The Palestinian folk singer Abu Arab, the pains of the Nakba and the weeping of melody and mawwal

In the early eighties of the last century, the "Islamic Union for Palestine" was established in the American city of Chicago, by a group of activists and members of the Muslim community in the city, which is inhabited by a high percentage of the Palestinian diaspora. This founding of the Union allowed for the increase of activities and events of a Palestinian national nature, and it was agreed to hold an annual conference in December during the Christmas holidays.

Most of the participants in the conference were students and members of the Palestinian community in the city and the surrounding states, and the three days of the conference varied between lectures of a political nature related to the developments of the Palestinian cause, and shopping, where temporary shops sold everything Palestinian, including food, popular costumes, and tapes for months. singers in the homeland and diaspora.

A friend gave me a set of 19 cassettes inside an elegant box, and he said to me: Listen to it and you will pray for me.

I had never heard of this name, we "religious Islamists" used to see in that art "an abomination of Satan's work"!! I accepted the gift after hesitation, and started listening to those tapes alone and when the time was available and the place was free.

It didn't take long for me to enjoy listening to them all, and they provided me in my exile with an emotional charge that imbibed all my sides, and I became addicted to this kind of songs of patriotic melodies, especially when I travel between states for long hours, where my journey is accompanied by other tapes of the Holy Quran.

“Abu Arab” was a refugee from the village of Al-Shajara, the Tiberias district in Palestine. He excelled in presenting the tragedy of the Nakba and the cause in poetry and chanting, and made it dwell and emotionally take root in the heart of each one of us in the homeland and the diaspora. They have a stolen homeland, and the depth of longing for it and nostalgia.

Abu Arab's father was killed in 1948, during the Zionist militia's invasion of Palestine, and his son was killed in 1982, during the Israeli army's invasion of Lebanon. In his childhood, he witnessed the launch of the Great Palestinian Revolution in 1936 against the British occupation and Zionist settlement, to which his grandfather devoted all his poems to praising the revolution and inciting the revolutionaries to fight the British occupier.

Abu Arab founded his first troupe in Jordan in 1980, and it was called the “Palestine Folklore Band.” It consisted of 14 artists. Naji Al-Ali.

He composed, composed, and sang many patriotic songs, the most famous of which are: From Acre Prison, The Martyr, Daloona, Oh My Country, Oh Wave of the Sea, Guide, Oh Sea of ​​Guide, Oh Nice Length...etc.
"Abu Arab" is the poet of the Palestinian revolution, the poet of the camps, the living memory of the Palestinian singing heritage, the voice of the revolution, the first singer of the revolution, the resistance in song, and many other names given to him by the Palestinians. Return to Palestine.

The sons of the national movement know him through a huge lyrical heritage that speaks in the language of the Palestinian popular conscience, in a language that derives its vocabulary from his memory of the homeland, the Nakba, the camp and the resistance. Asir's steadfastness.. Palestinians know him for his singing of return and liberation, and his refusal to compromise on rights and constants.. The man was truly a repository of memory that draws you with strong affection to Palestine; Earth, trees, people and fruits.

In 2006, I went on my first visit to Syria as an advisor to former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. I was drawn to visiting the Palestinian communities there, especially the Yarmouk camp on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, where history and faces await and dream of returning to the land of our fathers and grandfathers. While roaming in the camp markets, I used to find everything related to the Palestinian heritage, from antiques, keffiyehs, medals, costumes, and tapes of traditional songs, and I would stop to buy some of them. The vocalist "Abu Arab" was the most beloved to my ears in his songs and words, which take you to the distant past and the pains of absence from the homeland, and make you feel comfortable even if some tears flow from your eyes.

I remember that at the end of the nineties, I moved from Chicago to Washington, D.C., and the travel journey was long, about 12 hours, and I was the only one driving the bus, and the thing that was my companion throughout that trip was the songs of the creative artist "Abu Arab." In fact, in my estrangement, whenever longing and nostalgia for my family and country gripped me, I would sit at home alone to listen to it.

I used to follow his new tapes from time to time, until the opportunity came on that trip to Syria, when I embarked on a journey from Damascus to Homs and Aleppo. In the city of Homs, we met at night in the house of one of the city's notables among the Palestinian refugees. We were received by a group of young people residing in the city. The vocalist "Abu Arab" was invited to dine with us and we shared the evening with some of his songs that night.

It was an enjoyable evening for the Palestinian brothers in that region who attended it, and it was an opportunity to get to know each other and exchange pains and concerns, as I talked about the government, our tense political situation, the relationship with Syria, and other Arab and international files. And with the end of the paragraph in which I presented my political speech, there was a dinner and a night party with the vocalist Abu Arab, who entertained us with his old and new songs, and with his wonderful words removed a lot of sadness from us, and relieved us of the burden of travel.

After midnight, we completed our visit to the city of Aleppo, where we toured by car in some of its neighborhoods and streets.
We arrived in Damascus near dawn, and in the "Al-Muhajireen" area, we entered one of the streets by mistake, only to discover, after guns surrounded us from every direction, that we are in the security square of President Bashar Al-Assad's house!! The driver apologized for not knowing the area, and had it not been for our diplomatic passports and a private government car, we would have ended up in one of the detention centers, and we would have taken our right from the hospitality usually offered by the security services to everyone who falls into their hands, with or without guilt.
Ibrahim Saleh, known as "Abu Arab", died, but his legacy is the melody of eternity and national immortality for our generations, and for all those who come after us from among the people of Palestine.

Abu Arab, O nightingale, you will live with us on all our national occasions, and this sweet heritage of melodies, chants and melodies will remain a historical document of the Arabness of this land, and that its cities, villages, plains, valleys, mountains and plateaus, which were provided by elegant formulas of melodies, are one of the most prominent signs that the land of Palestine will remain for its people. It must return to them one day, like every stranger who was driven away by the hand of treachery and aggression, to plant it again, and to flourish on its blessed riches of thyme, olives, and the good fruits of figs and pomegranates.

"Abu Arab" will remain in the Palestinian memory the icon of Palestinian chanting, and he will live in us quenching the thirst of alienation and homesickness... Abu Arab died in the Syrian city of Homs, on March 2, 2014, at the age of 83.
May God have mercy on him and accept him among the righteous among his servants.. Amen.