Adri Nieuwhof: Can you please introduce yourself?

Samir Joubran: I am the older brother of Wissam and Adnan. We are musicians from Palestine, born in Nazareth. My father was a third-generation oud-maker and player. Wissam studied at the Antonia Stradivari Conservatory in Italy. He learned how to build string instruments, violins in particular. Wissam built our instruments. I have a classical background and started to perform at the age of 12. In 2003, Wissam and I released a CD, it is a duet, a meeting of our ouds. Last year we released our third CD, a tribute to Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. We compose all of our music ourselves. Maybe it is the first time in history that three ouds play together, and that three brothers are the players.

AN: Why did you choose to play the oud? What does the instrument mean to you?

SJ: I grew up in a house filled with ouds. My father finished a new instrument every month. You can say, I lived in a house that was occupied by the oud. The instrument is the father of all stringed instruments. It is over 4,000 years old. It is more than a piece of wood; when you play, you hug it, you feel it resonate in your stomach. This instrument is part of your body, it is part of our culture, our identity. Two weeks ago we were in Nazareth. We gave a concert in Haifa and one in Ramallah, on the date of Mahmoud Darwish's birth, 13 March. The Palestinian Authority has declared this day as the National Day of the Culture of Palestine. At the concert we used Mahmoud Darwish's voice and vocals [by playing a recording of the poet reciting his work].

AN: I saw you perform at a concert in support of Gaza. What made you decide to do this?

SJ: We have 70 to 80 concerts each year, mostly in Europe. We get invitations from professional places; they invite us for our music. We have performed about four times in Geneva, we like it, and the public likes us. The association which invited us is helping Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. We did not think twice. We want to support our human cause for liberty and freedom. We are not aiming to be heroes or victims. We want to live as human beings...