The article below first appeared in the Israeli daily Haaretz on May 22, 2026. It reports on the growing international popularity of Palestinian pop singer Elyanna, who is scheduled to perform at the opening of the soccer World Cup.

“Elyanna — Elian Marjieh — was born 24 years ago in Nazareth in northern Israel,” Haaretz reports. “Nine years ago, she and her family moved to the United States. She launched her music career at 19, singing covers of Arab classics like Abdel Halim Hafez’s ‘Ahwak’ and Nancy Ajram’s ‘Enta Eih,’ as well as songs by Rhianna like ‘Diamonds.’”

Haaretz adds: “Today she’s consolidating her position as one of the world’s top Arab pop stars and is on the soccer World Cup’s soundtrack with the song ‘Illuminate,’ performed with Canadian singer Jessie Reyez. ‘Your Pali girl at @fifaworldcup here we come,’ Elyanna wrote on Instagram; she’ll be singing at the opening ceremony in Mexico City on June 11.”

The singer expresses pride in her Palestinian identity, often wearing kaffiyeh over her curls in public appearances and using henna hand decorations. “No matter where I am — it could be the biggest stage ever, it could be the biggest platform ever — I’m always going to talk about Palestine,” she told Teen Vogue.

While performing at New York City’s Governors Ball Music Festival last year, a large screen behind her flashed the words “All Eyes on Rafah,” the city in southern Gaza the Israeli army largely demolished during the war it launched in response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.

We publish the article below for the information of our readers. The headline, subheadings, text, photos, and videos that follow are from the original.

— World-Outlook editors

*

‘She’s Dressed as a non-Muslim’: Palestinian Pop Star Elyanna Sparks Both Acclaim and Controversy

She opened for Coldplay, appeared on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ and is now gearing up for the FIFA World Cup’s opening ceremony. Yet critics disagree on the example Palestinian singer Elyanna is setting as one of the world’s top Arab pop stars.

By Sheren Falah Saab

May 22, 2026

“I’m living the dream,” singer Elyanna told the audience when she took the stage as the warm-up act for Coldplay in January 2025. “It’s a great honor to be here tonight, to speak and sing in Arabic and share my culture,” she said in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital. “I want us all to pray for hope, for light, for peace. To pray for Palestine, Lebanon, the Middle East and the whole world.”

Today she’s consolidating her position as one of the world’s top Arab pop stars and is on the soccer World Cup’s soundtrack with the song “Illuminate,” performed with Canadian singer Jessie Reyez. “Your Pali girl at @fifaworldcup here we come,” Elyanna wrote on Instagram; she’ll be singing at the opening ceremony in Mexico City on June 11.

Elyanna — Elian Marjieh — was born 24 years ago in Nazareth in northern Israel. Nine years ago, she and her family moved to the United States. She launched her music career at 19, singing covers of Arab classics like Abdel Halim Hafez’s “Ahwak” and Nancy Ajram’s “Enta Eih,” as well as songs by Rhianna like “Diamonds.”

Her brother, Feras, also a musician, encouraged her to develop her talent. “This success is thanks to him and due to him,” she told the popular Arabic-language podcast ABtalks last year.

Elyanna heard a variety of music at home — Julio Iglesias, Aretha Franklin, Egypt’s Umm Kulthum and Syria’s George Wassouf. “Her influences have always been far-flung and disparate: her mother, a Palestinian poet; her maternal grandfather, a performer of zajal — Lebanese folk poetry — at Palestinian weddings; her paternal grandmother, a pianist in Viña del Mar, Chile,” The Guardian wrote two years ago.

In 2020 and 2022, Elyanna released two EPs. In 2023 she was contacted by Wassim Sal Slaiby, who had worked with Canadian singer the Weeknd; Slaiby signed her and encouraged her to sing in Arabic.

This choice was ahead of its time. Only Spanish-language songs had been gracing the charts in English-speaking countries thanks to stars like Bad Bunny and Rosalía.

“When I first started, there was none of that. It didn’t really exist,” Elyanna told The Guardian. “There was a lot of people that loved the culture, and there were a lot of executives like my manager … but there was just a missing piece.”

In 2023, Elyanna became the first singer to perform an entire set in Arabic at the Coachella festival in Southern California. She then appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the first Arabic-language singer ever on the show, performing “Callin’ U” and “Mama Eh,” which she sometimes combines into a medley.

In 2024, she released her debut LP, “Woledto” (“I Was Born”), with two outstanding songs – “Ganeni” (“Drive Me Crazy”) and “Al-Sham” (“Levant”). “Elyanna has unveiled a new layer of her artistry and sound, marking a significant moment of rebirth both musically and personally – a true testament to the translation of Woledto, meaning ‘I am born,’” Will Schube wrote about the album on the website uDiscover Music.

