music in jifna...

A couple weeks back a friend of a friend of a friend's band from Italy was in Palestine to do a few performances. After hearing very good things about them me and a few friends decided to go to one of their shows that was being held in the village of Jifna, which is located just north of Ramallah. First of all, Jifna is amazing! Such a beautiful town, with its ancient architecture and wonderful hidden treasures like an underground olive press and Ottoman-era tunnels. I was immediately taken upon seeing the place.

It seems that they had completely cordoned off the main square of the old city to make way for the performance, which was also a celebration of the 6-7 university students who had recently graduated from nearby Birzeit University. The whole village, young and old, had turned out. The atmosphere in the square was amazing. The stage had been set up on the ruins of an ancient building -- the band had to climb arched staircases to reach it. The walls of the shops that encircled the square were lined with chairs where old Palestinian men sat drinking their coffee and smoking their nargileh, elderly women gathered in their traditional dress, teenagers crossed their arms, and children ate their ice cream. It was a beautiful sight indeed.

The music was so fitting for this celebratory evening -- danceable and non-evasive. It was a crazy mix of reggae, ska, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean -- they sang in English, Italian, and a little Arabic with a wide array of instruments. I couldn't get over how surreal the whole thing felt. It felt as if I was in a movie -- the atmosphere, the smiles on the faces of the locals (their friendliness unforgettable), the ancient ruins, the ambient lighting, the company. It was, dare I say, a perfect evening.