'Lullaby' - the video

 

Together For Palestine - 'Lullaby'

 

 

All profits from the single go to the Together for Palestine Fund, held by Choose Love (charity no. 1177927), to support Palestinian-led organisations Taawon,  Palestine Children's Relief Fund and the Palestine Medical Relief Society.

TO BUY ‘LULLABY’ https://linktr.ee/T4Plive

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Palestinian and British musicians team up again for charity single ‘Lullaby’

The team behind the sold-out Wembley concert Together For Palestine - that raised over £2 million for Gaza in Palestine - announces a charity single ‘Lullaby’. 

It will be released on 12 December, and distributed by EMPIRE, a global independent distributor, record label, and music publisher. All profits raised from the release will go to Choose Love’s Together For Palestine Fund supporting three Palestinian-led organisations Taawon, Palestine Children's Relief Fund and Palestine Medical Relief Service. 

A renewed traditional musical theme 

“This lullaby from our Palestinian musical heritage has been with me since early childhood. Today, it returns at a much-needed time as a reminder of what Palestinians will never lose: hope, defiance, beauty, and dignity,” Palestinian musician Nai Barghouti explained.

'Lullaby’ is indeed an adaptation of ‘Yamma Mweel El Hawa’ [which means ‘Mama, sing to the wind’], a timeless Palestinian song about love, longing and resilience. It is still heard  across the South West Asian region during weddings, street corners and even on TikTok feeds. 

It also speaks of the longing for homeland and freedom from occupation. The new version was thought as a “powerful and emotive reimagining of a traditional Palestinian lullaby”, according to the team, and includes participation of over 15 British and Palestinian artists. 

They said they came together to send this message of hope and solidarity to the place where the Christmas story originates. 

'Lullaby' features vocals notably from Palestinian musicians Nai Barghouti and Lana Lubany, young Yemeni star Amena, and the UK’s Brian Eno, Neneh Cherry and her daughter Mabel, Celeste, Dan Smith (from the band Bastille), Kieran Brunt (Shards), Leigh-Anne, the London Community Gospel Choir, Nadine Shah, and more. 

For Brian Eno, "after a year defined by unimaginable loss, grief and injustice, we want to end with an act of love for Palestine’s children.” 

‘Lullaby’ thus reflects “their beauty, their longing and their hope,” he added. The song includes some lyrics drawn from the work of celebrated Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish, based on an original concept from Es Devlin. This single is produced by Benji B, Kieran Brunt and Henri Davies, mixed by David Wrench and Valgeir Sidurðsson, and mastered by Matt Colton. 

It was arranged and recomposed by Kieran Brunt and Nai Barghouti, with English lyrics written by Peter Gabriel. The official single artwork was created by visionary Gazan painter Malak Mattar and inspired by her piece ‘Shelter’ with additional artwork by Cameron JL West. 

Major fundraising effort 

For this release, Together For Palestine have a bold aim: to reach Christmas nb#1 and raise urgent, life-saving funds for Gaza’s children and Palestinian affected by the ongoing bombardment and genocide. 

“If we rally together and download it, we have a real shot at landing Christmas nb#1 - and turning that moment into vital life-saving support for Gaza’s families,” Eno said. 

For the London-based music sensation Mabel, it is intended to be “a traditional lullaby in tribute to the mothers and children of Gaza means the world. I hope you feel the strength in our voices.” 

The team behind Together for Palestine already organised a game-changing concert and fundraiser for Palestinians in the form of a cultural event hosted at the Arena Wembley, in London, on 17 September 2025, which saw over 150 cultural figures from across the globe participate and raised over £1 million. 

Livestreamed on YouTube, viewed by hundreds of thousands around the world, the filmed version of the event will be available on YouTube from 19 December, featuring additional unseen material, new camera angles and an all-new director's cut.

