Canadian-Sudanese singer-songwriter Mustafa tells a visceral story of trauma arising from the ongoing crisis in Palestine with new music video, “Gaza is Calling”. 

The short film – directed by actress-filmmaker Hiam Abbass – casts Bella Hadid and 15-year-old Gazan rap prodigy MC Abdul as a mother and son who have found refuge from the conflict abroad. These scenes run alongside footage of refugee Israa Ahmed and her younger brother, who are currently housed in a displaced peoples camp in Jenin. As Hadid and Abdul’s relief turns to rage, and the Ahmed siblings’ childlike play turns to terror, shots of attacks on Gaza begin to arrive at a frantic pace, culminating in Israa looking wistfully across the ocean.

“‘Gaza Is Calling’ is about my first experience with heartbreak in friendship. I was 11 when I met this boy from Gaza,” says Mustafa of the track, which was originally written in 2020. “With him, I shared one of the deepest loves I’ve ever known, he grew up alongside me in a housing project in Toronto. Not even this love was a match for the violence we were up against; the one in our new home, the one that followed him from Gaza like a cold wind. In the end, it was all the bloodshed between us that didn’t allow us to see each other without tears appearing.”

The video was then conceived in the wake of the current conflict: “I reached out to Bella in 2022 about the ‘Gaza Is Calling’ short film. I wrote a story about a grief that meets you on whatever land you escape to... the hope is that this serves as a stark reminder that every path is ours, every child is ours, and every war is ours to answer for and speak against.”

In a nod to the shared heritage of Sudan and Palestine, the track features Mustafa singing in Arabic, backed by a melody played on the oud (a Middle-Eastern guitar-like instrument).

Watch the full video above.