7 Lullabies

After several calls with Shadi, he and I came up with a plan to create an aid project run by his brother, wife, cousins and friends who were sheltering in a bombed out school in North Gaza. As the whole “Hearts for” thing was a craze, and the Western Media were doing their best to label every Palestinian child a terrorist, I thought “Hearts for Gaza” seemed appropriate.

So in North Gaza, at this one bombed out school where over 1000 people were sheltering is where Hearts for Gaza began. We started off by bringing in water tanks, food, clothes, distributing cash to families and orphans in hospitals as well as throwing parties for children to lift their moral.

People with very big hearts across the world started putting on fund-raising concerts and it was this money, combined with the generosity of many big hearts that have become regular donors, that enabled me to expand Hearts for Gaza, building more teams in North Gaza as well as South Gaza and Gaza City.

Currently I have built 6 teams across Gaza, each run by some of the bravest and kindest people I have ever known. Their humility, strength and generosity in the face of the most unimaginable pain is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

I work weekly with each team who respond directly to the needs of the people around them, sourcing and distributing whatever food, medicine and water we can find, running bakeries, clothing warehouses and kitchens that travel to areas most established aid organisations are not able to reach.

Several of my friends in Gaza have lost their children and it is to the memory of these children whom I wrote these lullabies. One of our team members in the South, Abeer Zain’s sister’s house was struck and three of her four children were killed when their house collapsed on top of them. These children are Hazam, Sally and Sarah. Our hearts sunk when we saw the horrific death of 5 year old Hind Rami Iyad Rajab who was killed by Israeli forces during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, which also killed six of her family members and two paramedics coming to her rescue. New born twins Asser and Aysel were killed along with their mother by Israeli forces when their father left their home to retrieve their birth certificates. These are just a very small handful of some of the tragic stories we are witnessing unfold - and somehow as we grapple with the madness and horror of this live-streamed genocide, we are expected to stay silent? Me? Not a chance.

However, despite the unimaginable suffering, morning will always blossom, and this final track on my new album serves up the greatest weapon against oppression - hope.

7 Lullabies will be released worldwide on July 7 2025 with 100% of all profits generated from the sale of the sheet music & streaming to be donated to Hearts for Gaza.