jordan pulse -
With Marcel Khalife's Participation, "Jerash" Revives Darwish's Spirit at Cultural Program Opening**
In a significant and notable celebration, with a clear national presence of the Palestinian narrative at the 38th Jerash Festival this year, "Mahmoud Darwish," with all his titles, brilliance, poetry, and high-pitched resistance tone, will be on the cultural program stage of the festival on Thursday, 25/7/2024, at the Royal Cultural Center in Amman.
The audience, in the celebration overseen and hosted by Minister of Culture Haifa Najjar, will experience Darwish's expressive voice filled with emotion, embodying a high spirit today with impactful moments as the poet recalls the land of Canaan, Palestine, "the mother of beginnings" and "the mother of endings," bringing forth all sorrows, highlighted by Darwish's famous masterpiece: "On This Earth, What Deserves Life."
The opening of the cultural program of "Jerash" undoubtedly carries a clear message with Jordanian features, its heart still loyal, divided between the west and east of the river, a message of culture and words, impacting all barren spaces in souls, blooming flowers and fruitful hope and resilience, as the pen absorbs its pure ink, free from all evil, bringing Mahmoud Darwish back to life in all his glory.
If Darwish departed from Amman to his birthplace in Palestine in 2008, in a solemn funeral that reflected the Jordanians' affection for the poet and the people of Palestine, he left surrounded by poetry, olives, and tears... today, his friends and audience will celebrate his spirit that still shades the places he loved, Jordan and the surroundings of Jerusalem, the geography that remained faithful to the promise, reminding through the platform of culture, thought, and art of the poetry icon and all those words that instilled determination in people, and revived the phoenix from the ashes of sorrow.
When the presence is so magnificent, the great artist "Marcel Khalife" will certainly shine, creating his melodies that often accompanied the words in the epic of love and departure, singing with Darwish and singing in Darwish's farewell.
At that moment, nostalgia will be fresh, bread warmer, and coffee will continue to scent the place. "In the mind, there’s a song, sister, about my country, sleep so I can write it... I saw your body carried on a stretcher, and it was dripping colors, so I told them: my body is there, fill the city square!"
On Thursday, at twelve noon, all those who love Darwish will gather, and all memories will be charged with the generosity of tears and the splendor of details. The cultural celebration in poetry and prose will begin, woven with threads of hope, work, and the brilliance of thought. "Jerash" will remain faithful to its Arab causes, carrying the torch of resilience, as melodies blend, hearts and eyes compete in sharing the wound and singing for resilience and tears of memories.
Joining the celebration alongside the artist Marcel Khalife is the critic and composer Hossam Jibran from Palestine, and critic and translator Fakhri Saleh will also speak, launching the festival's cultural activities with refined "Darwishian" breaths that love life.