The Israeli musical phenomenon Koolulam gathered 3,000 Israelis of all stripes to sing Matisyahu’s “One Day,” which UNESCO recently selected to symbolize dialogue, tolerance and peace.
By: Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c.org
UNESCO and the European Broadcasting Union chose the Matisyahu hit song “One Day” – the English-Hebrew-Arabic version performed in Haifa last February by 3,000 Jewish, Muslim and Christian Israelis led by Israeli social music movement Koolulam – as the theme song of the eighth edition of World Radio Day.
The Israeli version of the song was broadcast by more than 2,000 radio stations on World Radio Day, February 13, whose theme was “Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace.”
The day “marks a time where people around the world celebrate radio and how it shapes our lives,” according to a statement from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
“Radio brings together people and communities from all backgrounds to foster positive dialogue for change. More specifically, radio is the perfect medium to counter the appeals for violence and the spread of conflict, especially in regions potentially more exposed to such realities.”
Nevertheless, we think the powerful Koolulam recording is best appreciated via the full video, below:
