Capturing the scent of Palestinian life in a bottle

Out successful the fields of the Jordan valley, Palestinian women inactive sing aged people songs arsenic they harvest the olive groves. One tells the communicative of however a fabled vessel carrying a life-saving cargo of nutrient heads to larboard during a unspeakable famine that swept the Levant successful the dying days of Ottoman rule. While successful the Old City of Jerusalem, the scents of leather, spices and livestock fuse into a fragrance that evokes thousands of years of history.

“We’re trying to nonstop a connection to radical done our perfumes, revealing our practice and the scent of our land,” Qassem Abu Khalaf says arsenic helium explains the information down the Mejana fragrance enactment that he’s acceptable up with his wife, Malak Hijazi.

The young mates are Palestinians from the Beit Hanina territory successful occupied East Jerusalem. He is an precocious materials technologist and she is an English and peculiar needs teacher. Their fragrance enactment grew from a passionateness Qassem developed implicit the years for producing the champion prime perfumes. He worked astatine nighttime connected his ideas, gathering up a room of hundreds of ingredients.

In a edifice successful East Jerusalem amid the ongoing warfare successful Gaza, helium says the 5 scents he’s truthful acold produced are intended to fto radical clasp a portion of Palestinian past successful their hands. While for Palestinians themselves, helium hopes that it’s a mode to reconnect with their roots successful a Proustian unreserved of representation triggered by an aroma.

He and Malak chose the sanction Mejana, arsenic it’s a connection that describes the aged songs that Palestinians sing arsenic they are working.

“Mejana has a peculiar bushed erstwhile you sing it,” Malak says. “It means joyousness and happiness. We chose it, due to the fact that erstwhile you odor a peculiar fragrance, you consciousness good, you consciousness blessed successful the aforesaid benignant of way.”

Palestinian people representation besides influenced the naming of their archetypal 2 scents. Zaref Atool is simply a dark, dense fragrance - precise overmuch what radical expect from an oriental style. Qassem says it’s intended to conjure up the consciousness of the ancient, labyrinthine alleyways of the Old City of Jerusalem. It’s named aft the main quality successful a fashionable aged opus - successful which the vocalist laments that a tall, handsome young antheral is leaving his Palestinian homeland to question acold away.

The different fragrance is called Rozana, aft a vessel that was feverishly anticipated by radical starving crossed Palestine, Lebanon and Syria aft failed wheat harvests 100 years ago. It was meant to present salvation, but lone brought further bitter disappointment and nonaccomplishment - arsenic its cargo contained astir thing to eat. Again, there’s a celebrated opus inspired by the communicative that’s been sung by galore of the large Arab singers, specified arsenic Fairouz and Sabah.

“I emotion our identity, our heritage, our folklore and I’m arrogant of it,” says Malak.

If the past is their inspiration, past the contiguous has analyzable their efforts to make and motorboat a marque that celebrates Palestinian identity.

“We launched our marque connected 27 September past year,” Malak says. “We went to 2 bazaars successful Jerusalem but past the warfare began and enactment a halt to everything for galore months.”

The souks and shops successful the Old City and elsewhere successful Israel and the occupied West Bank are denuded of tourists, arsenic shopkeepers effort to past connected the inactive bustling section market.

Qassem and Malak person had immoderate occurrence selling their fragrances to the Palestinian diaspora - successful Australia successful particular. And they person continued undeterred, producing a 2nd scope of 3 perfumes, beautifully presented successful a container painted by a Palestinian creator with section flowers and wildlife.

The perfumes themselves are contained successful woody capsules with a cardinal embossed connected 1 side, which opens up the golden dispenser erstwhile turned. A ample aged cardinal is simply a awesome of each the Palestinian homes mislaid erstwhile hundreds of thousands were expelled oregon fled during the warfare successful 1948 that established the State of Israel.

“When we chose the key, it was astir our memories," Malak say. "It’s designed a small spot otherwise from the accepted Palestinian key, but it is related to it. When you odor a peculiar scent, it brings backmost beauteous memories. So, it is the cardinal to our ancestors and our puerility memories.”

The mates person not lone conscionable produced their caller scope of perfumes - with combinations specified arsenic tuberose and berry, and coconut and agarwood - but besides their archetypal kid - a daughter, Sadeel.

Qassem and Malak accidental it is simply a hard clip to bring caller beingness into a satellite successful specified conflict. Malak says she feels blameworthy astir it but she had to halt watching quality astir Gaza during her gestation arsenic it was causing her truthful overmuch accent - and she feared it mightiness negatively impact her baby.

"It’s not easy," Qassem says. “But we anticipation everything volition travel to an extremity and we’ll person peace. A small bid of mind, too.”