Laura has always strived to share knowledge about the Palestinian struggle, while documenting how so many communities are subject to erasure. She uses her media expertise to train social justice organizers.
Talk about an incredibly gifted writer, editor, and human being! I had the honor of writing for the Institute of Palestine Studies, and Laura’s editorial skills significantly helped make that piece stronger. And on top of that, she is a dear friend who cares deeply about the success of our community, the preservation of our cultures and traditions, and the humanity of Palestinians everywhere.
1. What is your favorite song right now?
“Est-ce que tu m’aimes?” By GIMS. There are only two non-Arabic songs in my list, and both are by GIMS! The lyrics in this one are honestly painful and I hope no one experiences that kind of falling out of love, but mashallah this man’s voice is divine, I don’t have to relate to listen to him.
2. What’s your go-to song for all your feels?
I tend to write poetry when I'm angry, read books when I'm sad, and listen to music when I'm happy or nostalgic. Lots of emotional rituals! There is no in-between: if I have music on, I'm probably dancing or in trance, definitely not drowning. A song that really encompasses this combination is “Wahshani Bladi” (وحشاني بلادي) by Carole Samaha.
Let me give you a picture (literally, see below) of what my "temporary" home looks like. My walls are draped with prints of Umm Kulthum, Dalida, Sabah, Asmahan, Fayrouz, and Samia Gamal. I grew up in an environment that saw music as vital to belonging — whether a quiet night of classics or an upbeat evening of belly-dancing and dabke. When I was a child, our family gatherings consisted of fish Fridays: my late grandfather would buy it fresh from the market on the corniche, and it would be cooked to a crisp by teta. In the evening, she would gather the family in the garden, put on an Umm Kulthum cassette, prepare tea with maramiya, and listen to my mom and uncle sing along – my mother used to be a soloist in a children’s choir. Perhaps this was teta’s attempt to recreate the memory of her older brother and mother singing old Palestinian ballads in Syria. Maybe in another life — one in which the Nakba didn’t chase us to the refugee camps of Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon — we would have been vocalists, dancers, and poets living in al-Safiriyya in Yafa.
4. Name a song you know all the words to.
I used to be a member of Siwar youth choir led by Lebanese maestro, Nabih el- Khatib. I also used to perform a lot of Fayrouz songs at events and gatherings when I was in college in Beirut (shout out to the Music club at AUB!). Because of that, I know the words to so many classics. I’m also a lover of Arabic poetry, which was often used as lyrics for classical tarab. Nizar Qabbani is my favorite — I know all the words to his poem, “Qare’at El Fingan” (قارئة الفنجان) sung by Abdelhalim Hafez. But, if you were to ask me to sing something right now, I’ll break into “Moukawem” (مقاوم) by Julia Boutros. It’s currently my anthem, fitting for a Palestinian.
5. Name a song that gets you really hype and ready to go.
Listen, this isn’t an ad for FIFA World Cup 2022, but a single from the tournament soundtrack really hypes me up — probably because GIMS is involved. It’s called “Arhbo”.
Un salam ou un sourire!
Big shout out to Laura for joining and sharing her song selections! All of Laura’s songs will be included in this week’s playlist, so be sure to take a listen. Be sure to go check out Laura on Twitter and her beautiful photography!
What I’m Listening To
Full Playlist
🎧 Middle Eastern, North African, & Diaspora Flows 🎧
Lebanese herders say that Israel crosses an ill-defined frontier to abduct and interrogate them. Israel accuses the herders of espionage on behalf of Hezbollah.
The shot is a favorite among bar patrons in Lebanon, but its exact origins remain a mystery. Chelsea set out to exhume this elusive history, and discovered a savory mix of rumor and urban legend, as told by Beirut’s most grizzled bartenders.
The shock that reverberated around the world when Saudi Arabia beat Argentina in Tuesday’s World Cup upset quickly turned to a wave of euphoric joy not just in the kingdom, but across the region.
A US video game developer is planning the release of a long-delayed title which insensitively recreates the gruesome battle that left a generation of children born deformed in Iraq's Fallujah 20 years after the illegal invasion.
If you haven’t yet discovered this tantalizing Tunisian duo, Ÿuma consists of Sabrine Jenhani and Ramy Zoghlami, two voices and a guitar — a “minimalist folk universe,” as they describe it, in contrast with today’s Arab urban productions.
Esraa’s dancing, along with Cheikha Rabia’s vocals – the iconic Algerian folk singer – is as much interested in preserving the slowly declining visibility of marginalised Algerian culture as it is in empowering herself and her students.
France’s relationship with its diverse soccer-playing population is sometimes fraught, sometimes not. World Cup performance is a big part of the equation.
“We worked hard, spent so much money on this and they’re so intelligent. And now they’re supposed to just sit at home? Every time I think about it I get a headache.”
