TED Talks Daily - An anthem for peace and justice from Israeli and Palestinian youth | Jerusalem Youth Chorus

Episode Date: August 9, 2024

"Human beings are hardwired to trust one another more when we sing together," says Micah Hendler, founder of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, a music and dialogue project that brings young Palestinian and Israeli individuals together through song. Hendler and executive director Amer Abu Arqub explore how music creates cross-cultural understanding — even during times of war — and introduce the young singers, who perform a powerful anthem of nonviolence and call on listeners to choose a different way forward.

TED Audio Collective. You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. An illustration of music's power to bring people together is etched out every time the Jerusalem Youth Chorus sings together. Israeli-Palestinian musical peacemakers Micah Hendler and Amer Abu Arkoub envision a shared future for their often clashing peoples,

and they do it through a beautiful youth music movement. They give a quick talk before a performance that will warm your heart during this turbulent time in the world. After the break. Support for this show comes from Airbnb. If you know me, you know I love staying in Airbnbs when I travel. They make my family feel most at home when we're away from home. As we settled down at our Airbnb during a recent vacation to Palm Springs, I pictured my own home sitting empty. Wouldn't it be smart and better put to use welcoming a family like mine by hosting it on Airbnb? It feels like the practical thing to do,

and with the extra income, I could save up for renovations to make the space even more inviting for ourselves and for future guests. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. AI keeping you up at night? Wondering what it means for your business? Don't miss the latest season of Disruptors, the podcast that takes a closer look at the innovations reshaping our economy. Join RBC's John Stackhouse and Sonia Sinek from Creative Destruction Lab as they ask bold questions like, why is Canada lagging in AI adoption and how to catch up? Don't get left behind. Listen to Disruptors, the innovation era, and stay ahead of the game in this fast-changing world.

Follow Disruptors on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. And now, our TED Talk of the day. Hi, I'm Micah Hendler. And I am Amir Abarqoub. And we're the leaders of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, a Palestinian and Israeli music and dialogue project raising our voices to push back against the violence surrounding us. We reject war, occupation,

and terror, and instead we decided to sing for peace, justice, inclusion, and equality. At the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, we don't share the same opinions, and we disagree and have hard conversations about them every week. But what we do share is a shared future, despite what all politicians say. I founded the Jerusalem Youth Chorus 12 years ago because of a simple fact, that we as human beings are hardwired to trust one another more when we sing together.

Thank you. Singing actually in groups creates a container in which transformative conversations can happen, very hard conversations, even between people who have been raised to be enemies. And then through music, we're able to expand the impact of these encounters as our singers' voices raised together become a force for systemic change as music has powered social movements throughout history. I joined the choir 10 years ago, and it is where I found my voice as a musician, as a Palestinian, and as Amer. And last year, I was so proud to step into the executive director role with a vision to create a youth singing movement

to help youth find their voices across Israel-Palestine as I found mine. The Jerusalem Youth Chorus singers didn't stop meeting during the war because JYC is our home and we're not going to give up on each other. The song that we'll be sharing with you all today was written by our singers after October 7th. And it really taps into the grief and the pain and the loss and also the deep insight and powerful resilience that they have found in this time. This violence didn't start on October 7th. This violence and the last war is just a very horrifying example of how Israelis and Palestinians

are pitted against each other by the extreme leaders who need each other to stay in power. And it's always the normal people who pay the price. We know that as a Palestinian-Israeli youth chorus, we do not single-handedly have the power to stop war. But we also know that the reason that war continues is because people feel there isn't a different way. We are the different way. And now back to the episode. زيته اللي بتتمع زيت للجميع بلا دخلين بلا قطيع من الأرض بالصيف وبالشديد تحملني

وزنوبي وحسناتي I'm a girl in the summer and in the winter You carry me And my dreams and my good deeds You are my life and I will give you a new life And I still speak in my name They say it's win or lose They say it's do or die But when the day is done Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Because of you I know we must choose a different way We must choose a different way Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, And we'll see the dawn This darkness can't go on

But when the day is done What will be left behind? Only you and me with our futures intertwined We live within the words, we feel each other's pain Because of you I know we must choose a different way We must do that if and when And when the day is done, what will be left behind? Only you and me with our futures intertwined We live within the wars, we feel each other's pain

Because of you I know we must choose a different way Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Support for this show comes from Airbnb.

If you know me, you know I love staying in Airbnbs when I travel. They make my family feel most at home when we're away from home. As we settled down at our Airbnb during a recent vacation to Palm Springs, I pictured my own home sitting empty. Wouldn't it be smart and better put to use welcoming a family like mine by hosting it on Airbnb. It feels like the practical thing to do and with the extra income I could save up for renovations to make the space even more inviting for ourselves and for future guests. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. That was the Jerusalem Youth Chorus at TED 2024. If you're curious about TED's curation,

find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Autumn Thompson, and Alejandra Salazar. It was mixed by Christopher Faisy-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner, Daniela Balarezo, and Will Hennessy.

I'm Elise Hugh. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. Looking for a fun challenge to share with your friends and family? Today, TED now has games designed to keep your mind sharp while having fun. Visit TED.com slash games to explore the joy and wonder of TED Games.