The performances tackled concepts of love, dreams of marriage, society’s negative view of divorced and unmarried women, issues related to Christians in Gaza, unemployment and the immigration of Gazan youth in search of a better future.

The cost of the pandemic has been tremendous, ranging from 7 to 35% of GDP, depending on estimates while the World Bank estimates that the Palestinian GDP to contract by at least 8%.

In this multilayered work, Elias Khoury continues his thought-provoking and inspiring literary contribution on the entanglement of the Jewish and the Palestinian catastrophes.

Despite the social, political and economic challenges facing Gazan rappers, they are determined to continue to produce their own music and give voice to the angry and marginalized youth, so that they can find a just solution to their problems.

Ghrayeb’s shocking death has triggered the outrage necessary for serious action to be taken, but individual acts of justice, while important, might not be enough to combat systemic issues related to violence against women. Deeper institutional reform may be necessary for long-term and more radical change.

LGBTQ Palestinians are still in their infancy although society is changing. The PA’s reversal of the ban on al-Qaws indicates that institutions in Palestine will respond to pressure although such clampdowns have not only harmed LGBTQ people; activists believe they also hurt the fight against the Israeli occupation.

Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian lands isn’t mentioned once: the closest it gets is a reference to “higher-wage, high-growth occupations”, meaning jobs – which is far removed from how most people understand the term in the context of Palestine.

One of the biggest challenges remains freedom of movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Music teachers cannot travel between the various locations in the West Bank, let alone Gaza. If there is a performance in Jerusalem or Ramallah, it is almost impossible to get all the musicians together in one place. International teachers also face visa difficulties from Israel.

I find that the influence of Middle Eastern sounds on jazz is never discussed, but it exists. Now, I’m not trying just to mix the two together. I’m working on creating a third sound that harmonizes the two sounds from their roots instead of forcing them together [superficially]. Other people are doing it, like Ibrahim Maalouf and Ziad Rahbani, but I’m more interested in the voice itself as an instrument, to see how much the voice can make music instead of just being used for storytelling. But it takes a lot of time. My father calls it “Nainstrumenting,” from my name.

In order for Gazans to get their name on the security coordination lists, they have to pay between $1,800 and $3,000. It is unclear where this money goes, but most people believe it goes to the Egyptian intelligence officers who arrange the security clearance.