Palestinian Anthem for Statehood

By Haaretz September 22, 2011

A Palestinian living in France has written a song that has arguably become the anthem for the upcoming Palestinians bid for statehood in the United Nations later on this week, according to a Ma’an report.

The songwriter, Ahmed Dari, who worked for the United Nations’ Educational, Social and Cultural Organization until recently, composed “Mestani Dawla be Aylol” — “I Am Waiting for a State in September” — in a witty way, using a tortoise to symbolize the slow pace of the Palestinian quest for statehood, Ma’an said.

The song has over 20,000 hits on YouTube, and Dari says he wrote the song to give hope to Palestinians in the run-up to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for UN recognition in New York this week, the report said.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO