Palestinians celebrate Yaqoub Shaheen’s victory in Bethlehem on Saturday night. Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
On Saturday, February 25, thousands of Palestinians gathered in Manger Square, across the street from the Church of the Nativity commemorating the location of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, Palestine. There, in Manger Square, a large screen was erected so Bethlehemites can cheer on their local hero, Yacoub Shaheen, who was competing against other Arabs in a show called Arab Idol.
What’s Arab Idol?
Arab Idol is the successor of a previous Arab rendition of the British Pop Idol series called Super Star. This British show, Pop Idol, is also where we also get our American Idol television show.
Arab Idol first premiered in Beirut, Lebanon on December 9, 2011. Since then it has had four seasons and is broadcast worldwide on the Arabic television channel, MBC.
The concept is similar to American Idol. It starts off with numerous young contestants from all over the Arab world who are selected after auditions. They perform in front of judges and viewers can vote for their favorites via SMS or phone call. Whoever receives the least amount of votes is voted off until there is one winner.
The winner receives a recording contract, a car, and the equivalent of $50k USD.
The first season saw Carmen Suleiman from Egypt be crowned as the winner. Season two’s winner was Mohammed Assaf from Gaza, Palestine. The third season’s winner was Hazem Shareef from Syria. Season four just wrapped up on February 25. The winner was Yacoub Shaheen from Bethlehem, Palestine. He beat out Ameer Dandan from Israel and Ammar Mohammed from Yemen.
What’s an Israeli Arab?
Ammar is an Arab Muslim from Yemen. Pretty simple.
Ameer is an Arab American Muslim from Israel. Confused?
Let me explain. Ameer is an Israeli Arab from Majd al-Krum in Israel. His religion is Islam, his ethnicity is Arab, his nationality is Palestinian, his citizenship is Israeli. On top of that, he lives in the United States. Still confused? Majd al-Krum is an Arab village in Northern Israel, in the Galilee area. Majd al-Krum village was conquered by Jewish militias in 1948 and therefore is part of Israel. Its Arab inhabitants are Muslims who are Israeli citizens.
Although most of Majd al-Krum’s residents in 1948 stayed, Arab residents of other Israeli towns who fled the fighting in 1948 were never allowed to return. To this day, they, their children, and their grandchildren are refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. Although Israeli, Ameer identifies as Palestinian, it’s a fine line that many Israeli Arabs walk. It’s a line between Israeli Jews, who are the dominant force in Israel, and the Israeli Arab’s Palestinian relatives, who live under occupation by Israeli Jews.
Who is Yacoub Shaheen?
Palestinian singer Yacoub Shaheen after winning the final of Arab Idol in Beirut. Photograph: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters
Yacoub Shaheen is a Palestinian Arab Christian from Bethlehem. Yacoub was born in Bethlehem on February 27, 1994. He’s a descendant of Syriac Christians and currently serves as a Deacon in the Syriac Church in Bethlehem and as a Scout Leader through his church’s club. He learned to play various instruments as a child and attended the Edward Said Music Conservatory in Palestine. Yacoub grew up participating in school festivals and singing competitions.
He studied at Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron and owns a fashion shop in Bethlehem. His father crafts Christian olive wood souvenirs and his mother works at Bethlehem University. In 2005, he won the title of Star of Palestine and in 2012 he won first place in Palestinian New Star, both are Palestinian television shows similar to Arab Idol.
Yacoub is not only known in Bethlehem for being a talented singer, but also for being a humble servant. He spends a lot of time volunteering his musical skills and abilities to teach orphans and disabled children and gives a significant amount of money to charities in Palestine. His humbleness was shown to the entire Arab world when he fully accepted harsh critiques from judges without becoming defensive. At one point in the show, a particularly harsh judge apologized for her unnecessarily sharp words on an earlier episode. Yacoub told her that no apology was necessary and that her words and advice pushed him to be better.
“Yacoub won with his voice, his education, his good manners, as well as his love for his people, Bethlehem and Palestine,” she said. – Norma Shaheen
Why is this important?
This is important because Arab Idol, the most viewed show in the Arab world, showed two cross sections of the Middle East that are rarely ever seen.
First, an Israeli Arab/Palestinian, competed on stage against Arabs from all over the Middle East.
