Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Arabic with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, (Hebrew,) Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

I like the colors, I'm an artist child. Painting with white, black, red.
I like the colors. Painting with blue, yellow, green. I'm an artist child.

Welcome cheerful viewers to today’s Enlightening Entertainment. Today we will listen to delightful songs performed by young artists from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine. The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music offers broadly structured instrumental and theoretical musical education.

This program prepares students for university level studies so that one day they may go on to become professional musicians. As part of its mission, the Conservatory, which has branches in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Ramallah, provides free musical instruction to youths residing in refugee camps. Students major in a Western or Arabic instruments, plus theory, ear-training, history and appreciation of Arabic, classical, jazz, and world music classes. In addition, the school provides international exchange programs and summer courses and camps.

We have 950 students. And we have the outreach program. We teach about 800 students, especially in the refugee camps and the rural places. And our aim is to build music in Palestine. Our orchestra is now going outside to Lebanon and Jordan.

We have 65 students, and they are going to play to give people outside (a chance) to see Palestinian music and the work of the Palestinian people.

In today’s show, we present four songs from the CD titled “Bass Shwai,” which is the first children's CD produced by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. In the album, one boy and three girls, aged nine to eleven, sang twelve songs composed by talented music teacher and artist Suhail Khoury.

The lyrics are written by various Palestinian poets and writers. The music was performed by the Conservatory’s best teachers: Suhail Khoury on the nay and clarinet, Ahmad Al-Khatib on the oud and buzuq, Ibrahim Atari on the qanoun, Youssef Hbeish on percussion, and with guest artist Peter Herbert on the contrabass.

Using traditional instruments, original tunes are created. Some of them are even appropriate for dancing the Palestinian traditional dance, the dabkeh.

This first song is themed on the beauty of the colors in the nature, such as the blue sky, red flowers, green trees, white snow, black goats, yellow bananas, and golden sand. Children are born artists. The beauty of the world resonates with their own innate purity. Now, let us enjoy this song.

I like the colors, I'm an artist child. Painting with white, black, red.
I like the colors. Painting with blue, yellow, green. I'm an artist child.
What does "red" refer to? To the flowers.
What does "green" refer to? To the trees.
What does "red" refer to? To the flowers.
What does "green" refer to? To the trees.
What does "white" refer to? To the snow.
I like, I like, I like... I like the colors, I'm an artist child.
Painting with white, black, red. I like the colors.
Painting with blue, yellow, green. I'm an artist child.
What does "blue" refer to? To the sky.
What does "black" refer to? To the goats.
What does "blue" refer to? To the sky.
What does "black" refer to? To the goats.
What does "yellow" refer to? To the bananas.
I like, I like, I like... I like the colors. I'm an artist child.
Painting with white, black, red. I like the colors.
Painting with blue, yellow, green. I'm an artist child.
Pink for flowers and silver for moons. Gold for sand and brown for mountains.
Pink for flowers and silver for moons. Gold for sand and brown for mountains.
I’m painting the most beautiful painting with colors. It makes me feel happy.
I am an artist. I like the colors. I'm an artist child.
Painting with white, black, red. I like the colors.
Painting with blue, yellow, green. I'm an artist child.

When we gaze upon the world around us, its mysteries and miracles enchant us no end. Is it imagination, or is it truth? Perhaps that does not matter, because the beautiful experience of it all is what really matters. Please enjoy this next children’s song produced by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine.

If the world would be made from wood, its birds would be of wood, its flowers would be of wood.
If the world would be made from wood, its stars would be of wood.
How strange would it be? How wonderful!
How strange would it be? How wonderful!
If the world would be made from paper, its doors would be of paper, its walls would be of paper.
If the world would be made from paper, its walls would be of paper.
How strange would it be? How wonderful!
How strange would it be? How wonderful!
If the world would be made from gold, its fish would be of gold, its sand would be of gold.
If the world would be made from gold, its snow would be of gold.
How strange would it be? How wonderful!
How strange would it be? How wonderful!

More Palestinian children’s songs when we return. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Enlightening Entertainment. The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music was established in 1993 in Ramallah and soon expanded to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. In 2004, the Conservatory established the Palestine Youth Orchestra, which has grown into one of the best youth orchestras in the Middle East.

The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music commemorates the late Dr. Edward Said, a much loved and admired Palestinian professor at Columbia University, USA, who was dedicated to serving his people. Together with the famous Israeli conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, Dr. Said organized music workshops for both Arab and Israeli students. In 1999, they created the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with members of talent musicians from many Middle Eastern nations.

Dr. Said understood that music is the universal language transcending all differences to unite people. The lyrics of Palestinian children’s songs, in particular, are as universal as they are simple. For example, the songs in today’s program have playful and colloquial lyrics inspired by daily life subjects. Through the purity of the Palestinian children’s voices, the verses come to life and touch our hearts.

Let’s now enjoy this song composed and performed by some of the best teachers of Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. It is about a child reaffirming his identity despite what the grown-ups say. It also reveals the close-knit relations within the Palestinian family and community.

Our neighbors visit us, and look at how I look.
Our neighbors visit us, and look at how I look.
Then they murmur:
"His eyes are small like his grandfather's eyes,
his eyes are small like his grandfather's eyes,
when he laughs, he looks like his mother,
and when he grimaces, he looks like his father.”
Our neighbors visit us, and watch how I look.
Then they murmur:
"His nose is like his aunt’s nose,
his nose is like his aunt’s nose,
and his wavy hair is like his sister's hair,
but his loud voice is like his uncle's voice.”
But I am as I am, and I have my own character, I have my own nature.
I am not like anyone else, but myself. I am not like anyone else.

The full rainbow decorates the sky with joyful hues, the vibrant colored lights in nature. Inspired by the rainbow, a child wishes to be a part of it, and shouts: “I wish I were the air and could stay in the sky!” And the heavens, understanding the child’s heartfelt wish, invites the innocent being to join as the eighth color of the rainbow! Please enjoy this whimsical and lovely song.

I like the rainbow colors, they appear with joy in wintertime.
The rainbow colors decorate the place and the beautiful "red" refers to the anemone.
I like the rainbow colors, they appear with joy in wintertime.
The rainbow colors decorate the place and the beautiful "red" refers to the anemone.
Then there is a color like the orange-hued and the bold yellow refers to the banana and the hills.
The green sings to the grass and the trees, and the river said, “My color is taken from the blue seas.”
And the sad dark blue sleeps in peace, followed by violet, the last color.
I like the rainbow colors, they appear with joy in wintertime.
The rainbow colors decorate the place and the beautiful "red" refers to the anemone.
I wish I were the air and could stay in the sky, and the sky would call me, "Hey you, eighth color!”
I like the rainbow colors, they appear with joy in wintertime.
The rainbow colors decorate the place and the beautiful "red" refers to the anemone.

A warm round of applause to the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, dedicated teachers, and especially the fantastic young singers of Palestine! May your futures be bright, and may the charming music and culture of Palestine be enjoyed and appreciated evermore worldwide.

Various music CDs produced by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music are available at

We thank you for joining us on today’s Enlightening Entertainment. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News, here on Supreme Master Television. May the Divine melody bring peace to your heart.