Mohammed Assaf is a Palestinian journalism student and winner of the second season of the Arab Idol casting competition, which was finalised on June 22, 2013. He grew up in Gaza. Assaf's grandparents hail from southern Palestine and fled their homeland in 1948 on the occasion of Israel's war of independence. His father worked as an accountant in Misrata, Libya, where Assaf was born. When he was four years old, the family moved to a refugee camp in Chan Junis. At the age of six, he began to sing in a choir. Later he earned his money as a wedding singer. To come to the casting in Egypt, he had to bribe Egyptian border officials with money begged by Hamas. The hotel in Cairo where the event took place was already closed, so he climbed over a fence to get inside. All the race numbers had already been assigned, but an acquaintance from Saudi Arabia withstood his participation "because he would sing more beautifully".

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