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Read also my piece on the Together for Palestine concert here:

https://www.newarab.com/features/together-palestine-story-behind-artist-solidarity

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‘Lullaby’

Released this Friday 12th December

 

My interview with Congolese artist Sammy Baloji

 

In our last episode of Spotlight on Africa of this year, I explore perspectives on African history - from across the continent with UNESCO, which has just released the final three volumes of its General History of Africa, and from the Congo, through the insights of artist and filmmaker Sammy Baloji.

https://www.rfi.fr/en/podcasts/spotlight-on-africa/20251210-spotlight-on-africa-unesco-history-of-africa-and-sammy-baloji-s-congolese-history

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You can also read a version of our conversation here: 

INTERVIEW

DRC artist's film sheds light on link between colonialism and climate change

Congolese artist Sammy Baloji’s first documentary The Tree of Authenticity fuses images and sounds, and features a talking tree as its narrator, to highlight the connection between Democratic Republic of Congo’s colonial past and the present-day climate crisis. I asked the artist what inspired him to branch out into this new medium.

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Emma Talbot - 'Everything Is Energy' - at Arnolfini arts, Bristol, England

 

I went back to Arnolfini this weekend, where I was a writer in residence all throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns, actually from October 2019 to July 2022.

It is a space I love deeply, and I always return, an art enue like few others according to me, where I always find time to connect with wonderful artists' works.

This autumn, the venue features a series by the British artist Emma Talbot (b.1969), in an exhibition titled 'Everything is Energy', in which she leads us through "a rich eco-system of works" – including silk painting installations, intimate drawings, sculptural forms, but also animation films.

Talbot calls the sculpters ‘intangible things’  – "each exploring the complexity of our relationship with nature, technology and the world around us," the gallery says.

‘What is life?’ is one of main questions addressed by this series, and what is behind life: spirits? meaning? connectedness? consciousness?

The artworks raise more questions as viewers go along, but one feels also comforted by the experience, not only anxious, as beauty and femininity calm the mind and nervous system.

Visual insight:

The paintings and sculptures are spread over the two floors of the gallery, and the third one also displays two animated films in the venue' 'Dark Studio', which were, personally, my favourite parts.

The gallery writes:

How we live in the world has long been a preoccupation of Talbot’s practice, which examines the role of humans within (and as the perpetrators of) the growing climate emergency amidst a changing geo-political landscape. These questions course in handwritten texts throughout two new monumental silk paintings; Everything is Energy and Are You a Living Thing That Is Dying or a Dying Thing That Is Living? which sit at the heart of the exhibition.

“There isn’t an action that doesn’t have some kind of impact on another thing, because that’s what we’re experiencing. Life is an accumulation of actions, and in that sense, energy moves through us," the artist said. "We’re full of energy in order to live… It’s a really good way of explaining and of thinking about what life is.”

In a world increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence and digital mediation, Talbot’s work offers a reminder of our fundamental connection to the natural world, and to one another. Everything is Energy invites us to slow down, question and to reconnect, harnessing the energy that flows throughout all living things, to ask us each ‘What can you gather before you retreat?’

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Emma Talbot is represented by Galerie Onrust.

Her work has been included in Milk of Dreams at The 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2022). 

Recent solo exhibitions include: A Journey You Take Alone, Kunsthalle Giessen (2023-2024), In The End The Beginning, Kesselhaus Kindl, Berlin (2023).

Insight into 'Nigerian Modernism'

 

I loved the Nigerian Modernism exhibition at Tate Modern.

Of course, Tate Modern is probably one of my favourite exhbition space in the whole world... But also, after seeing in Paris hundreds of African artworks - long forgotten or purly ignored - crammed into one apologetic exhibition earlier this year, here is a fantastic example of care and precision in curating, truly showcasing Nigerian talents and how they were slowly displayed in the UK and the world over the years. My visual insight (more words soon):

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Set against the backdrop of cultural and artistic rebellion, Nigerian Modernism celebrates the achievements of Nigerian artists working before and after the decade of national independence from British colonial rule in 1960. 

It shows works from 50 artists including Uzo Egonu, El Anatsui, Ladi Kwali and Ben Enwonwu MBE.

The exhibition tells the story of artistic networks which spanned Zaria, Ibadan, Lagos and Enugu, as well as London, Munich and Paris. 

