It’s difficult to celebrate when such terrible tragedy is happening in your homeland. Watermelon Womxn by the Bethlehem Culture Festival and Habibti Nation was originally planned as a club night, with DJs spinning some tunes to celebrate Palestinian musicians and creators throughout the last 100 years of their history. However due to the events of October 7 and the months since, the organisers decided to tone things down, and create a space for reflection and education.

At Civic House in Glasgow they created a combination of a relaxed music event, a powerful exploration of Palestinian history through songs of rebellion and hope, and a stirring performance of poetry and dance. We were welcomed with an energetic DJ set by the artist Freecheh, whose music mixed traditional Palestinian songs with pounding house beats. You were instantly made aware that tonight is not just about mourning, but about celebration.

The highlight of the night for me was the lecture/mixtape by Hiba Salameh. A music producer and DJ who performs internationally, she led us from the pre-Nabka music under the British mandate, right up to music by modern Palestinians, some of which she has produced. We listened as the song Zareef Al-Tool, a folk tale of a great resistance fighter, had its lyrics changed by each generation to reflect the changing times and hardships faced by Palestinians.

The final performer Nada Shawa led the final period of reflection, through reading of poetry and through dance to Palestinian music. Wheelchair dance was a new experience for me and Shawa performed beautifully, but I felt it was her poetry that really cut to the heart of the experience of Palestinians watching what is occurring from afar.

You cannot attend an event such as this without the full force of the tragedy in Palestine grabbing hold of your heart. Stories of Palestinian DJs being forced to meet other Arab DJs in places like Berlin and Paris, because they cannot travel to their near neighbours; poetry of the desire for hope and peace, and most of all safety; and dance set to the music that has orchestrated Palestinian lives for generations, and we sincerely hope always will. Watermelon Womxn does not shy away from calling what is occurring in Gaza a genocide, and it would be remiss of us not to stand by them in protesting the actions being taken against innocent people. Above all, we long for a Palestine where these artists are free to create music in peace and safety.