Second and more profoundly, Yacoub, a Palestinian Christian who was born and raised under Israeli occupation in Bethlehem, won the title of Arab Idol.
It’s profound because not only have Arab Christians been under assault in the Middle East but because the Arab world voted for him. In other words, there aren’t enough Christians in the Arab world to have enabled Yacoub to win if he only received votes from Christians.
Not only did Muslims cheer him on via social media, but they also voted for him to win. This has served as a unique opportunity to unite Arabs across the Middle East in rooting for a Christian, and also has had the affect of uniting Muslim and Christian Palestinians themselves as brothers and sisters.
Congratulations, Yacoub, the newest Arab Idol!
Pedro,
Just for the record.
You say, “Ameer is an Israeli Arab from Majd al-Krum in Israel”. No. Majd al-Krum is in occupied Palestine. You yourself said it a few lines later, “It’s a line between Israeli Jews, who are the dominant force in Israel, and the Israeli Arab’s Palestinian relatives, who live under occupation by Israeli Jews.”
That makes Ameer as Palestinian as Yacoub. Period.
Both living under Israeli occupation. Period.
Your last paragraph on why this is important and then tying it up with religion: I do not agree at all. Religion is irrelevant. Period. Palestine is. Period,
Isn’t Ameer an Israeli citizen?
No. He is an Israeli-occupied Palestinian national.
You’re saying he’s not an Israeli citizen? He was born in Israel, unless he’s denounced his Israeli citizenship,.
So let’s say ISIS takes over Iraq and Syria and it calls itself a country with no borders, does that make Iraqis and Syrians living under the control of its militias -even if 70 years later- Islamic State/ISIS citizens?
You can not simply label people with names they didn’t choose for themselves. He clearly is Palestinian and identified himself from the beginning of the show as such.
50, 70, 100, 200 years, at some point doesn’t it make them citizens? It’s the way nations are made.
You’re right, he is clearly Palestinian and makes that clear, that’s his nationality. I don’t wish to label anyone something that they don’t want, but he was born and raised in Israel, that’s a fact. I happen to be Dominican-American. I don’t think one excludes the other.
A PALESTINIAN MUSLIM NOT AN ISRAELI ppl of bath lahem and bait sahour created this lie to convince others not to vote for Ameer.
I don’t think Palestinians in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour created this. Honestly, I haven’t heard anyone call him Israeli except for myself.
Who wrote this article? They didn’t even interview anyone to get feedback. They just assumed that Muslim Arabs voting for a Christian Arab is a huge phenomenon, like it’s unordinary. Let’s be clear…Muslim and Christian Arabs do not have beef with one another. In Palestine, they live peacefully together as neighbors, friends, colleagues, and lovers. Arabs do not discriminate against other Arabs based on religion, you are confusing this hatred/discrimination with Israeli sentiment towards Arabs and Muslims. Don’t promote hate, you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.
And Ameer may have the Israeli passport but he does not in the least bit identify as Israeli. He is Palestinian. Period.
Didn’t you see people on the Arab Idol Facebook page telling others not to vote for the Christian? It was all over the place.
You say Arabs do not discriminate against other Arabs based on religion? Many Christian Arabs would disagree with your statement. Also, I don’t believe my article was promoting hate at all.
Hi Pedro, it’s nice that this is getting so much international media attention but your article shows a basic and shallow understanding of Palestinians. we are Muslim and Christian, always have been always will be. A Palestinian is a Palestinian, period. We are all treated as second/ third and forth degree citizens under the occupying apartheid Israeli government. He won because people preferred his voice more than the other two contestants. They could have been an Tunisian Jedi and an Iraqi Rastafarian. His faith wasn’t and isn’t a factor. We are as happy for him and as proud of him as we were when Muhammad Assaf won Arab idol in 2014. He won because of his talent and is still a very successful artist.
I don’t believe his faith was a factor for Palestinians, although there were many from other countries on the Arab Idol social media pages telling people to not vote for the Christian.
I wrote it because many people don’t know that there are Muslims living within Israel and that there are Palestinian Christians, so I thought it was notable. Also, I lived in Palestine and have family there, so I disagree with you, I don’t believe my understanding is basic and shallow, although I don’t consider myself an expert in the matter.