Noa and Gil have collaborated frequently with Arab and Palestinian artists from around the world, including Khaled from Algeria, Nabil Salameh from Lebanon, Handallah from Nablus , Rim Banna from Nazareth, Amal Murkus from Kfar Yasif, and Mira Awad from Kfar Raameh. These collaborations enable the duo to express, musically, their belief in the power of communication and dialogue as a means of promoting peace and understanding.
Image above: 13-01-2014 Noa and Gil in Nazareth with the young Arab and Jewish musicians of Polyphony
Below: Noa sings together with Rim Banna in the animated movie “Pace of Peace”
On Nov. 4th, 1995, Noa was on stage performing for an audience of 50,000 at the historic peace rally in Tel-Aviv just minutes before the late Yitchak Rabin was assassinated. She was the first and only major Israeli artist who agreed to have her name posted on the billboards calling for participation in this fateful rally.
In March 1999 Noa sang for President Clinton at the White House in the event held by the “Yitzhak Rabin Foundation” honoring the late Rabin’s 77th birthday . She was also invited to sing in Oslo for the anniversary of the Peace accord signed there, before an audience that included President Clinton, Ehud Barak, Yasser Arafat and the King of Norway. Noa was awarded the “dove of peace” by Nobel-peace prize laureate Shimon Peres, and has performed and collaborated on numerous occasions with the “Peres Center for Peace”.
In February 1999 Noa appeared together with Steven Spielberg for the Shoah foundation in Berlin. That same month, she was honored with the “Crystal Award” by the “World Economic Forum” in Davos, Switzerland, where she has performed together with Palestinian artists and participated in numerous panels dealing with peace in the Middle East and the role of art and artists in possibly bringing it about. In 2001 Noa was again invited to participate in the WEF in NY, where she had the honor of performing in a star-studded gala evening produced by Phil Ramone and Quincy Jones, featuring artists such as Bono, Peter Gabriel, Lauryn Hill, India Arie and many others. In this special concert she performed John Lennon’s immortal “Imagine” together with the Algerian singer Khaled, in Hebrew, English and Arabic.
In 2000, the Mayor of Melpignano awarded Noa and Nabil Salameh, Lebanese singer songwriter of the group “RadioDervish”, honorary citizenship for their activity for peace. Two years later year, Nabil dedicated one of the group’s albums to Noa’s son, Ayehli.
In May 2002, Noa took part in the first-ever concert at the “Rome Colosseum”, under the banner of “Time for Life- A Tribute for Peace”. The event featured Ray Charles, Mercedes Sousa, Khaled, Nicola Piovani, and various artists from Afghanistan, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Africa and Ireland. Thousands watched the concert on giant video screens.
Below: Noa and Nabil Salameh/Radiodervish singing at Rome’s Colosseum
On October16, 2003, Noa was nominated “good will ambassador” for FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). In a ceremony which took place in Rome she joined ambassador-celebrities like Roberto Baggio, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Debbie Ferguson, Gilberto Gil, Gina Lollobrigida, Yousou N’Dour, Khaled and Dionne Warwick.
In May 2004 Noa performed in “We Are the Future”: a globally telecast fund raising concert for children in conflict areas. The event, which was produced by Quincy Jones and hosted by the mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni, featured an international line-up of stars and performers such as Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Chris Tucker, Naomi Campbell and Serena Williams, Patti Austin, Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Andrea Bocelli, Carmen Consoli, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Stomp, Take 6, Angelique Kidjo and others. The concert was performed live in front of an audience of 350,000 in Rome’s “Circo Massimo”, and broadcast on MTV, VH1 and various other channels to millions more around the world. (this performance was held during Noa’s 6th month of pregnancy!)
Below: Noa and Mira Awad performing “Shalom Shalom” at the We Are the Future Concert in Rome 2004.
On April 3rd, 2005 Noa became the first woman to receive the “Galileo Galilei” order medal from the “Grand Orient”, the Italian arm of the Free Masons Oranization.
On July 2nd Noa performed in Bono and Sir Bob Geldof’s “Live 8” concert in front of hundreds of thousands of people that filled Rome’s Circo Massimo and millions of TV viewers across the world. The concert’s aim was to put pressure on the world’s leading nations to erase third world debts. The Rome line up included: Duran Duran, Faith Hill, Lorenzo (Jovanotti), Nek, Pino Daniele, Antonello Venditti, Claudio Baglioni, Tim McGraw, Velvet and many others
On August 7th Noa received the prestigious “Gemona Seminar” prize for artistic excellence and her contribution to peace and understanding. In September, she performed at the “Ambrosetti Forum” which took place in Villa d’Este, Como, Italy, before distinguished participants such as Shimon Peres, Saeb Arekat and Amer Mussa. She took advantage of this stage, as she has many times before, to express her belief in the importance of dialogue and the need for vision-driven, self-less leadership.
In June 2006, the Italian Ambassador to Israel notified Noa that the President of the Italian Republic, President Neapolitano, has decided to award her the prestigious “Stella de la Republica ” ( the “Star of the Republic) with the status of “Cavalliere” (knight). in 2018, President Mattarella of Italy promoted Noa to Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, one of the highest honors Italy has to give. This happened soon after her historic performances in the Italian Parliament in December of 2017, and later in the Quirinale Palace, on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Noa supports numerous organizations working for peace and dialogue in Israel. She is on the Board of the Um El Fahem art gallery, directed by her close friend Said Abu Shakra for which she volunteers extensively, she supports Bridge over the Wadi, an Arab-Jewish school in Kafr Qara, and Kids Creating Peace in Neve Shalom. She supports the Polyphony Foundation in Nazareth, which educates Arabs and Jewish Israeli youth in classical music and she collaborates with Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle, having been one of the very few Israeli artists to agree to sing in their annual joint Jewish/Arab memorial day service. Noa is also on the board of the New Israel Fund.
in 2009, Noa was asked to represent Israel in the Eurovision song contest. She accepted on the condition that she would be allowed to invite her colleague Mira Awad to join her, as a representative of the 20 percent Palestinian citizens of Israel. Noa wrote the song “There must be Another Way” in English, Mira translated to Arabic and Gil Dor to Hebrew. The historic performance was covered by all important media channels to world over including El Jazeera, CNN, BBC Iran and the New York Times, and was viewed by millions the world over.