Rock and metal musician Kobi Farhi comes to London next week

As frontman of Orphaned Land, Kobi Farhi is an icon of Israeli heavy metal. Of heavy metal around the world, in fact. Now, he is heading back to London to mark the launch of his book, The Jewish Muezzin: Radical Sanity in an Orphaned Land.

Farhi will appear at both the Water Rats in Kings Cross on Monday 5 October and JW3 on Sunday 11 October. The first event is more of a concert, although both will feature some live performance.

He told Jewish News of his excitement that his book is out in this country and that he is performing here.

“I feel deeply privileged to have the opportunity to speak about London’s vibrant Jewish community, especially at this time, as we approach the painful anniversary of October 7,” he says of the upcoming appearance at JW3.

“In recent years, there has been a growing sense that our security and personal space have been eroded, while antisemitism continues to rise in many places. I believe my story is one that can offer hope, a path forward, and inspiration for dialogue, conversation, and inclusion – a way of rebuilding bridges between different sides.”

This October, three years after that turning point, Kobi launches the English edition of The Jewish Muezzin at JW3 in an exclusive UK premiere. It’s a story rooted in 90s Jaffa, shaped by a band that became pioneers of Middle Eastern Metal—a sound that inspired a generation of rock musicians from Turkey to Iran. But more than that, the deeply personal memoir is a story of hope, resilience, and the courage to see one another’s humanity.

At the JW3 launch Kobi will be in conversation with heavy metal researcher and author Dr Keith Kahn-Harris and accompanied by visual display and select music with Geva Alon, one of Israel’s greatest guitarists and songwriters.

While it might be a troubling time for Farhi’s country, as it fights on several fronts, the Jaffa-native told Jewish News insists that he is “an optimist in my nature.” He adds that “as a Jew we are people who appreciate life. We are people who strive for peace. Despite the horrible work of the government who has extremists in it, who planted a lot of hate and talks of violence and war.”

Alongside promoting his new book, the singer is determined to head home to participate in Israel’s upcoming election later this month. As the comments above show, he is no fan of the current Netanyahu administration.

However, like many Israelis, as polling day approaches, he remains conflicted as to who to vote for. Farhi is interested in a variety of options. These include everything from the unlikely and controversial partnership between Mansour Abbas and Yoav Segalovitz, to Yair Golan, to Gadi Eisenkot.

This typifies Farhi’s approach to peace and inter-communal co-operation. After all, this is a deeply proud, Zionist Israeli who has played to thousands of Arab fans in Turkey, been moved after finding an Arab with his band’s logo tattooed on them, who has had a keffiyeh on stage and used imagery from all the Abrahamic faiths.

Unsurprisingly then, the singer wants everyone “to read [my] book, not to change their point of view, but to hear a different angle, to learn about a different story that happened in Israel to an Israeli band.”

The London events will be a place to start doing that.

To book tickets to the JW3 book launch visit jw3.org.uk