George Kirmiz and Music for Palestine in Exile

The cassettes are old but the songs inspire so many memories of a time when energy ran high with hopes for an end to the Zionist Occupation and the rebirth of Palestine. It has been impossible to find CDs of the music of George Kirmiz. As the cassettes become less and less viable, there has to be a way to preserve the songs. He was a very talented composer and musician and insh'allah, remains so.



Perhaps the draconian legislature of the U.S. government with respect to 'affiliations' in certain political groups has rendered freedom of expression for musicians as well as others a risky business. Perhaps the political bankruptcy of certain Palestinian political parties that have failed to maintain a steadfast stance with respect to the Zionist entity has diluted the impact of some of these songs.

When they first were composed and sung, however, they quickened the pulse of their listeners. As part of the history of the Palestinian people in exile, they should be preserved. In any case, political parties come and go, mutate and divide. Ideas of liberation, identity and freedom never can be obsolete.

For Palestine, undivided and uncompromised!