A folk singer and New Age enthusiast from Oregon is planning to stage a peace concert in Syria on January 31 that he hopes will soften the hearts of ISIS jihadis.
FoxNews.com is reporting on the plans of James Twyman of Portland who says he felt a “call” to perform for the Islamist army in spite of their brutal legacy.
“It’s going to be pretty powerful,” said Twyman. “When people come together and focus on something in a positive way…there’s scientific evidence that it can change things for the better.”
Twyman, who calls himself the “Peace Troubadour”, is a New Age enthusiast who put together a musical rendition of A Course in Miracles. He also worked with sound-healing pioneer Jonathan Goldman to develop the Moses Code Frequency Meditation which they claim is an ancient form of Kabbalistic numerology called Gemantria.
He has big plans for the ISIS concert and says both the people attending the concert and others around the world sing at the same time and has put to music traditional prayers from various faiths. He will be joined in the concert, which is set for January 31, by a large group of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders.
“Each one will lead the group in prayer from their religion,” he said.
Twyman leaves on January 20 and will stop in Italy and Israel first. He will then cross over into Syria and travel to a small Druze village known as Majdal Shams. Although it is occupied by Israel at the moment, his contacts there are trying to set up a venue in ISIS controlled territory. The concert is set for January 31.
This isn’t the first time the Peace Troubadour has tried to use song and prayer to bring about peace. He performed in Baghdad after Operation Desert Storm and in Bosnia and Croatia during the Balkan war.
The U.S. State Department has asked Twyman to reconsider.
“They have advised me not to go,” he said.
Severe travel restrictions are currently in place for any American wishing to travel to war-torn Syria.
“There is a terrorist threat from violent extremist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, (ISIL), formerly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQ), the al-Nusrah Front, and others,” says a warning on the Department’s website. “U.S. citizens have been specifically targeted for kidnapping, both for ransom and political purposes, and murdered by members of terrorist and violent extremist groups in Syria. U.S. citizens have disappeared within Syria.”
In spite of the dangers, Twyman feels compelled to go.
“I’m no sort of hero, but I do believe in the power of this.”
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