It’s a barely believable story, which is why it’s so compelling.
A troubled Jewish kid from Jaffa forms an Israeli metal band that crosses borders, breaks taboos with fans from enemy states of Israel, and creates a window of light for conciliation through music. Then comes October 7, and it all crashes back to Middle East realities.
That kid, Kobi Farhi, now 50, uses that narrative as jumping off point in his autobiographical new book, Good Night, Orphaned Land. The title refers to the name of his band, which is celebrating 35 years together and, despite having to start over at ground zero in its outreach effort to the Arab world, is still adamant that music can break down political and social barriers.
The band’s name, based on a song by Yehuda Poliker, is a twist on the traditional ‘Holy Land’ or ‘Promised Land,’ butting up against the backdrop of conflict and bloodshed that Israel has endured since its existence.
When the members of Orphaned Land first got together as Bat Yam high school students in 1991, it wasn’t to promote world peace but to play heavy metal. But according to Farhi, the band’s vocalist and lyricist, they quickly tired of the standard fare, and realizing that being Jewish and Israeli set them apart from almost every other metal band in the world, Orphaned Land began to reflect on the region they lived in and on the impact that religion had on its residents.
Together, they developed a new musical genre, “oriental metal,” combining aggressive guitars, drums, and growls with Middle Eastern scales, the oud, the darbuka, and texts from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian prayers — and Middle Eastern imagery, including Farhi’s ubiquitous keffiyeh.
By the time they released their second album in 1996, El Norra Alila, the band was incorporating Eastern and Oriental influences and included lyrics based on Yom Kippur liturgy in its exploration of the commonality between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
The band’s 2004 album, Mabool, depicted three sons (one for each Abrahamic religion) trying to warn of an impending flood, and incorporates Yemenite chants and quotes from biblical verses. And 2010’s acclaimed The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR, continued the epic themes, featuring the Arabic Orchestra of Nazareth, and traditional Middle Eastern instruments such as saz, santur, Arabian flutes, cumbus, and bouzouki.
Over the years, the band gained popularity among listeners across the Arab and Muslim world. Many of them listen to it in secret, since in many of those countries metal music is frowned upon, all the more so when it's an Israeli band. For years, they would sell out shows in Istanbul, attended by fans from Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, where the flags of those countries would fly alongside that of Israel.
Good Night, Orphaned Land folds out the whole story, including honest and raw looks at his stormy youth, troubled army service, where he was imprisoned because he wasn’t given leave to perform at a show, and his unlikely journey to become a symbol of hope and unity between Jews and Muslims in the region.
Farhi sat with the Post for an edition of Jpost.com’s Jerusalem Sessions and talked about what prompted him to write the book, which was released this month in Hebrew, and whether the fractured relationship with a significant portion of the band’s fan base in recent years can be repaired.
The following are some excerpts from the interview.
How did Orphaned Land originally make inroads in the Arab world?
We released our first two albums back in the 90s. And in those albums, we use a lot of motifs coming from the region. I never wrote a song about my ex-girlfriend. It was all around the conflict, the area, using photos of a mosque or a synagogue, using Arabic, using Hebrew, using phrases from the Koran.
I even wrapped myself in a keffiyah onstage back in 1994. Back then, I was one of the first ones to do it. These days, everyone is buying one on Ali Express, and it has become such a trend. But I haven’t worn one since October 7, because I know it’s triggering for Israelis.
But all these habits, whether it’s stage outfits or visuals or in the music, in the lyrics, in the instruments… Arab fans see us as a band that represents them as well, even though my starting point was as an Israeli and a Jew.
And I began to hear the stories. Our CDs were smuggled into the Arab world back in the ‘90s. And I know about a fan who was thrown in jail because the police had found our CD at his home. I know about fans who tattooed our symbol or lyrics. I know a Palestinian fan with a tattoo of a lyric from my song.
The band had a huge following in Turkey. Now, can you even perform there in the current atmosphere of Israel-Turkey animosity?
We were supposed to play in Turkey two weeks after October 7th. There was a concert scheduled for, I think, October 23rd. At first, the concert was postponed, and afterwards it was completely cancelled because they couldn’t guarantee our safety.
Turkey used to be like a home for us. I mean, we got an award once from Erdogan’s party -a peace award with the flag of Israel in it. Can you imagine? But it came to a point that we cannot set foot in Turkey. That’s really unfortunate because it was the place where all the fans from the Middle East used to come and used to see us, you know, Syrian fans, Lebanese fans, Jordanians, Saudis.
