Mahrajan al-Quds Festival gets under way in east Jerusalem

Concerts and art exhibitions are part of life for the 250,000 Arabs who call the Holy City home. Politics aside Jerusalem’s multicultural, multilingual diversity beckons with rich artistic choices.

By GIL STERN STERN ZOHAR
Updated: AUGUST 4, 2015 17:47
Hind Husseini marches with her schoolgirls in Jerusalem, in this undated photo. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Hind Husseini marches with her schoolgirls in Jerusalem, in this undated photo.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
In Jewish Jerusalem, the end of the nine days culminating in the solemn remembrance of the destruction of Jerusalem’s two Temples has given way to the resumption of summer’s celebrations. So too with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan over, east Jerusalem’s vibrant cultural scene returned to normal with the opening Tuesday of the Jerusalem Festival, called Mahrajan al-Quds in Arabic.
But in checking out the Tourism Ministry and Fun in Jerusalem websites, one wouldn’t know that concerts and art exhibitions are part of life for the 250,000 Arabs who call the Holy City home. For those willing to put aside politics, Jerusalem’s multicultural, multilingual diversity beckons with rich artistic choices.
The Jerusalem Festival kicked off with a concert by Le Trio Joubran, an oud trio of Samir, Wissam and Adnan Joubran playing traditional Palestinian music. The brothers, who divide their time between their hometown of Nazareth and Ramallah and Paris, come from a well-known musical family. Their mother, Ibtisam Hanna Joubran, sang the Muwashahat (poems that originated in al-Andulus, Muslim Spain prior to 1492) while their father is among the most renowned stringed-instrument makers in the Arab world.
The oud virtuosos were followed by a concert Wednesday by 19-year-old diva Nai al- Barghouti of Ramallah, and the Banat Alquds Jerusalem Girls Ensemble on Thursday.
Tonight’s concert (Friday) features chanteuse Dalal Abu Amneh from Nazareth. Rana Khoury from Haifa will perform Saturday, while the Celtic Legend Show – Ireland will close the festival with a gala performance Sunday. Since its founding a decade ago, the troupe from Galway has performed its blend of traditional Irish music and dancing before more than two million people. So far in 2015, the troupe, under musical director Sean McCarthy and chorographer Jacintha Sharpe, has toured in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and recently appeared at the Casino Du Liban in Jounieh, Lebanon.
All shows begin at 8 p.m. at the Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi on Abu Obaida Ibn al-Jarrah Street in Sheikh Jarrah. Tickets, which cost NIS 35, may be purchased at the Yabous Cultural Center from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., (02) 545-6717; and from 6:30 p.m. on at the Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi organization.
Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi has a fascinating history.
Meaning “The House of the Arab Child,” it was founded in 1948 as an orphanage by Hind Husseini (1916-1994). Husseini rescued 55 orphaned survivors of the April 1948 Deir Yassin attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and converted her grandfather’s mansion (built in 1891) into an orphanage to house them. This evolved into a school providing education to the orphans and other Palestinian children.
After the 1967 Six Day War, Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi became a girls-only school.
The 2010 film Miral, directed by Julian Schnabel, portrays some of the orphanage’s history; Husseini is played by Hiam Abbass. Her life and work is portrayed largely through the perspective of the titular orphan, Miral, played by Indian actress Freida Pinto, best-known for her famed role in Slumdog Millionaire.
In tandem with the concert series at the Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi, the festival also includes two exhibitions, both at the Yabous Cultural Center on a-Zahra Street in downtown east Jerusalem. A needlework and handicrafts show called the Jerusalem Women’s Industries Exhibition took place this week, while a collective presentation by Jerusalem Arab women artists called “First Exhibition” continues on display until August 2.
Like most cultural events in east Jerusalem, funding comes from foreign governments and foundations. The Jerusalem Festival’s main donor is the European Union.