Through groups like the Zaria Art Society and Mbari Artists' and Writers' Club, they fused Nigerian, African and European techniques and traditions to create vibrant, multidimensional works.

Together, London, 28 March 2026

 

https://www.togetheralliance.org.uk/

African youth after the G20: survey reveals hopes and frustrations

 

My latest:

South Africa's G20 presidency: African youth between disappointments and expectations 

During South Africa's G20 presidency, a lot of attention was dedicated to the Y20, a series of events and platforms put in place to  increasingly include young people into the debates. More than ever before at a G 20. Africa indeed has the world's largest population of people under the age of 30. A report from the Ichikowitz Family Foundation in Johannesburg on the youth and the summit also calls for global investment in the younger generations, as the continent’s greatest untapped asset.

  

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Melissa Chemam

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The G20 - or the forum for the world's 20 largest and most advanced economies - put in place the Y20 in 2010 as the official youth engagement platform for the group, in order to enable a dialogue between young people from member countries.

This year, Y20 South Africa 2025 chose the theme "Youth for Global Progress: Uniting for Solidarity, Championing Equality, Driving Sustainability," and aimed to empower young leaders to shape global policies that reflect the priorities of youth.

Levi Singh was the chief coordinator of the Y20. He is 25 himself and says encouraging young people to participate in global events and in politics in general should be an absolute priority. And he thinks this G20 was the most successful so far in getting that message across. 

"As this was the last time that the global south was leading the G20 for the foreseeable future, we thought it to be a unique opportunity to mobilise around youth participation," he told me.

The leadership of young people should be mainstreamed and institutionalised, he added, but he reckons that this was a demand coming much more strongly from global south countries, and not from the seven richest countries of the group, from North America and Europe.

"In Africa in particular, you see the median age today is 19 years old, yet the median age of an African leader, a parliamentarian, a minister or a president, is between 67 and 69. So there's a profound intergenerational divide between the majority of the population and those who are in power and in leadership positions," Singh said. "At the Y20, we weren't calling for people over 65 to be chucked out of office, but for a greater sense of intergenerational collaboration, learning, sharing and power sharing, ultimately."

Youth's expectations

The Ichikowitz Family Foundation, a Johannesburg-based philanthropic organisation dedicated to advancing youth empowerment, innovation, and social cohesion across Africa, aims to align with these key focuses of Y20. 

And through its yearly African Youth Survey, the Foundation wants to provide data-driven insights into the aspirations and challenges of the continent’s youth.

The survey captures every year the views and aspirations of tens of thousands of young people across 25 African countries. And this year, it was focused on the G20.

Titled, Africa’s Youth: “We’re Ready to Build—But the System Is Failing Us”, the report shows that an increasing number of young Africans' trust in democratic institutions and government accountability is eroding fast.

Young people used to expect their leaders to help create jobs, solve the climate crisis, and drive innovation, but they now feel "the system is failing them,” Ivor Ichikowitz, chairman of the Foundation, told me.

Ichikowitz adds that the Foundation's survey shows that young Africans have a polarised view on the current leaderships on the continent.

"On the extremely negative side, there are many respondents who are saying that they are frustrated with their governments and this plays out in what we've seen in Madagascar, what we've seen in Kenya, what we've seen in other countries in Africa," he said. "This is not unexpected."

The protest actions seen over the last 12 months were a reflection of that, from the coup in Gabon, to the Gen Z protests in Madagascar and in Morocco.

"It shows the frustration that the youth are seeing. They have come to the realisation that they need to take their futures into their own hands. They can't rely only on governments," according to Ichikowitz.

"They're coming out of a mindset, in Africa, which has been multi-generational, where there's been a sense that post the colonial powers, the post-colonial governments had to provide, governments were supposed to provide jobs, accommodation, prosperity."

The survey shows that the youth now realise the world doesn't work like that.

Fighting climate change and inequality

Climate change has also become a very key issue to African youth. 

In this survey, the Foundation could observe a deeper awareness around climate change issues.

