A spontaneous initiative launched by a Palestinian artist to revive the old city markets
“Yalla Lafa” .. a Jerusalem tale that sings “Oh, you are going to Jerusalem, take me with you”
One of the "Yalla Roll" tours inside the Jerusalem markets.
Emirates today
Palestinian artist Aya Khalaf.
Emirates today
Muhammad Abdul-Gawad, a holy merchant in the market Al-Khawajat.
Emirates today
"Yalla Roll" tours visited popular Jerusalem bakeries.
Emirates today
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“O you who are going to Jerusalem, take me with you, to pray to my Lord and say my Lord protect you.” .. “O Sesame growers, put sesame on its mother, O sesame growers, put sesame on its bells.” It makes its way to enter the Old City of Jerusalem, through its historical gates, and wanders between the walls of the old houses, and the narrow alleys.
With the melodies of the song “Pass through Bab al-Amud with the precious keffiyeh, see the civilization of ancestors and high statures”, Aya and a group of her companions set out from Bab al-Amoud, one of the most important gates of the old town, passing through Al-Wad and Khan al-Zayt roads, and the alleys of the Saadiya and Christian lanes and Aqabat al-Sheikh. Rayhan, all the way to the tanning markets, al-Khawajat, al-Attarin, al-Qatanin and al-Lahhamin.
This image is reflected in the “Yalla Roll” initiative launched by the artist Khalaf from the residents of the village of “Jet” in the Palestinian triangle inside the occupied territories, personally and spontaneously, in order to encourage shopping in the markets of the Old City of Jerusalem, in light of the state of stagnation witnessed during the months The past, due to the measures of the “Corona” pandemic, the arbitrary practices of the occupation, and its strict restrictions, towards the Holy City and its indigenous residents.
Historical art tour
The young Palestinian Aya, who studied musical education and oriental singing in Jerusalem, and works in a music education school, accompanied "Emirates Today" on one of its tours of artistic initiatives inside the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, which was inside the "Al-Khawajat" market, famous for selling fabrics, silk and weaving heritage clothes, as well as Antiques and handicraft products.
Aya stood at noon in the middle of the “Al-Khawajat” market, in the square that separates it from the Al-Lahhamin and Al-Attarin markets, with the sweetness of her voice resounding the traditional songs, between the walls of the old houses and the narrow alleys, while the market was bustling with pedestrians coming from the towns of the Holy City, the cities of the West Bank and the Palestinian interior, inside. The ancient walls of Jerusalem.
The young Palestinian woman wandered between the old Jerusalem cake bakeries, and the cafes and restaurants located between the three markets, to move to the Haj Muhammad Abdul-Gawad shop to sell utensils and traditional products made of copper, in the middle of the “Al-Khawajat” market, where this shop, which dates back hundreds of years, suffers from lack of Customer turnout, and poor purchasing activity.
The artist Khalaf continued to sing, which spread joy among the sides of the historical Haj Abdul-Gawad shop, and attracted passers-by from all sides, and here the place became too narrow to accommodate the size of overcrowding, caused by pedestrians wrapping to enjoy the atmosphere of heritage art among the oldest parts of the world as a whole, where they gathered in one of the corridors The market is like a circle, with Aya in the middle, who raised her voice to sing the heritage of her country, while her comrades applauded in encouragement.
As for the crowded passers-by, they were attracted by the songs chanted by Aya, and harmonized with the melodies and melodies of Palestinian folklore. Some of them applauded, and some of them took pictures of this atmosphere through their mobile phones.
A "spontaneous and deliberate" initiative
As she was walking to the Qazazin market within the walls of the historic old town, Aya says to "Emirates Today", that the village of "Jet" is my hometown, where I was born and grew up, but Jerusalem is the hometown of my soul and heart, where I live the most beautiful days of my life next to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, There I studied at the university level in 2015, and I am currently working there as a music education teacher.”
She adds: "Since the beginning of my university studies until today, and I live in the city of Jerusalem, and I have been closely linked to the alleys, markets and alleys of the Old City, and I used to watch daily the domes of antique houses, and their studded windows, but during the last two years as a result of the restrictions of the occupation that it permanently imposes, the markets have become scarce. The town is black and deserted by the residents, due to the procedures of the (Corona) pandemic.
After removing the restrictions of the “Corona” virus, Aya returned to wandering among the old markets of Jerusalem, to discover the extent of the tragedies that these markets are experiencing, and the state of extreme misery that surrounds sellers and shop owners, as a result of the weakness and decline of the buying and selling movement.
The Palestinian artist continues her speech: “From here, I started searching for effective and attractive ideas, to restore life to the sides of those markets, and the “Yalla Lafa” initiative was the product of a spontaneous personal idea, as we love Jerusalem by nature, as well as studied, by investing my musical talent, and the large number of followers. For my artistic activities on social media platforms, to implement the artistic initiative.”
Young Aya shows that her artistic initiative consists of field tours, moving on foot between all the ancient markets of Jerusalem, its lanes, alleys and historical archaeological monuments, accompanied by a group of her companions who encouraged her to implement “Yalla Lafa” and chant traditional Palestinian songs, in addition to taking pictures with Shop owners, and display them on their personal social media platform.
The owner of the idea of "Yalla Lafa" indicates that the first and main goal of the artistic initiative is to revive the old town in the Holy City, and to revive the commercial movement within its ancient historical markets, which have suffered both for two whole years.
• Aya Khalaf: The village of “Jet” is my hometown, where I was born and grew up. As for Jerusalem, it is the birthplace of my soul and my heart. It is where I live the most beautiful days of my life next to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. There I studied at the university level in 2015, and I am currently working there as a music education teacher.
• After removing the restrictions of the "Corona", "Aya" returned to wandering between the old markets of Jerusalem, to discover the extent of the tragedies that these markets are experiencing, and the state of extreme misery that surrounds sellers and shop owners, as a result of the weakness and decline of the buying and selling movement.
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