A young Palestinian couple in Jerusalem has created a line of perfumes that represent their people’s heritage. Despite the horrors of war in Gaza, they hope their scents will still evoke memories of better times, Sebastian Usher reports from Jerusalem.

In the fields of the Jordan valley, Palestinian women still sing old folk songs as they harvest the olive groves. One of them tells the story of how a legendary ship sailed into port carrying a cargo of life-saving food during a terrible famine that ravaged the Levant in the last days of Ottoman rule. While in the Old City of Jerusalem, the scents of leather, spices and animals transform into a scent that evokes thousands of years of history.

Explaining the motivation behind the Mejana fragrance series, which he founded with his wife Malak Hijazi, Qassem Abu Khalaf says, “Through our perfumes, we are trying to send people a message that reveals our heritage and the smell of our land.” .

The young couple are Palestinians from the Beit Hanina district of occupied East Jerusalem. He is an advanced materials engineer and an English and special needs teacher. The fragrance series was born from the passion that Qassem has developed over the years to produce the highest quality perfumes. He worked on his ideas at night, creating a library of hundreds of materials.

At a restaurant in East Jerusalem amid the ongoing war in Gaza, he says the five scents he has created so far are aimed at allowing people to hold a piece of Palestinian history in their hands. For Palestinians, he hopes it will be a way to reconnect with their roots in a Proustian memory stream triggered by an aroma.

He and Malak chose the name Mejana because it is a word that describes old songs that Palestinians sing while working.

“Mejana has a special rhythm when you sing,” says Malak. “It means joy and happiness. We chose this because when you smell a special scent, you feel good and happy in the same way.”

Palestinian folk memory also influenced the naming of the first two scents. Zaref Atool is a dark, heavy scent; It’s the exact opposite of what people expect from an oriental style. Qassem says the aim of this is to evoke the feeling of the ancient, labyrinthine streets of Jerusalem’s Old City. It takes its name from the main character of a popular old song; In this song, the singer laments that a tall, handsome young man left his Palestinian homeland and traveled far away.

The name Rozana comes from a ship that was eagerly awaited by starving people in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria after a failed wheat harvest 100 years ago. It was intended to provide salvation, but as its cargo contained almost nothing to eat, it only brought further bitter disappointment and loss. There is also a famous song inspired by the story sung by many great Arab singers such as Fairuz and Sabah.

“I love our identity, our heritage, our folklore, and I am proud of it,” says Malak.

If the past is their source of inspiration, then the present has complicated their efforts to create and launch a brand that celebrates Palestinian identity.

“We launched our brand on September 27 last year,” says Malak. “We went to two markets in Jerusalem, but then the war started and put a halt to everything for months.”

Markets and shops in the Old City, elsewhere in Israel, and in the occupied West Bank remain devoid of tourists; Shopkeepers are trying to survive in the still bustling local market.

Qassem and Malak have had some success selling their fragrances to the Palestinian diaspora, particularly Australia. And, determined, they continued, producing a second line of three perfumes, beautifully presented in a box painted with local flowers and wildlife by a Palestinian artist.

The perfumes are housed in wooden capsules with an embossed key on one side, which, when turned, opens the golden dispenser. A large old key is a symbol of all Palestinian homes lost during the deportation or flight of hundreds of thousands of people during the war that established the State of Israel in 1948.

“When we chose the key, it was about our memories,” Malak says. “It is designed a little differently than the traditional Palestinian key, but it is related to it. When you smell a certain scent, good memories come alive. Therefore, it is the key to our ancestors and childhood memories.”

The couple not only produced their new line of perfumes with combinations such as tuberose, fruit, coconut and agarwood, but also produced their first child, daughter Sadeel.

Qassem and Malak say it’s a difficult time to bring new life into a world of such conflict. Malak says she felt guilty about this, but had to stop watching news about Gaza during her pregnancy because it stressed her out so much that she feared it would negatively affect her baby.

“It’s not easy,” Kasim says. “But we hope that everything will end and we will have peace. A little peace of mind.”