They were all coming to Turkey, the one that has the economic ability to do it. It looks like we lost Turkey for the moment, and it’s really unfortunate.
Did the events and aftermath of October 7 change how you feel about our efforts to reach out to the Arab world?
The last part of the book tells what happened after October 7th. Obviously, after October 7th, we stood by our people. We have two close fans of the band that got slaughtered on October 7th - one in front of his own kids, the other at the Nova party. There’s a lot of black and white, and the grey area really disappears in wars.
We posted a message saying that we’re going to stand with Israel at these times. But at the same time, I said, I’m not against the Palestinians. I’m not talking about Hamas, who are a barbaric organization of lunatics and murderers, but Palestinians in general.
But that was enough. Standing with Israel was enough for thousands of fans to leave our pages, to abandon the band, to throw. I got messages from people who said they will burn our albums. They will throw them in the garbage. They will sell them at the best price.
And you could see the reduction of thousands of followers on Instagram and Facebook. At the end of my book, I still wonder if the band still has a place in this world… and if we are still relevant, or if the ideas that we were promoting are still relevant.
I don’t know the answer. I know that the power of inertia makes us keep going. But I still wonder if there is a place for us in this world after October 7th.
What made you decide to write the book?
What brought me to the decision was basically the war. And above all that, it was the attempt to boycott our show in Barcelona after the war started, and my attempt to flip the decision.
I mean, I woke up one morning on our tour, and the tour manager told me there’s not going to be a show in Barcelona. And I was like, why? Is the ticket count very low? Or what’s the problem? And he said, no, it’s BDS who threatened the club. The club doesn’t want this headache. And I can understand the logic in this decision. But then I said, give me the email of this club owner.
And I started writing him emails day after day after day. And what did I say in these emails? Everything that’s been told in this book. I told all the stories.
I said, look, I have to tell you about my activism or things that I did or achieved with the band. I told him about the Palestinian with the tattoo. I told him about the numerous collaborations I did with Palestinian musicians. I told him that I was wearing a Palestinian keffiyah in 1994, before Greta Thunberg was even born. All those stories, I had to write them one after the other until I actually convinced him
And then I figured if I had the beginnings of a book based on the stories I had sent to him. And then I realized I have to write it. These stories have to be accessible to people so that others might be able to tell these stories. And I thought that it was an important book. Even though I may not be objective, I really thought that these stories are unique and they are an alternative to the BDS, a better alternative, I think. The book is out n Hebrew.
But as we speak, we are working to get an English version for the book because I know how important it is. And one of my main goals is to translate that book to as many languages as possible. That includes Arabic, French, Spanish, you name it. I think that this book should be translated into 30 languages.
What do you feel about the musical community that has been so vehemently anti-Israel since October 7?
I don’t like to wave the antisemite flag on everyone who is against Israel; there is a right to criticize Israel. There is a right to stand aside from the Palestinians. I’m okay with that.
But from my point of view, as a peace activist, as a musician who’s been doing it for the past 35 years, it’s easy for me to see when it’s antisemitic. And what BDS is doing is completely antisemitic. Because artists are the people who should raise questions, who should bring people together and raise some dialogue, who should be able to keep the bridge of talking together.
And you could see that there were a lot of artists speaking out against Israel who are not even part of this conflict. A band from Ireland, or, you know, Massive Attack, or Kneecap, or Bob Vylan, who were shouting death, death to the IDF. They are not experts on this region. They never wrote a song about this conflict. They never lost a friend. Their parents were never a part of this war.
It goes the other way, too. I mean, that includes also musicians who are pro-Israel in a way. I also think that David Draiman from Disturbed, when he signed the artillery shells [earmarked for attacks on Gaza], he made a mistake. Because at that point, he closed the ears that he could have on the other side as a musician. I think that as a famous musician, he could talk, write a song about it, and debate. But when he went to sign bombs, he lost.
And so it goes both ways. And again, as a musician who devoted his life to this, I think that artists in our time are making a lot of mistakes. And they are falling to traps of politicians and politics by taking sides.
Because we have the privilege to bring people from... I mean, I think that musicians are one of the only ones who can bring together in one room people who are considered to be enemies because they have a mutual love of the band and the music. I don’t think that politicians can do it. I don’t think that athletes can do it.
Orphaned Land will be celebrating its 35th anniversary with a 360-degree in-the-round show at Hangar 11 in Tel Aviv on January 21 with special guest Berry Sakharof. Tickets are available at to-mix.co.il/product/orphanedlandhangar-tlvshow2026/
‘Goodnight, My Orphaned Land’ is available at orphaned-land.com/product/good-night-my-orphaned-land/