'Arab Idol' Star Takes Jerusalem, Without Being There

Palestinian music sensation Mohammed Assaf is unlikely to appear in any location in Jerusalem, but the winner of the second season of "Arab Idol" is certainly present in East Jerusalem. Since Assaf's win, the cobbled streets of the old city have been rocking with his voice, as his flagship song “Alii al-Kofia Alii” and others are played over and over by music stores, as well as cafes, tourist shops and grocery stores. Assaf’s handsome Gazan face enamored storefront windows throughout Salah Eddin Street, the city’s main business thoroughfare.

The success of this Palestinian refugee didn’t come easy, which made his victory that much more meaningful. Assaf's story of how he arrived late in Cairo for the audition and how he had to climb the walls of the hotel where the audition was taking place to make the line-up, only to find he didn’t have the needed participant registration card. His mother’s role in encouraging him, and the generosity of a fellow Palestinian contestant who heard his impromptu singing and gave Assaf his registration card, has become part of the Palestinian lore repeated and added to by the public.