Lebanese authorities banned Carine Bassili from her home for making music with Israelis but have not deterred her from her journey of peace.
Like many Lebanese of her generation, Carine Bassili was traumatized by civil war, loss, and a patriarchal culture, hardships that forged her personality and shaped her journey from Lebanon to the U.S., where she would come to form a religious bond with Israel. Bassili’s journey—a spiritual one based on her faith and reading of the Bible—led her to support Israel. Her musical partnership with Israeli singers and producers led to her ban from Lebanon.
Undeterred by Lebanese authorities’ actions, Bassili continues her work and her music because she believes she has a message to deliver and a mission to achieve. This Is Beirut sat with Bassili to discuss her journey, mission, and spiritual message.
“I moved to the U.S. with my fiancé in 2005. The decision was made after the assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri, whose killing shook the whole country and changed everything. It was time to go; to start fresh somewhere else,” she said.
It was not easy to adapt to a new country and culture, Bassili said, adding that she missed Lebanon and still does. “Even with everything that we had to deal with in Lebanon, I was homesick, and I was surprised. How can I be homesick?”
Bassili bought a guitar and started learning to play it before the 2008 financial crisis struck in the U.S. “We lost everything and went through a very difficult time,” she said. “I am a Christian Maronite, and I have always been a Christian, but the hardships made me feel that I wanted to seek God in a new way.”
Bassili started to read the Bible more diligently and gradually felt closer to God. Her guitar became her instrument for expressing her faith, beliefs, and new outlook. For her, making music became a way of praying.
“In 2017, while I was doing an internship at a ministry in the U.S., I met a rabbi who believed in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. For the first time, I was listening to a Jewish religious figure speaking about Israel from a Biblical perspective. At the end of our conversation, he looked at me and said, ‘You are going to do great things for Israel.’”
After this encounter, Bassili began listening to Israeli music. “In 2020, I was planning to go to Israel, but then COVID-19 happened. I wanted to go to see where Jesus was born. Israel is the root of our faith; it is where everything happened.”
During the pandemic, she experienced a switch and felt she needed to start making music with Israelis. She was scared because under Lebanese law, communicating with Israelis is illegal. “I thought if I was going to do this, I would be banned from my country. I wanted to do good for my country, but I also felt that God was telling me this would be good for my country; that making music about peace and healing with Israelis is actually good for Lebanon.”
Bassili’s first song with an Israeli was a duet with Yair Levy, a musician who also serves as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The song was released in April 2020. “It’s a song about healing, and I was greatly impacted by its release. I couldn’t stop crying,” she said.
Most of Bassili’s songs have since gone viral in Israel. People love her, her music and her lyrics.
“In Israel, the Ministry of Education took our duet and put it in their school curriculum for students who are learning Arabic.”
When the October 7, 2023, attacks happened, Bassili was working on a song titled The God of Israel, which she recorded and released with Levy the following month. “We felt it was important to do something. God has been preparing me for it,” she said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54N4AGQH9rQ
“I kept hearing the Scripture—comfort my people, comfort my people—and that was the message that I had to relay. And my songs were my way of comforting Israelis in shelters, under attack, and fighting to protect Israel. I wanted to comfort them.”
Throughout all this, Bassili was performing at events to support Israel, combat antisemitism, and help the Israeli people heal. “I wanted to make a difference, to contribute, and to be part of something I deeply believe in.”
Bassili’s journey cost her more than she could ever have imagined it would. In 2022, she learned from a friend that she had been banned from entering Lebanon. None of Lebanon’s authorities had bothered to inform her or her family. Instead, a small announcement was published in newspapers, a footnote that cut deeply but made her even more determined.
“God wanted me to be on this path, and I know I should go on. Lebanon is part of the Promised Land. This is very clear in the Bible, and no one can deny it. Lebanon and Israel are meant to be one, the Promised Land. At the end of time, Jesus will return and rule from the throne, and he will do so from Jerusalem, from all of Israel,” Bassili said.
She believes that all Christians—from a Biblical and spiritual perspective—should stand with the Jewish people and protect them, because God’s promise is eternal.
“The Lebanese and the Israelis are very similar in our culture, perspective on life, history, and character. We are loud and love body language. We are the same people.”
Through her songs, Carine wants to bless Israel. “The Bible is very clear: God will bless those who bless you [Israel] and curse those who curse you. The Bible asks us to love our neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30) and love our enemy, although Israel is not our enemy. And I look at Lebanon: it hasn’t been blessed since the conflict with Israel started.”
“I want to see my country prosperous. I want to see our people free from this hate.”
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