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 The unlikely group got together
more than two years ago to create Osprey V,
posting video clips online and projecting an
aura of mystery by keeping their faces hidden.
Now, the band is ready to step into the
limelight, with songs steeped in the emotions of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In April, a month before an 11-day war between
Gaza militants and Israel, they performed in
"Live for Gaza", an online concert to raise
funds for musicians in the Palestinian
Territories. Pro-Palestinian activist Roger
Waters of Pink Floyd fame also took part.
The band's songwriter, Moamin El-Jaru, said
Osprey V wants to convey both a universal
message and one unique to Gaza, run by the
Islamist Hamas militant group since 2007.
"I try to address situations or problems that
face everybody in the world, but because I came
from a place that has been cursed with so many
wars and conflicts, I try to say that from my
perspective, from my place from Gaza," said El-Jaru,
a lawyer by profession.
"We'll scream our pain - can you hear the call?"
implores one of the band's songs, "Home".
Lead singer Raji El-Jaru, an accountant and
Moamin El-Jaru's cousin, was the driving force
behind the band's formation, calling it the
realisation of a childhood dream.
At a rehearsal, he told Reuters that Osprey sang
in English "so everyone will understand and
everyone will be touched by the message", which
he described as a "scream of anger against the
injustice".
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 And for Moamin El-Jaru, the
song's title "Home" has a poignant meaning for
Palestinians displaced by war with Israel.
"When I sing about home, I am singing (about)
home for Palestinians and everybody in a
difficult situation that doesn't get to feel
(at) home," he said. Speaking
from Switzerland, drummer Thomas Kocherhans said
he joined the band three years ago while doing
humanitarian work in Gaza.
"When I heard them for the first time, I was
really shocked, but in the very good sense. I
just never thought such quality music would
exist in Gaza," said Kocherhans, who had to
leave Gaza earlier this year after his mission
ended.
Despite a lack of interest in Western music in
conservative Gaza, the band, named after a bird
of prey, has high hopes for success.
"I would love to become the Palestinian
Metallica or Pink Floyd, Roger Waters," Raji El-Jaru
said.
(Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Giles Elgood)
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