All over Israel people are praying for the safety, well being and success of the Iranian people in their fight for freedom.

Israel and Iran are the only countries in the Middle East where the ancient cultures have survived the 7th century Muslim Arab conquest of the region and where the native languages, Hebrew and Farsi, are the lingua franca, a direct link to the millennia old archaeological sites bearing witness to the historic civilisations dating to biblical times.

As such many Israelis and Iranians feel a connection, a shared history going back thousands of years. The bible records that it was Persian emperor Cyrus who famously permitted the Judean exiles to return home to Zion to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnetzer who's empire was absorbed by an ascendant Persia.

Persian-Israeli singer Liraz is a Farsi pop sensation with a following all over the Iranian diaspora as well as in Iran itself. She has made a point of recording with Iranian musicians in Istanbul and other neutral countries. Her album "Roya" featured Iranian women musicians who's fight for freedom she highlighted in songs on the album.

"Recorded in secrecy in Istanbul with her band from Tel Aviv and risk-defying Iranian musicians from Tehran. A musical portal to a place of peace, joy and unfettered freedom."

Liraz dedicated the album to the women of Iran:

"It’s finally happening. For years women's freedom has been my fight. I create my music inspired by their powerful life stories.

I always believed women would be the leaders of the revolution in Iran. I am watching these courageous women fighting right now for their freedom. Some of them collaborated with me last February inside an underground studio recording in Istanbul for this album.

Meeting and creating music together physically gave us the hope we would meet again soon and be free. Our ROYA / fantasy was our secret. Now we can shout it out to the world. They can shout it out to the world."

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"Zan Zendegi Azadi" (Women, life, freedom) This poster is for a rally in Tel Aviv support of the Iranian people