Tomorrow!

Tomorrow (Bokra)...a song extolling a wonderful future for the Middle East submerged in justice, peace, prosperity, happiness, equality, and acceptance across all religions and beliefs.

 

Legendary Music Producer, Quincy Jones has collaborated with Emirati social entrepreneur Badr Jafar, to jointly Executive Produce the Arabic charity single entitled 'TOMORROW / BOKRA'. The song involves 24 leading Arab Artists from 16 nations across the Middle East and North Africa singing with one voice for a better tomorrow. Grammy-nominated international superstar Akon has also lent his vocals to the track, and Shakira, who is of Lebanese descent, has recorded a special introduction to the music video. 

Quincy Jones' original Grammy-winning version of the song 'Tomorrow (A Better You, A Better Me)' has now been re-adapted and produced by Quincy Jones and Grammy Award-winning Moroccan producer- RedOne, with Arabic lyrics written by Majida El Roumi and musical adaptation by Kadim Al Sahir. The music video and documentary film have been directed by Malek Akkad (son of Moustapha Akkad, Director of 'The Message'). 

Associate Producers include Mawazine, Rabat; The Doha Film Institute; & the Qatar Museum Authority. 

All funds raised as part of the single's global distribution will be collected by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture in support of the United Nations World Food Program, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation among others, to finance educational programs in music, arts and culture for children from across the Arab world.

 تعاون المنتج الأسطوري كوينسي جونز مع رجل الأعمال الإماراتي بدر جعفر المهتم بالمشروعات الاجتماعية لإنتاج الأغنية الخيرية العربية "بكرا"، وشارك بالغناء 24 من كبار الفنانين العرب من 16 بلداً من مختلف أنحاء الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا، والذين غنوا بصوت واحد من أجل غد أفضل. كما شارك النجم العالمي المرشح للحصول على جائزة غرامي "إيكون" في تسجيل أغنية "بكرا"، إضافة إلى المغنية المعروفة ذات الأصول اللبنانية "شاكيرا" التي سجلت كلمة متلفزة حول الأغنية الخيرية. النسخة العربية من أغنية كوينسي جونز أنتجها المنتج المغربي الفائز بجائزة غرامي "ريد ون"، وكتبت كلمات الأغنية الفنانة القديرة ماجدة الرومي وقام الفنان والملحن القدير كاظم الساهر بإعادة التوزيع الموسيقي لها. وقام المخرج مالك العقاد (نجل الراحل مصطفى العقاد مخرج فيلم "الرسالة") بإخراج الفيديو الموسيقي والفيلم الوثائقي. يتولى الصندوق العربي للثقافة والفنون (آفاق) عملية جمع التبرعات التي ستتأتى من توزيع الأغنية إلى مختلف أنحاء العالم، وستوجه المبالغ المتبرع بها إلى برنامج الغذاء العالمي التابع للأمم المتحدة وهيئة دبي للثقافة والفنون ومجموعة أبوظبي للثقافة والفنون وجهات أخرى، وذلك لتمويل البرامج التعليمية الموجهة لأطفال المنطقة العربية في مجال الموسيقى والفنون والثقافة.

Journalism Students in Vietnam Study the "Open Letter to the People of Egypt"

A newsworthy example of the global interest in Middle East affairs, comes out of Vietnam. This piece of news was just shared with me by a professor of journalism and English, currently working in one of Vietnam's leading educational institutions. He indicated, in his communication, that the English-Translation-Editing class at the National Academy of Journalism & Communication in Vietnam is currently studying a document that was authored by the Baha'is of Egypt back in April 2011, titled "An open letter to the people of Egypt" and presented to their fellow citizens shortly after Egypt's revolution of 25 January 2011, published at this link. One would hope and expect that such an example of interest in this momentous document would be as highly valued and carefully studied by the people of Egypt for whom it was intended. A number of photographs of the class were provided, with the consent of the students, to be posted along with this brief story.

Mideast Youth Launches Global Village TV

Mideast Youth network has just launched a beta version of Global Village TV. This is indeed an important and significant initiative intended to promote interfaith understanding and collaboration. Posted below is the formal announcement by Mideast Youth:

MEY launches Global Village TV in beta!
Author: Esra'a (Bahrain) - April 19, 2008

After months of hard work, Mideast Youth, with the enormous help of ByteSense, finally launched Global Village TV (GVTV). I would especially like to thank Umar for making this opportunity for us much easier than it would’ve been without his help and guidance.

GVTV is a dynamic, educational platform, co-created by Baha’is and Muslims working hand in hand to cultivate an interfaith community.

For the past few months, we have been working diligently on this initiative, in hopes that it would contribute to improving and advancing serious interfaith.

We realized that in many forums, in the process of interfaith, the Baha’i Faith, Yezidi faith, and many other religions are left out. This community aims to change that.

You can view a brief demonstration of this network here:

Youth Want Peace: the rest is up to us!

Here is a wonderful example of a constructive strategy, from which the rest of the world can learn. This amazing video, emerging from the planet's most volatile spot, produced by OneVoice movement and presented to Kings and Prime Ministers in Davos, Switzerland, clearly illustrates the yearning for peace. It describes a systematic approach to solving conflicts in a region plagued with hostilities, hatred and long history of wars. The youth took it upon themselves to initiate a transformation that might lead, at least, to a political solution of this long-lived dispute. Who else can project this dire need better than the youth who hold the key to the future?