Cold wind hitting your face, pushing you backwards. Snow stained with cars oil, big,small and random footsteps lead the way-In Ramallah the snow is not white it is greyish. It is my third time in Ramallah, and everytime I pass the checkpoint I get overwhelmed by it. I sit close to the window so I could see the graffiti that is painted along the Separation Wall. I see George Habash angry face calling for rebellion, Yaser Arafat tranquil features, and a little girl holding to baloons in the quest of passing the Wall. And many other creative images and inscripitions that garnish it; as Mahmod Darwish once said” We love the life whenever we can”.
After passing Kufur Aaqab, we arrived to Ramallah. you could smell the fumes of Nargeleh that fill Ramallah’s numerous cafes and resurants and hear the non-stop horns and music. The Manarah rotary with its tarnished elegance was sorruonded by aimless guys and poor children selling packs of gum and plasters. you don’t to wave or whistle for the taxi to stop by, the white and yellow cabs waited for costumers.The taxi driver announced ostentatiously “you know Ramallah never sleeps”. And I was glad it didn’t.
Caesar hotel stood in Masyoon avenue. It was an eight-storey building with grand hall where a huge painting of all prominent characters that ever existed from Napoleon to Ghandhi. I went to the reciption and bought the tickets for Jadal’s concert, with a surge of excitment i braced myself and waited till the band arrived. Before the throng of fans arrived I managed to go upstairs where the band was rehearsling and I talked with Bader- hey plays the keyboard. It was amazing!. After a long hour of waiting, they let us in. we ran up the stairs to arrive to a big room with blue orange neon lights. at its far east side stood a bar and at the far west side the stage was positioned. Jadal was hosted by two young musicians Shadi Zaqtan- a Palestenian guitarist and singer and Rezeq(he didn’t mention his last name he was kind of shy and timid) a rapper. They performed four songs before Jadal entered between the crowd that when the scraming reached its peak. Mahmod tuned his electric guitar, and Ahmad hit a few notes and his acoustic. As I expected they opened with Al-Makina (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8X-ZHGgap4) then another ten old and new great songs.(you can check their youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/jadalband?feature=watch). Tamer Naffar and Mahmod Jerere went up the stage and did a due with Jadal. The most epic part of this concert is when they said they were leaving and we started screaming “we want Ana Bakhaf mn el Commitment one more time”, and I called Mahmod and told him we want to squat and the ground and do the jump(I was in the first line). And thats what we did we sat on the ground until moment 3:20 when the beat drops. Everytime I hear their songs I imagine myself dancing In Ramallah, Caesar Hotel, on the second floor. I think it is s post-party effect and I love it!.
Indeed, it was midnight and yet Ramallah hasn’t gone to sleep. As I sat in the back seat next to the window and I looked around me saying goodbye to my beloved Ramallah. A night that will be engraved in my mind forever. Bye Bye Dear (that’s the title of another cool song for Jadal)
AICHA BINT YUSIF 