Researcher and music producer Nader Jalal has released his book Palestine in the Arab Musical Renaissance: The First Half of the Twentieth Century, published by the Palestinian Cultural Development Foundation (Nawa). The book’s eight chapters trace Palestine’s role in Arab and Oriental musical heritage. The opening chapter examines music and singing in Palestine before World War I and the influence of the phonograph. The second explores early performance venues — theaters, cafés, and hotels — including notable sites in Jaffa, Haifa, and Ramallah, as well as performances in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other cities.

This book makes a crucial contribution to the recovery of Palestine when it was experiencing a vital state of comprehensive modernity before the Nakba. It is a vivid recovery of the image that inspires pride and honor as much as it arouses a renewed sense of the enormity of the Nakba. The book is in Arabic.

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