In a time where conflict and division seem to increase daily, fear and pain threaten to silence us and make us believe that the future can only be shaped by violence and suffering. But in JYC, we refuse to be defined by fear. As young Israelis and Palestinians, we know the weight of loss, the depth of pain, and the force of the narratives that seek to keep us apart.
Our voices are not a denial of this pain but an expression of it—an insistence that even in the most heartbreaking times, there is room for dialogue, understanding, and a future that is not dictated by cycles of fear. The harmonies we create do not erase our differences; they allow us to hold them together, to hear one another, to recognize each other’s humanity even when the world tells us we should not.
This past year and a half has brought devastation day after day to our singers, our communities, and many others. Each of our singers knows someone who has been killed, kidnapped, or displaced. But we also know that my pain does not cancel out yours—and that recognizing that our futures are intertwined is the only way we can stop the cycle of violence and begin to build a just world for all.
It is with this understanding that we collaborated with multi-GRAMMY Award-winning artist Jacob Collier to create our newest music video, “An Ode to All We’ve Lost.”
The Arabic and Hebrew songs in this video express our unspeakable grief: في حزن وسع المدى – Fi Hizn Wisa’ ilMada is an Arabic setting of “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” from Les Miserables that has become iconic throughout the Arab world. It reminds us of all the songs that have been silenced in this war. (בדידות (שלכת – Bedidut (Shalechet) is a Hebrew setting of the French superhit “Je Suis Malade” that has similarly embedded itself in Israeli culture. It sings the pain of lives lost too soon, like leaves falling before their
time. Watch “An Ode to All We’ve Lost” We call on those who believe in peace, justice, and dignity for all to listen—to the pain, and to the hope that still lives in our voices—and to amplify this cry for a different future.
Share “An Ode to All We’ve Lost” We refuse to continue the madness of war. Join us in forging a different way.
Micah, Amer, Jackie, and the Jerusalem Youth Chorus Support the Jerusalem Youth Chorus
