Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Syrians sing of return

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By Maher al Mounes — A top the ruins of Syria’s famed Palmyra theatre, recently recaptured from the IS State group, teenage musician Angel Dayoub sings an old Arabic favourite: “We’re coming back, oh love, we’re coming back.” The 15-year-old’s voice floats over the ancient Roman theatre, heavily damaged then abandoned by IS cadres on Thursday as Russian-backed government forces drew near.


“I want to play music and sing everywhere that has seen the expulsion of IS, which hates singing and banned playing instruments,” she says defiantly.


Dayoub’s rendition of Lebanese diva Fairuz’s famous song is accompanied by fellow musicians of all ages playing violins, tambourines and the oud, the pear-shaped stringed instrument beloved in the Arab world. “Everyone will rebuild in their own way. We want to rebuild it with music and singing.”


The city and its ruins, designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1980, have traded hands several times during Syria’s six-year war.


IS first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the site’s monuments and temples during a brutal ten-month reign. It used the ancient theatre as a venue for execution-style killings before being driven out in March 2016.


The IS then recaptured Palmyra in December, blowing up the tetrapylon monument and part of the theatre.


Young musicians flocked to the theatre during a press tour organised by the army at the weekend, playing to an audience of dozens of Syrian and Russian soldiers.


Explosions can still be heard in the distance, as Syrian forces and their Russian allies press their offensive against IS north and east of Palmyra. “Daesh (IS) wanted to ban us from the theatre, to ban us from singing, but I want to challenge it, to beat it,” says Maysaa al Nuqari, a teenage oud player.


Dressed in a black leather jacket and combat boots, her curly hair dyed a deep red, Nuqari gestures at several nearby musicians to join the jam session.


Although the precise date of its founding is unknown, Palmyra’s name is referred to on a tablet dating from the 19th century BC as a stopping point for caravans between the Mediterranean and the east.


It developed into a wealthy metropolis thanks to trade in spices, perfumes, silk and ivory from the east and became known to Syrians as the “Pearl of the Desert.”


Palmyra’s temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs — some of the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East — attracted more than 150,000 tourists a year before Syria’s conflict broke out. — AFP


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