Was very happy to see Mahmoud Kohail, from Gaza, sharing his talent on stage. No matter what the zionists do to Palestinians, they can NEVER kill their culture, karama, hope, life. Viva Palestine!
I interviewed Mahmoud in 2010, when he’d only been studying the qanoon for a year. Already he was incredibly talented.
“Mahmoud Kohail, 8, has studied the qanoon for just under a year, but took first prize in a Palestine-wide competition in oriental music for ages 7 to 11.
“Everyone asked me how many years he had been studying,” laughs Najjar. “When I told them it had been only 80 hours, they couldn’t believe me.”
Emad Kohail, Mahmoud’s father, is an accomplished oud player, and his mother a talented singer.
Also a doctor of mental health and alternative medicine, Emad Kohail explains how music has helped his son.
“Mahmoud suffered the same post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that nearly all Gaza’s children suffer, as well as an attention deficit disorder,” he says.
“Music has made an immense difference in Mahmoud’s behaviour. It has been a therapy for his PTSD and as a means of teaching him to focus.””
One of the great things about this Arab Idol story is that not only is he and the other Palestinian youths doing Palestine proud, but in the case of Mahmoud, from suffering Gaza, he’s overcoming the incredible and unjust obstacles the zionists force on Palestinians.
Shine on, Palestine!Filed under: lovely Gaza, music in Gaza