„We party on Thursday and resist on Friday“

Partying in a poli­ti­cally fucked-up situa­tion: is it escape, distrac­tion, or a means of poli­tical exch­ange? Dennis Belt­chikov attempts to decode the Pales­ti­nian party scene, and explores how it’s influenced by the conflict.

Usually, when looking at media coverage on Israel and Pales­tine, poli­tical factors domi­nate the discourse. It’s under­stan­dable; their conflict seems omni­pre­sent, and it impacts heavily on the allo­ca­tion of power in the Middle East. But how does the young gene­ra­tion that grows up in the norma­lity of this ongoing conflict spend their daily life? Of course, occu­pa­tion is one aspect; but despite the poli­tical situa­tion, people enjoy good moments too. They spend quality time with their family, meet up with their friends, they party and cele­brate. Club culture has always been a mirror of ongoing poli­tical deve­lo­p­ments – so what can we learn from Ramallah?

The most cosmo­po­litan Pales­ti­nian city

Actually, Pales­tine claims East-Jeru­salem as its capital – but de facto, it is Ramallah. The city located in the West Bank of the Pales­ti­nian terri­to­ries became the seat of many inter­na­tional orga­niza­tions and consular autho­ri­ties. This contri­buted to Ramallah’s status of being the most ​„western“ and open-minded city in the West Bank.

Many espe­ci­ally young Pales­ti­nians enjoy the relaxed and inter­na­tional vibe of Ramallah. Yara* (24) lives there and reports: ​„In places like Nablus or Beth­lehem people would look irri­tated at me for not wearing a headscarf. Here in Ramallah it is very chill.“

„It’s like partying but still going to univer­sity the next day“

Weekend in Pales­tine is Friday and Saturday. That’s why most people party on Thursday, so they can use their first day of the weekend to recover – or do they? ​„We have a Pales­ti­nian saying which can be trans­lated as ​‘We party on Thurs­days and resist on Fridays“, explains Nicole* (30), a Pales­ti­nian univer­sity teacher.

She explains that Pales­ti­nians feel respon­sible for getting up early and being produc­tive on Friday, which is usually the day of poli­tical protests – even though you go to party on Thursday: ​„It’s like partying during the week but still going to uni the next day“, says Nicole.

Preten­ding not to be from the other side

Its normally not possible for Israelis to enter certain parts of Pales­tine. The same applies for people from the West Bank ente­ring Israel. There are excep­tions and compli­cated bureau­cratic proce­dures to gain access, but in general, these two regions are sepa­rated.

Oday (30) lives in Ramallah and owns the Hommus hostel there. He states: ​„To be honest, there is a good amount of Israelis here in Ramallah.“ Oday has a working map at his recep­tion, on which he marks where each the people staying in his hostel come from: ​„People from Israel like to party here, they consider the scene here having a ​‘diffe­rent taste’. Also, it is way cheaper for them here.“

But how do they enter Pales­tine? Oday thinks that many Israelis have a second citi­zen­ship because either they or their parents’ gene­ra­tion had emigrated to Israel. With their foreign pass­ports it possible for them to enter Pales­tine. Lounge owner Can* (30) from Ramallah has had a diffe­rent expe­ri­ence: ​„I never meet Israelis here“, he thinks for a moment and speci­fies: ​„In Ramallah, never.“

Nicole has an expl­ana­tion for my confu­sion. Although she is Pales­ti­nian, she has partied many times in Tel Aviv without having a second pass­port: ​„When I was younger I had a shaved head, many pier­cings, and didn’t look very Pales­ti­nian. So when I was trave­ling with my friends they simply smug­gled me in their car across the border.“ Nevert­heless, when she partied in Israel, she didn’t tell anyone that she wasn’t Israeli. ​„Most Israelis wouldn’t admit that they are Israelis when they are here in Pales­tine. That’s why people like Can might have the impres­sion of never ever having met an Israeli in the Pales­ti­nian terri­to­ries.“

Partying poli­ti­cally?

Israelis not reve­aling their iden­tity towards Pales­ti­nians, and the other way around. Does that mean that poli­tics is part of Pales­ti­ne’s night life gene­tics? Can agrees with that: ​„But life is not only occu­pa­tion. Sure, you might want to forget ever­y­thing about your life when you go to a bar or a party. But it’s the same in other count­ries.“

Oday also thinks that poli­tics play a role while partying. For him that is even some­thing he appre­ciates: ​„Which I find really inte­res­ting is that you can go out to the smoking area and have a really inte­res­ting conver­sa­tion about poli­tics. I love that.“ Oday lived in in London for a while and often compares it to Ramallah: ​„Partying was just partying there. Even if you go out and chat you are not going to have an inte­res­ting conver­sa­tion. I think that talking about poli­tics and the important things while you’re partying makes the party more inte­res­ting.“

* Names changed