The Old City Hub has been encouraging Palestinians Jerusalemites to hold events that will encourage locals and foreigners to become acquainted with one another while tapping into their talent, learning new skills, and expanding their knowledge.
One person who has been making use of the space is Jinan from the neighborhood of Jabal Mukabbir. Jinan studied engineering, but over the past few years, she launched her project “Dagon” (Dajan in Arabic), in reference to the ancient deity associated with fertility, grain, and agriculture.
Jinan shares that her path in academia—mostly Western-centered and geared toward identity politics—did not align with her Palestinian reality on the ground. Largely speaking, it made her feel disconnected from her roots and culture. Thus, she decided to explore the field of agriculture by working with her hands and harvesting from the earth.
Jinan quickly began to feel exasperated by what she saw as an intentional Israeli erasure of Palestinian food heritage and history through appropriation and delegitimization. This realization pushed her to start her own project where she chose to explore the land, celebrate harvest, and reclaim Palestinian identity. The project empowered her sense of identity as she found herself becoming more connected to and rooted in the land, and she saw the need to share her knowledge with larger communities, particularly the youth.
In her workshop on October 18 at the Old City Hub, Jinan and the participants—many of whom enjoy cooking themselves—talked about the richness of the land, including plant-based ingredients for colorful recipes. The Armenian eetch, which they prepared together, is mainly made up of tomatoes, onions, parsley, olive oil, lemons, and peppers, as well as red pepper paste and some salt. For a touch-up, Jinan chose to add pomegranates and a drizzle of molasses.
