Zion Golan also known as Tzion Golan, is an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i singer of Yemeni

Yemenite Jews

Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...

 origin.

Background

Most of Golan's songs are in Yemeni Arabic

Yemeni Arabic

Yemeni Arabic is a cluster of Arabic varieties spoken in Yemen, southwestern Saudi Arabia, and northern Somalia...

. Many songs are from Yemen and are also sung by contemporary Yemeni singers. He also sings some songs in the ancient Yemeni dialect of Hebrew

Judeo-Yemenite

Judeo-Yemeni Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken by Jews living or formerly living in Yemen. 50,000 speakers now live in Israel, 1,000 remain in Yemen. The language is quite different from mainstream Yemeni Arabic. The language may be split into the subdialects of San`a, `Aden, Be:da, and Habban....

.

Personal life

Golan was born to Yemeni immigrants in Ashkelon

Ashkelon

Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. A modern Orthodox Yemenite Jew, Golan currently lives with his wife and three children (two girls, one boy) in the Ahuzat Etrog neighborhood of Merkaz Shapira

Merkaz Shapira

Merkaz Shapira , also Shapira Center, is a religious village in the South District of Israel. Located in the southern Shephelah between Kiryat Malakhi and Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council...

.

Worldwide reach

Though contact with Israel is banned in Yemen, his records have managed to reach the Yemeni public via the underground, selling around 2,000 records per album release. According to an interview in Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth

Yedioth Ahronoth

Yedioth Ahronoth is a daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the 1970s, it has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Yedioth Ahronoth retained the title of most widely read newspaper in Israel...

, Golan was set to give a performance in Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

 a couple of years ago, and visas were to be issued by the Jordanian embassy in Tel-Aviv, but the concert was canceled because of concerns for Golan's family. Most of his early work is credited to the music written for Psalms

Psalms

The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

 by Rabbi Shalom Shabazi in Yemen, which were developed according to traditional Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

i musical culture.

Discography

• l'Ahoi Banei Teimon, 1992
• Salem Salem, 1995
• Abba Shalom Shabazi, 2000
• m'Teiman l'Yisrael, 2001
• Eshorer Shir, 2001?
• Arahem ya Rabi, 2004
• Mahrozot Niflaot v'Duetim, 2005