Bethlehem – Hassan Abdel Jawad – In a Palestinian musical demonstration par excellence, the Palestine Youth Orchestra, led by violinist Lamar Jalil Elias, took to the stage of the Amman Academy, in an orchestral singing performance in the Jordanian capital’s airspace, with the participation of the Edward Said Institute of Music and Aman choirs.
Pieces and songs presented by 120 musicians from the young Palestinian generation from different countries of the diaspora, in the world, addressed peace to “all the sad eyes” in the Gaza Strip, and inflamed the feelings of the audience through pieces and songs performed by the Palestine Youth Orchestra, which brought them together in the evening of “Gaza, Sacrifice and Heroism” in the Jordanian capital and its space.
Palestinian violinist Lamar Elias, 24, who lives in Toulouse, France, conducted the orchestra, which played pieces by Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Samuel Barber, and selections from the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish and composed by Marcel Khalife.
The musicians
wore black clothes and wore the black and white Palestinian keffiyeh, while the audience stood and applauded for a long time for the songs ‘Peace to Gaza’ by the poet Fouad Sarouji and ‘Maryam Gaza’ by the poet Ibrahim Nasrallah.
The lyrics of the song “Peace to Gaza” say: “Peace to all the sad eyes whose tears overflow with strength and pride, peace to a proud and stubborn people who bury a martyr every day.
As for the lyrics of the song “Maryam Gaza”, they include: “My God, take everything and leave us close to our sea here, my God, take everything and leave us close to the graves of our loved ones here… My God, be our wall, we will not flee from our death when night falls.”
‘All the pieces chosen for this show deal with resilience and resistance, including Western classical melodies and pieces,’ said conductor Lamar Elias.
“We are all hurt by what is happening, and we cannot live a normal life. What is happening in Palestine, and in Gaza in particular, must affect every human being. There is a massac
re and ethnic cleansing of an entire people,” added Lamar, who lives in Bethlehem and lives in France, and holds a master’s degree in music from the French city of Toulouse.
She pointed out that “music moves peoples and revolutions”, and that for the Palestinians it is “one of the ways of resistance”, and a type of culture, and that the occupation is trying in any way to erase Palestinian culture, and we want to keep Palestinian culture and identity alive.
Lamar dreams that her band will one day play in Jerusalem, but she expects that the occupation will not accept ‘in any way’ allowing this ‘for a Palestinian orchestra that carries the Palestinian cultural identity.’
“We cannot remain silent,” said Suhail Khoury, director general of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music and founder of the band. “The whole world is silent (about what is happening in Gaza) and we must act. There are people who are acting in universities and people who are acting with music. We must reach the same goal, which is to
stop the massacre, stop the war and bring the people back. Music is important and it expresses their situation.”
The band included one member from the Gaza Strip, trumpet player Raslan Ashour (23 years old), who is studying medicine in Egypt.
“Playing with this band reduces my suffering and allows me, through this small musical instrument that I carry, to express the feelings of anger, pain and sadness inside me,” said Ashour, whose home in Tel al-Hawa, Gaza, was bombed.
The Palestine Youth Orchestra, which has previously performed in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Bahrain and Lebanon, has been a voice for what is happening in Palestine since its founding 20 years ago, and today it expresses what is happening in Gaza.
Source: Maan News Agency