A Syrian Band's Musical Friendship Tour
Hyattsville Performance Mixes East and West

By Aruna Jain
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 16, 2004; Page PG11

Arabic words rose and fell gently, following rock and folk melodies inside a small brick church in Prince George's County one evening last month. An audience of mixed religions and nationalities clapped in unison as the music echoed above the pews and escaped onto East West Highway.

The sounds of Kulna Sawa, a Syrian rock band, drew more than 100 people to the performance at Hyattsville Mennonite Church.


The band's name means "all of us together." From Syria's capital city of Damascus, the group is on a 20-city U.S. tour that has taken it to churches and colleges in the East and Midwest.

The tour was put together by Mel Lehman, a Mennonite peace activist who has done humanitarian work for decades in the Middle East, most recently in Iraq. In organizing the performances, Lehman said he wanted to promote trust and friendship. He particularly wanted to reach those Americans who he believes have a deep misunderstanding of the Middle East.

"We have to hear the humanity of the people, the richness of their culture, and get beyond the television images," said Lehman, who attributes negative perceptions of the Middle East to inaccurate media reports. "We felt that music was a way to get there."

Kulna Sawa's music is part religious and part secular.

The 11-member band, six of whom were part of the American tour, is made up of Christians and Muslims. The group's selections are a cross between East and West, mixing old Arab folk songs from Syria, Algeria, Egypt, Palestine and Iraq with pop, rock and jazz melodies.

"My influences are from the Beatles, of course, to Bob Dylan, to Deep Purple," said Bashar Moussa, Kulna Sawa's lead singer.

Moussa said he initially worried about how he would be received on his first trip to the United States. But he said he was pleasantly surprised.

"We are all people, and we need to communicate with each other as people," he said.

Kulna Sawa's performance was a hit with the audience, who delighted in the Middle Eastern music as well as the band's renditions of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," and John Lennon's "Imagine."

Many in the audience who did not understand the Arabic lyrics nonetheless cheered enthusiastically.

Others were local Syrians, who sat silently in the pews mouthing the folk songs they grew up with.

"It's nice that there is a band from Syria who has the guts to do this," said Moe Albitor, a Syrian American who attended the concert. "I'm glad that there is something like this."

Church member Dawn Longenecker said, "It made me appreciate the Syrian music even more. It's just so good to share the vision of peace together."

Kulna Sawa's performance came at a time when relations between the United States and Syria are strained.

"This is one part of the mission . . . to show the civilized face of the Syrian people," said Jawdat Ali, an officer with the Syrian Embassy in the District. Ali added that many people in the Western world do not know that Christians and Muslims coexist peacefully in Syria.

During an intermission, audience members were asked to get to know one another.

Ziad Alnmir, a Syrian native, liked that part of the concert.

"It should be done more often," said Alnmir, an Alexandria resident who attended with his wife and daughter. "We need to turn around and meet new people more often."