Rappers Release Protest Song Marking 838 Days Since Haimanot Kassau Vanished

More than 800 days after 9-year-old Haimanot Kassau disappeared from a reception center in Safed, Israeli rappers Ayree G and Orit Tshuma have released a defiant new song demanding action and condemning official inaction. Haimanot, now 11, also has a younger sister she never got to know. As of publication, there is no lead in the case, the police investigation is stalled, and the family says the child’s disappearance has not received the attention it deserves from decision-makers.

Ayree G, whose real name is Ayri Tzafnat, said the song was born out of a sense of emergency and uncertainty. He said he began working on it six months ago while teaching rap and music production at Beit Hane’ar, a facility that serves as an alternative to detention for youths. There, he met a boy named Kassahon Kumia, who told him he could not sleep because of Haimanot and thought about her constantly. The two wrote the first verse and chorus together, and that same day, Ayree said, there was a development in which a suspect in Haimanot’s abduction was arrested.

Ayree later brought the material to Tshuma, who blends spoken word, rap and singing. She said the case reminded her of the 1960s abduction of Yossele Schumacher, saying that if he could be found then, Haimanot can still be found now. Tshuma added, “How is it possible that a country like ours, advanced and sophisticated, cannot reach one girl?” She also said, “If Haimanot’s status had changed from missing to abducted, things would have moved much faster.”

The song was released with the approval and support of the Kassau family. Its aim is to pressure the government, the Jewish Agency, which owns the reception center where Haimanot lived, the police, and the security company. The day before the release, the Ministry of Aliyah and Absorption reportedly pledged about 400,000 shekels for a publicity campaign about her disappearance. Tshuma said it is not too late to act, and that she hopes Haimanot will be found and that society will wake up in time.

The artists argued that public pressure is essential. Ayree called on colleagues in every field to use their platforms to pressure the authorities and the public, while Tshuma said history shows that things happen only through public pressure, unless someone is well connected. She also linked Haimanot’s case to the long struggle to bring home former hostage Avera Mengistu, saying that if Haimanot’s case had been classified as an abduction, events would have moved faster and more agencies would have been involved. The song ends with a painful but hopeful recorded message from Haimanot’s mother, Banci Kassau: “Do not think that we are not looking for you. We are turning over every stone to find you.”