This Palestinian Singer Covered Lorde’s “Team” To Show Palestinians’ Struggle And It’s Heart-Wrenching
A Palestinian singer’s rendition of Lorde’s “Team” is going viral on social media for capturing the heartbreak of Palestinians’ struggle for liberation.
A Palestinian singer’s rendition of Lorde’s “Team” is going viral on social media for capturing the heartbreak of Palestinians’ struggle for liberation.
Palestinian-Canadian singer Nemah Hasan, known as Nemahsis, shared a video on Instagram of her singing the song by the New Zealand artist on Oct. 17, overlaid with videos of Palestine matched to the lyrics of the chorus.
“We live in cities you’ll never see on screen. Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things,” she sings as videos showcasing the beauty of Palestine show up on screen.
As she sings “Living in the ruins of the palace of my dreams. And you know, we’re on each other’s team,” videos appear showing Israel’s bombardment of Palestine throughout the years and the devastating aftermath.
On Saturday Nov. 4, Lorde reshared the video – which was also shared by supermodel Bella Hadid – to her Instagram story, writing, “I was so incredibly moved by this poignant piece.”
“I have been frozen in grief and shock. I’m aware of the dissonance between my thoughts and the words I am able to form,” Lorde wrote. “I am so grateful to my Palestinian sister for reminding me why I make art – it speaks when I cannot. It fills spaces where words are inadequate. She speaks through me; I speak through her.”
Along with the video, Lorde also shared several posts about a pro-Palestine protest in New Zealand and an open letter by several Jewish writers that condemned equating criticizing Israel with anti-Semitism.
After her video was reshared by Lorde, Nemahsis wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she had been insecure because she was dropped by her new label for speaking up against Israel’s occupation.
“after being dropped by my new label for speaking up against the occupation of my homeland Palestine i was insecure. it was suggested to cooling down the pro-Palestinian posts. i didn’t stop. i kept going. i had nothing left to lose & i’m so happy i didn’t give into the pressure,” she wrote.
In 2017, Lorde canceled a concert in Israel to protest Israel’s occupation of Palestine after she received a numerous messages from her fans.
“Thank u for educating me i am learning all the time too,” she wrote. “I have had a lot of discussions with people holding many views, and I think the right decision at this time is to cancel the show,” Lorde wrote.
She added that she was “not too proud” to admit that she hadn’t made the initial right call by deciding to play in Israel.
