‘One Love’ video released from Koolulam singdown at Tower of David

It has been a little more than three weeks since the evening of love at Jerusalem’s Tower of David, when Koolulam, Israel’s mass singing social initiative, set up shop at the ancient citadel, for a midnight singdown of Bob Marley’s iconic “One Love,” in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.

Now the video is out.

Every video made by Koolulam is eagerly awaited, as viewers and participants want to hear the clear, poignant voices singing some beloved tune, set to a new musical arrangement.

This particular event took place on June 14, the last night of Ramadan, and was seen as a night of coexistence, with Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders attending and calling the world to action, showing that religion can serve as a bridge to love, tolerance, and compassion.

The 800 tickets were sold out within six minutes.

The event was held in honor of the Jerusalem visit of Kyai Haji Yahya Cholil Staquf, the secretary general of the world’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, which is based in Indonesia, with more than 60 million members.

At midnight, surrounded by the ancient stones and courtyards of the Tower of David in the Old City of Jerusalem, the audience of hundreds learned a arrangement of Bob Marley’s “One Love,” with harmonies, this time sung in three languages.

“This kind of event is the very essence of Koolulam, which wants to inspire people through music, regardless of race, religion or sex,” stated Koolulam founders Ben Yaffet, Michal Shahaf, and Or Taicher. “This event is dedicated to a song for hope: hope for equality, empathy and friendship between different sectors.”

Through their monthly joint musical creations, using well-known songs chosen for each event, and vocal harmonies sung by the audience, held in different locations across Israel, Koolulam aims to bring together people from all walks of life on the Israeli social spectrum.