"There's also a huge frustration because there's a realisation amongst the population that we surveyed that this is a reality that's been created by the world's most industrialised nations, and Africa is bearing the brunt of the consequences," according to Ichikowitz.

"The youth also realise that Africa has the keys to solve the problem, but that they're going to be huge sacrifices required in the protection of our environment in Africa, which is going to restrict development, that's going to restrict growth, that's going to restrict economic opportunities in Africa. And Africa is not being compensated for this reality."

Both Ichikowitz and Singh thus think that this G20 in South Africa was hugely beneficial to young people, especially to include their voices on issues like climate change, inequality and multilateralism.

"One thing that came up quite clearly and repeatedly across the working groups is that young people, in particular those from the global South, are fatigued by the constant framing by policymakers and world leaders of them as a problem and something that needs to be fixed," Singh concluded, "as opposed to an asset that requires investment and planning."

South Africa's programme of action thus offered some explicit references to how to mobilise and include the under 30.

"And that includes the UN pact of the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations," Singh recalled, which talk about how multilateralism needs to start harnessing the power of young people, the largest generation of young people in human history. 

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Ugandan elections J-45

Uganda: Türk deplores intensifying crackdown on opposition and media ahead of elections

03 December 2025

 

GENEVA – UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Wednesday deplored the intensifying crackdown on the opposition and the media in Uganda ahead of next month’s general election, calling on the authorities to fully respect and protect human rights before, during and after election day.

Credible reports indicate that at least 550 individuals, including members and supporters of the National Unity Platform party (NUP), have been arrested and detained since the beginning of the year. Of these, more than 300 were arrested since campaigning began in September. Many of those arrested remain in custody, facing charges ranging from public nuisance and disobedience of lawful orders to assault, obstruction, and incitement of violence.

Heavily armed security forces have been deployed at locations where the NUP party is scheduled to conduct rallies. Last week, they reportedly used live ammunition in the eastern town of Iganga, killing at least one and injuring at least three. They have also used tear gas, whips, batons, water cannon and chemical irritants among other weapons during the rallies to disperse NUP supporters, injuring many people.

“It is deeply regrettable that election campaigns have once again been marked by widespread arbitrary arrests, detentions and the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against the opposition, as well as undue restriction of press freedom,” said Türk.

“I urge Ugandan authorities to cease the use of such repressive tactics to enable Ugandans to fully and peacefully exercise their right to participate in their country’s public affairs on election day, and in its aftermath.”

Reports of arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as enforced disappearance, torture and other ill treatment of opposition supporters and activists have been on a steady increase over the past year, with security forces accused of using unmarked minibuses widely known as “drones” to transport people to unofficial places of detention known as “safe houses”, where they are held incommunicado. Under international law, detainees should be held only in facilities officially acknowledged as places of detention, including to prevent torture.

In May, for example, the head of the military posted on X that he was holding the bodyguard of NUP’s leader in his “basement”. Following a public outcry, the bodyguard was later presented in court, visibly shaking and showing other signs of physical torture. It does not appear that the court reacted to such signs of torture or ill-treatment and there is no indication that a thorough investigation has been carried out into this case by the competent authorities. In another recent case, two Kenyan activists, who were arbitrarily detained in Uganda shortly after attending an opposition rally in October, were handed over to the Kenyan authorities after more than a month of incommunicado detention in what the Ugandan President called “the fridge”.

Dozens of other opposition supporters are still in detention after they were arrested in connection with their political activities at the last elections more than four years ago.

“I urge the Ugandan authorities to fully and impartially investigate all allegations of enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture or ill treatment, punish those accountable and provide full reparation to the victims,” said Türk.

“I also call on them to end this pattern of repression. All individuals arbitrarily deprived of liberty should be released.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also called on the Government to uphold the right to freedom of expression, following multiple recent cases of restriction of press freedom in the country.

In October, for instance, journalists from NTV Uganda and The Daily Monitor newspaper had their accreditations to cover Parliament withdrawn apparently due to their critical reporting. And at least 32 journalists and media workers were either assaulted or had their equipment confiscated or damaged by security operatives during a parliamentary by-election in Kawempe North constituency in March.

