back to jifna...

A week or so ago there was the annual "Mish Mish (Apricot) Festival" in Jifna. The festival is held every year to celebrate the apricot harvest in the small farming village and to show support to local Palestinian farmers. As we started walking down the narrow road that led to the location of the festival, I was amazed by the amount of people streaming away from and towards the activities. It seemed to be the event of the week in Palestine. As we approached I immediately spotted about 5 classic American cars. I was shocked. Classic cars, especially American ones, are pretty much non existent in Palestine. I couldn't believe my eyes -- I was a very happy girl.

We then entered the main square where there were booths upon booths of local Palestinian products on display and for sale. I liken it to an American-style county fair, only without the white trash people and with much better food and music. There were mosaics from Riha (Jericho), glass works from Hebron, hand-stitched embroidery from local villages, many many food and agricultural products, and of course apricots! We all walked around people watching and eating our apricots, which by the way were ridiculously delicious. There was a huge stage set up where there was a full band/orchestra and choir playing glorious traditional Palestinian and Arab music to a crowd of hundreds. It was so beautiful! I felt so privileged to be able to experience something that felt so pridefully and nationalistically Palestinian. Viva Palestina!!