Drora Havkin, was a singer who grew up in the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1930s, enjoying harmonious neighborly relations with the Arab residents.

She was always aware of the suffering caused by wars, however, it did not stop her from helping to keep Israeli soldiers’ spirit up during wartime. During the [1973] Yom Kippur War she spent two months singing for the troops over on the Egyptian side of the Suez Canal.

She lived in Holland returning to Israel in 1984 leaving her 17-year-old son -Nishri to complete his high school education there before moving back to Israel to do his compulsory military service.

It was around this time that Havkin began to take an interest in musical synergies with local Arab artists.

Havkin soon teamed up with Arab Galileean duo percussionist Salem Darwish and violinist George Samaan, and they began performing all over the country. “I’ve looked into the matter and, as far as I can see, Drora, Salem and George were the first Jewish-Arab band to get the message across that we can all get along together, for instance, by playing music together.

“There was no political intent there. As far as they were concerned, if 300 people in an audience spent an hour or two listening to Arabs and Jews performing music together on the same stage, and they left with a pleasant experience, then the musicians had done their job. For Drora, Salem and George it was as simple as that. That’s what I’m looking to do with Groupeace.”

Sadly, Havkin died suddenly in 1995, and in March this year Nishri, his partner Yifat and sister Shiri arranged a tribute concert in her memory in Tel Aviv, which featured many top Jewish and Arab Israeli artists from the pop, rock and ethnic sectors including, naturally Darwish and Samaan.