Mutabaruka, Tony Rebel visit the Holy Land

Tony Rebel

Two of reggae and Rastafari's patriarchs are on a field trip to the Holy Land, Israel.

Mutabaruka and Tony Rebel have left the island for Israel where, among other things, they plan to visit the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Tony Rebel made it clear that they were neither soul- searching nor contemplating a change in religion.

"We visited Ethiopia, the land of Haile Selassie I and we are still satisfied with our religion of Rastafari. However, we believe that there is a lot to be learnt about the land of Jesus Christ and we want to go and see first-hand," he said.

The artistes left the island last weekend on a two-week trip. While there, they will undertake two performances.

"There is goodness in all religions and among them, there are things which are common in all ways of life. The Christian tradition is based on the Ethiopian way of living and as such we should feel right at home in Israel. In fact, there is a large African population there and they believe that the original Israelites were actually Africans.

"Their theory is that the Suez Canal which separates Israel from Africa was man-made and the whole area was a massive expanse of land. They are now encouraging many Africans in the Diaspora to repatriate to Israel," said Tony Rebel.

The artistes will be guests of spiritual leader Ben Ammi.

Tony Rebel said he would encourage people of all persuasions to look at the wider world and gain the experiences that others of diverse origins have.

"The only way to compare is to know. One has to be armed with the power of knowledge and Mutabaruka and I feel that this knowledge which we will gain in Israel is vital," he said.

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