Mohammad Assaf

Mohammed Jaber Abdul Rahman Assaf (Arabic: محمد جبر عبدالرحمن عساف; born 1 September 1989) is a Palestinian pop singer well known for being the winner of the second season of Arab Idol, broadcast by the MBC network. His victory received worldwide coverage from the media and was welcomed with joy by the Arab world. In 2013, Assaf was named a goodwill ambassador for peace by The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). He was also named ambassador of culture and arts by the Palestinian government and was offered a position with "diplomatic standing" by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Assaf's story is the basis of the 2015 film The Idol, directed by Hany Abu-Assad. After Arab Idol, Assaf has gone on to enjoy huge popularity in the Arab World and the Arab diaspora and has released two albums and a great number of singles and collaborations. Most of his music is sung in the Iraqi and Gulf dialects, his most famous song is "Ana Dammi Falastini" which means "my blood is Palestinian" and is a cover of a traditional Palestinian song. Assaf was born in Misrata, Libya, to Palestinian parents. The family of his mother Intisar, a mathematics teacher, hailed from the village of Bayt Daras and his father's family was from Beersheba, both of which areas were seized and depopulated by the nascent IDF in 1948. He has five siblings. The family lived in Misrata until Assaf was four years old. Then they moved to the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in Gaza, where he grew up and attended an UNRWA elementary school. Two of Assaf's siblings have also been involved in performing live music. Their mother stated that Assaf began singing at the age of five and "had a voice of someone who was much, much older." Before his role on the television show he was attending Gaza City's Palestine University majoring in media and public relations. Assaf did not have professional training as a singer; he started his career singing at weddings and other private events. He entered the public view in 2000 during a popular local television program where he called in and sang a nationalist song to the host's praise. Afterward, he was frequently offered contracts with local record companies. Sometime after his first performance, he sang in a local event in Gaza attended by then Palestinian president Yasser Arafat. Mohammed Assaf travelled from Gaza Strip to Egypt to audition for Arab Idol. It took him two days to reach Egypt by car due to complications on the border.