“The illustration of the eye on her hand belongs to the Freemasons,” a Jordanian author wrote on social media, wondering: “’s Elyanna a part of that movement?”

Another outstanding track from “Woledto” is “Sad in Pali,” in which Elyanna introduced an element from zajal, “serving as testament to the influence of family in Elyanna’s life and career,” Schube wrote.

This combination of her identity and public interest in the Palestinians’ plight during the war helped her career soar. At New York City’s Governors Ball Music Festival last year she performed “Ghosn Zeytoun” (“Olive Branch”). A screen behind her featured the words “All Eyes on Rafah,” the Gaza city that had come to symbolize the humanitarian crisis during the war.

“I’m an artist and I have a message and I am very, very proud of my culture and I’m very passionate about my culture,” Elyanna told The Guardian.

Henna and kaffiyeh

Henna hand decorations, white dresses, Palestinian embroidery and a kaffiyeh are integral parts of her stage presence. She blends traditional and modern fashion as she displays her national identity. For example, on “The Late Show,” she wore a lace kaffiyeh over her curls.

“It’s one of those pieces that feels super timeless,” Elyanna told Teen Vogue two years ago; the magazine added that the kaffiyeh “channels a deep connection to her Arab roots, speaks to her Palestinian identity.” Elyanna said that it “feels powerful to wear it, it represents the culture.”

She added that the international media often presents Palestinian culture as one-dimensional. “There are a lot of beautiful things that the world doesn’t want to show about our culture,” she said. “They just want to show one side, and it’s time to show the other side. And the other side is the truth; the other side is the beauty.”

Despite Elyanna’s international success, the Arab world isn’t always as enthusiastic about her as the crowd in Abu Dhabi was; she’s not always invited to major music festivals. Her fashion sense and stage aesthetics have stirred controversy on social media. While some see her as a young, modern and liberated voice, others argue that she has crossed a cultural and religious boundary.

After she incorporated elements associated with Islamic culture into her act, she drew criticism from Jordanian author Dyala Bataineh, who said that Elyanna was being disrespectful to Islam.

Elyanna’s story also reflects the huge, sometimes unrealized potential of young Arab Israelis – music students, singers and writers striving to find a niche.

“The illustration of the eye on her hand belongs to the Freemasons,” Bataineh wrote on social media, wondering: “Is Elyanna a part of that movement?” In her live shows she wears revealing clothes while surrounded by both male and female dancers.

Someone wrote under a YouTube clip from a concert: “There is no pride about you singing for Palestine while dressed as a non-Muslim. What’s the point?”

Some American journalists have tried to place her music in a wider cultural context. “She’s not a scrappy independent artist, or a protest poet, or anything else you might think when you think ‘Palestinian music,’” The Los Angeles Times wrote about her in 2023. “She’s something much rarer: a young Palestinian artist with the clear backing of the American music industry.”

In the Jewish publication The Forward, Rob Eshman presented a more complex picture. In a 2023 article, he argued that Israel has always had cultural ambassadors, whether they chose that path or not. Many young people in America make up their mind about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on comments by pop stars, models and web influencers, he added.

Elyanna and her counterparts such as models Gigi and Bella Hadid play a similar role, Eshman argued. In interviews, Elyanna doesn’t mention the word “Israel,” emphasizing her Palestinian identity and the culture that supported her rise.

“At the end of the day, it’s who I am. … No matter where I am — it could be the biggest stage ever, it could be the biggest platform ever — I’m always going to talk about Palestine,” she told Teen Vogue.

Of course, since October 7, Israel’s sociopolitical reality has become even more charged and complex – for pop stars, too. Some Arab Israeli artists have been stung by their remarks. For example, singer Dalal Abu Amneh was arrested after posting part of a Quran verse on social media — the phrase “There is no victor except Allah” — and a Palestinian flag.

So, it’s easy to wonder how Elyanna’s career would have looked if she had stayed in Israel. It’s doubtful whether she would have made it out of Nazareth.

Her story also reflects the huge, sometimes unrealized potential of young Arab Israelis – music students, singers and writers striving to find a niche through talent shows, local studios or social media.

As long as Palestinian visibility, such as the kaffiyeh, is perceived by some Israelis as charged or controversial, it’s hard to imagine how a wide, safe Palestinian Arab culture industry can achieve pride of place in Israel.

If you appreciate this article, share it with friends and subscribe to World-Outlook (for free) by clicking on the link below.

Type your email in the box below and click on “SUBSCRIBE.” You will receive a notification in your in-box on which you will have to click to confirm your subscription.