Knafeh, dabke, thobes and keffiyehs aren’t typically the main attractions at Bay Area festivals.
For the past 44 years, though, the Palestinian American Coalition (PAC) of San Francisco has made it their mission to showcase Palestine’s overlooked foods, music and fashion as part of Palestine Cultural Day, held this year on Sept. 9.
“It’s a day of not only celebration but creating opportunities for small Palestinian and Arab business owners,” says Nour Zabaneh, the Head of Media and Entertainment Committee for PAC who grew up in the Bay Area as a Palestinian American. “Whether it’s trying food, exploring a new vendor, learning about Palestinian clothing, or listening to musicians who speak about what it’s like to be Palestinian, it’s about sharing that love we have for one another with the Bay Area community at large.”
After decades in San Francisco, the annual event has recently been held in Foster City, home to the first Palestinian-American mayor in California. The celebration promises sweet cheese pastries, cultural dances of hope and resistance, traditional garments, patterned scarves, chicken and beef shawarma, Arabic coffee and international music stars flying in from Palestine to perform for Bay Area fans.
Headline artists include Elyanna, who recently made history as the first Palestinian to perform at Coachella, and MC Abdul, a teenager who’s gone viral rapping about liberation and resilience.
“I want freedom for the population / Two million prisoners living in this location / Shouting at the wall but nothing is ever changing / That’s life under an occupation,” MC Abdul rhymes in his breakout song “Shouting At The Wall.” Viewed nearly a million times, the video shows the young emcee rapping passionately while walking through a community destroyed by bombs.
According to Zabaneh, it will be MC Abdul’s first-ever performance in the United States, and the first time his Bay Area fans will see him perform live.
“For him to take his experience growing up in Gaza, and turn to music to share his story, and have an opportunity to play his music to Palestinian Americans who have followed him for years, but couldn’t see him live, that’s beautiful,” says Zabaneh.
Despite being the state with the largest Palestinian population in the country, Palestinian culture doesn’t often get attention in California.
“We want to rally behind [these artists and business] to express what it’s like to be Palestinian and Palestinian American,” Zabaneh says. “Music and hip-hop have been used in the U.S. as a form of storytelling and Palestinians are using it to tell our story as well.”
Palestine Cultural Day takes place on Saturday, Sept. 9, at Leo Ryan Park, 650 Shell Blvd., Foster City. 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Free. Details here.
