Capturing the scent of Palestinian life in a bottle

A young Palestinian couple in Jerusalem has produced a line of perfumes that reflect the heritage of their people. As Sebastian Usher reports from Jerusalem, despite the horrors of the war in Gaza, they hope their scent can still evoke memories of better times.

In the fields of the Jordan Valley, Palestinian women still sing old folk songs as they pick olive trees. One story tells of a legendary ship sailing to port with a cargo of life-saving provisions during the terrible famine that struck the Levant at the end of Ottoman rule. In the Old City of Jerusalem, the smells of leather, spices and livestock merge into a scent that evokes thousands of years of history.

“We try to convey a message to people through our fragrances, revealing our heritage and the smell of our land,” says Qassem Abu Khalaf, explaining the motivation behind the creation of the Mejana fragrance line with his wife Malak Hijazi.

The young couple are Palestinians from the Beit Hanina district of occupied East Jerusalem. He is a senior materials engineer and she is an English and special needs teacher. Their fragrance range stems from Qassem’s years of passion for producing the highest quality fragrances. He worked on his ideas at night, building a library of hundreds of ingredients.

The five scents he has produced so far aim to give people a piece of Palestinian history in their hands, he said in a restaurant in East Jerusalem as the war in Gaza rages on. For Palestine himself, he hopes it’s a way to reconnect with his roots in the Proustian memories evoked by the scent.

He and Malak chose the name Mejana because the word describes an old Palestinian song that is sung while working.

“When you sing Mejana, it has a special rhythm,” Malak said. “It means joy and happiness. We chose it because when you smell a special scent, you feel good and you feel happy in the same way.

Palestinian folk memory also influenced the naming of the first two scents. Zaref Atool is a dark, rich fragrance – very much what one would expect from an oriental style. It was intended to evoke the feel of the ancient, labyrinthine alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City, Qasim said. It is named after the main character in an old popular song, in which the singer laments that a tall, handsome young man is about to leave his Palestinian homeland to travel to distant lands.

Another fragrance, called Rozana, originated from a ship eagerly awaited by people starving due to poor wheat harvests in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria 100 years ago. It was meant to save humanity, but instead brought further bitter disappointment and loss – as its cargo was left with little to eat. Likewise, there is a famous song inspired by this story, sung by many great Arabic singers such as Fairuz and Sabah.

“I love our identity, our heritage, our folklore, and I’m proud of it,” Malak said.

If the past was their inspiration, the present further complicated their efforts to create and launch a brand that celebrated Palestinian identity.

“We launched our brand on September 27 last year,” Malak said. “We went to two markets in Jerusalem, but then the war started and everything stopped for several months.”

Souks and shops in the Old City and elsewhere in Israel and the occupied West Bank were devoid of tourists, with shopkeepers trying to survive in still-bustling local markets.

Qasim and Malak have had some success selling their fragrances to the Palestinian diaspora, particularly in Australia. Undeterred, they produced a second collection of three fragrances, beautifully presented in a box painted with local flowers and wildlife by a Palestinian artist.

The fragrance itself is housed in a wooden capsule with a key engraved on one side that opens the gold dispenser when turned. A large ancient key symbolizes the homeland of all Palestinians lost when hundreds of thousands were expelled or fled during Israel’s 1948 founding war.

“When we choose a key, it’s about our memory,” Malak said. When you smell a certain scent, it brings back great memories. So, it is the key to our ancestors and childhood memories.

Not only did the couple just launch a new line of fragrances – a blend of tuberose and notes of berries, coconut and ashes – but they also gave birth to their first child, daughter Sadeel.

Qasim and Malak said that amid such conflicts, these are difficult times to bring new life into the world. Malak said she felt guilty about it, but she had to stop watching the news about Gaza during her pregnancy because it caused her a lot of stress – and she worried it might have a negative impact on her baby.

“It’s not easy,” Qasim said. “But we hope that it will all end and we will have peace. And a little peace of mind.