“The Ugandan authorities must halt all violence against the media and the opposition and act fully in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law,” said Türk.

‘Lullaby’

  

Palestinian and British musicians team up again for charity single ‘Lullaby’, entering the race for Christmas nb#1 

The team behind the sold-out Wembley concert Together For Palestine - that raised over £2 million for Gaza in Palestine - announces a charity single ‘Lullaby’. 

It will be released on 12 December, and distributed by EMPIRE, a global independent distributor, record label, and music publisher. All profits raised from the release will go to Choose Love’s Together For Palestine Fund supporting three Palestinian-led organisations Taawon, Palestine Children's Relief Fund and Palestine Medical Relief Service. 

A renewed traditional musical theme 

“This lullaby from our Palestinian musical heritage has been with me since early childhood. Today, it returns at a much-needed time as a reminder of what Palestinians will never lose: hope, defiance, beauty, and dignity,” Palestinian musician Nai Barghouti explained.

'Lullaby’ is indeed an adaptation of ‘Yamma Mweel El Hawa’ [which means ‘Mama, sing to the wind’], a timeless Palestinian song about love, longing and resilience. It is still heard  across the South West Asian region during weddings, street corners and even on TikTok feeds. 

It also speaks of the longing for homeland and freedom from occupation. The new version was thought as a “powerful and emotive reimagining of a traditional Palestinian lullaby”, according to the team, and includes participation of over 15 British and Palestinian artists. 

They said they came together to send this message of hope and solidarity to the place where the Christmas story originates. 

'Lullaby' features vocals notably from Palestinian musicians Nai Barghouti and Lana Lubany, young Yemeni star Amena, and the UK’s Brian Eno, Neneh Cherry and her daughter Mabel, Celeste, Dan Smith (from the band Bastille), Kieran Brunt (Shards), Leigh-Anne, the London Community Gospel Choir, Nadine Shah, and more. 

For Brian Eno, "after a year defined by unimaginable loss, grief and injustice, we want to end with an act of love for Palestine’s children.” 

‘Lullaby’ thus reflects “their beauty, their longing and their hope,” he added. The song includes some lyrics drawn from the work of celebrated Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish, based on an original concept from Es Devlin. This single is produced by Benji B, Kieran Brunt and Henri Davies, mixed by David Wrench and Valgeir Sidurðsson, and mastered by Matt Colton. 

It was arranged and recomposed by Kieran Brunt and Nai Barghouti, with English lyrics written by Peter Gabriel. The official single artwork was created by visionary Gazan painter Malak Mattar and inspired by her piece ‘Shelter’ with additional artwork by Cameron JL West. 

Major fundraising effort 

For this release, Together For Palestine have a bold aim: to reach Christmas nb#1 and raise urgent, life-saving funds for Gaza’s children and Palestinian affected by the ongoing bombardment and genocide. 

“If we rally together and download it, we have a real shot at landing Christmas nb#1 - and turning that moment into vital life-saving support for Gaza’s families,” Eno said. 

For the London-based music sensation Mabel, it is intended to be “a traditional lullaby in tribute to the mothers and children of Gaza means the world. I hope you feel the strength in our voices.” 

The team behind Together for Palestine already organised a game-changing concert and fundraiser for Palestinians in the form of a cultural event hosted at the Arena Wembley, in London, on 17 September 2025, which saw over 150 cultural figures from across the globe participate and raised over £1 million. 

Livestreamed on YouTube, viewed by hundreds of thousands around the world, the filmed version of the event will be available on YouTube from 19 December, featuring additional unseen material, new camera angles and an all-new director's cut.

-

Read my piece on the Together for Palestine concert here:

https://www.newarab.com/features/together-palestine-story-behind-artist-solidarity

*

‘Lullaby’

Released Friday 12th December

To pre-order / pre-save:

https://lnk.to/T4PLullabyInsta?channel=PR 

https://togetherforpalestine.bandcamp.com/album/lullaby?channel=PR