitarian pop.
For decades, Western charity music has relied on a white-savior framework: Africa or the Middle East as an abstract site of suffering, redeemed through Western conscience and celebrity visibility. Those projects frequently centered on the moral performance of the artist rather than the political reality of those affected.
Lullaby seems to reject that model entirely. It does not aestheticize Palestinian pain, nor does it frame Gaza as a passive recipient of empathy. There is no narrative of rescue here, no call for salvation from the outside.
Instead, the official video insists on dignity, and its power lies in refusing to translate Palestinian grief into something palatable for Western consumption.
The campaign surrounding Lullaby reinforces this ethic. All proceeds are directed through the Together For Palestine fund and distributed to Palestinian-led humanitarian organizations, including Taawon, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and the Palestine Medical Relief Society, supporting medical care and essential services for children and families under siege.
Lullaby does not ask the world to feel sorry for Palestine. It asks the world to listen to a people who have always spoken, sung, and remembered, even when every condition has been imposed to silence them.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Youtube (Together for Palestine Lullaby with translated lyrics)
Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
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