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teach our children not to be afraid and not to hate and we must not teach them lies.” This she believes is at the root of intolerance. “Many religions are intolerant. The question is how you live by it. I always say I want to promote love and peace through my music.”
he says that her music goes down well in Turkey, Ger- many, Poland, England and Spain and that it’s mostly non-Jews that come. “Veiled women came to my concert in Istanbul. They also turned out for her concert in France. As did Muslim protesters in a microcosmic expres- sion of the tension between Jewish communities in France (made up from the many North African Jewish refugees who fled there during the wars of independence in Morocco and Algeria) and the French Muslim communities. The gig’s promoter kicked off a fight when he tore down the protesters’ signs and Karbasi says she was having to fight herself for the attention of the audience. “Some- times the thought comes into my head that I’m exposed. I’m singing Jewish music in hostile countries and sometimes I feel fear. Now that I have Yasmine I am not alone.”
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“But it shouldn’t happen. I don’t represent any political party. I sing my songs. I hope that the audience enjoys them and that they are transported to feel a connection with others through the music. Connection is the most important. Feelings of shame and guilt spring from feelings of separation. Politics divide and when you start to feel separated you start to feel fear. I’m Iranian, Jewish, Spanish, Moroc- can and I’m an Arab. Everyone’s so mixed genetically. If they realised how much they have in common they wouldn’t feel that separation.”
“I see it in my concerts. People need to feel connected. For one hour they manage to forget their differences and they simply feel and that is the most pure place you exist from. Feeling a belonging and a connection to someone else’s heart.” She hopes that in her music, people see that she is part of them and they are part of her. And the gift of connection is what she hopes most that her music delivers.
Karbasi’s urge to find her roots is so “that I can feel like I’m not floating in the air. There is something that grounds me. We lost that connection with the soil. It makes people sad if they don’t know where they come from, where they belong. To feel that you are part of something much bigger than yourself is like having a soft pillow to lay your head on.”
Springing from her search for her own history, Karbasi’s latest album with its beautiful, timeless songs celebrates the inter-connec- tion between diverse cultures that really is a story for all of us, for our time.
Hear Bezos from Ojos De Novia on this issue’s fRoots 60 album.
www.morkarbasi.com
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Photo: Rob O'Connor
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