part in a music film produced by the Arte TV "Premadonas Fest", by the director-musician Andrew Heller, with Jesse Norman and Harris Alexiou, D.D. Bridgewater and others. Her first album, self-entitled "Amal" was written and composed by a diverse group of artists and musicians. It was released internationally in 2000 by EMI Hemisphere. Her second album Shauq ("Longing") was recorded live in April 2004, at the Crown Hall in Jerusalem, with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Her third album is Na'na' ya Na'na''' ("Peppermint, O Peppermint"). Amal has appeared in international music festivals and toured widely. She attracted attention when she was featured alongside the Palestinian rap group DAM in their critically acclaimed single and video clip "If I Could Go Back in Time" from the group's album "Dabkeh on the Moon". Political activism Amal considers herself a communist and a feminist. The Islamic Movement in Israel demanded that her performances be cancelled during the Ramadan. She says "I refused to cancel. I knew that this was not the real reason, since singing during Ramadan is not forbidden. I suppose that the people from the Islamic Movement are bothered by my social agenda. I criticize not only the Zionists, but also what is happening in my own society. I call for the liberation and empowerment of women. I believe that women hold the key – if they do not progress, society will not progress. But the Islamic Movement wants us to remain in the dark". In August 2008 Amal sang at the birthday of Maria Amman, a Palestinian girl from the Gaza Strip who lost her mother, two of her brothers, her aunt and her grandmother after her house was hit by an IDF projectile, which also left Maria severely injured and almost completely paralyzed. Murkus said that she was trying to "give Maria a mother's attention, not just my songs, in a humble attempt to fill a tiny bit of the void left in her life. I came today to utter Maria's voice. The voice of Palestinian children, who are victimized by the war. The State should allow Maria and her family to stay, for her to receive the best treatment possible; that would be the least the State can do to make up for what has happened to this child". Personal life Murkus is married to Nizar Zreik, an architect, poet and musician, with whom she has two children;