Yael Naim - Rabbit Hole (With Ali Abou Awwad & Rabbi Nava Hefetz)

I hated you 'cause they told me too

Was scared of you d'like they used to do a Je

You hated me 'cause they mold you to

Was scared from me, was it really you?

Into the trap we fall, into the rabbit hole

Into the trap we fall, under the bullet hole

But if they knew that we looked into

Undo their lies and Their point of view.

Don’t wanna die eye for an eye

It’s love I trust my star dust

Into the trap they call, into the rabbit hole

Into the trap we fall under the bullet hole.

      Yael Naim says in the video notes: "After October 7th, I found myself paralysed by fear, grief and conflicting emotions.

      With my family in Israel and friends directly affected by the attacks, I felt caught between narratives demanding that I choose a side. Instead, I began searching for a way to engage with the conflict through peace, human rights, nonviolence and dialogue.

      This journey led me to Guerrières de la Paix and to a gathering at the Institut du Monde Arabe, where peace activists called to move beyond a binary "pro-Israel" or "pro-Palestine" position and become pro-solution, pro-peace and committed to protecting the lives, rights and dignity of both peoples.

      At the World Women’s Peace Forum in Essaouira, Morocco, I met Palestinian non violence activist Ali Abu Awwad, Israeli human-rights activist Rabbi Nava Hefetz, Iranian activist Aïda Tavakoli, and Hanna Assouline, among others. Their work showed me that recognising the suffering and rights of both Palestinians and Israelis does not require choosing between them — and that dialogue does not mean denying injustice, but creating the conditions to address it.

     Their commitment made me want to respond through the language I know best: music and art.

      A year later, I travelled to the West Bank with Ali and Nava to film the video for "Rabbit Hole". Bringing together two people from opposite sides of the conflict, the film explores what becomes possible when we move beyond inherited narratives and encounter one another as human beings.

      At the heart of the project is a simple act: sitting together, listening, and looking at one another without reducing the other to a political identity. Research suggests that mutual eye contact can increase social engagement and interpersonal connection, offering a small but meaningful opening toward recognition."