This song was released at a cultural event in Gaza titled “A World of Our Own: Besiege Your Siege” celebrating Palestinian culture and emphasizing its organic relation with resistance. Palestinian cultural figures were present in spirit — Ghassan Kanafani, Mahmoud Darwish, Edward Said, Fadwa Touqan, Rim Banna—among others. The event was attended by hundreds of people as it included Dabkeh, songs of resistance, drawing, poetry, and speeches from artists and cultural figures from the Arab World and South Africa, including Ibrahim Nasrallah, Oumaima Khalil, Nai Barghouti, Jeremy Karodia, among others.
The event closed with the song, On Your Own, the lyrics of which were written by the Egyptian-Canadian activist/poet Ehab Lotayef for Gaza. It was sent to me in Gaza, who together with local musicians transformed it into a song.
This is a rough translation that does not do justice to the beauty of the poem:
On your own (Lewahdak)
If life goes harsh on you
If the light disappears and darkness overrules
If kind people are mistreated/oppressed and villains override
And right and wrong mix up/ and we get lost between right and wrong
It’s only your voice
That brings out the light
Speaking truth (to power)
If your people let you down and your friends are coward
Avoiding and fearing the truth
Amidst atrocities and under siege
You, on your own, have no choice
But to raise your voice
To call upon the light at the end of the tunnel
speaking truth (to power)
