Just like that, we have wrapped up the first phase of NEST Palestine’s second cycle. Over the past few weeks, 41 multi-genre Palestinian musicians, selected from over 100 applications received, have been deep in it. Rappers, instrumentalists, producers, and songwriters based all over from Lebanon and France to Chile and The USA, and working in a multitude of genres from hip-hop, folk, jazz, rock, and everything in between, attended workshops, joined masterclasses, connected with peers and experts both local and international, and built what we hope are lasting connections and collaborations.

Designed to empower and provide Palestinian music creators with the tools, mentorship, and opportunities they need to thrive, we are delighted to continue our music incubator journey and kick off our second cycle of NEST Palestine.

Between March 28 and 30, I represented Jafra Productions at the Babel Music Expo in Marseille, France, hosted by our main partners, Expertise France (AFD Group). We have invited the participation of two artists who were winners of the first cycle of NEST music incubator,Tareq Abboushiand Fares Ishaq.

The subject of the artists’ rights is one that takes on new meanings when posed within the context of Palestine, and was the topic of discussion in a panel discussion titled “Social and Cultural Mobilization for the Protection of Artists”.

Last week, Jafra Productions held the inaugural edition of the Palestine Music Conference (PMC), a forum bringing together all players in the Palestinian music industry. The 2-day event united everyone from musicians and cultural programmers to educators and legal experts, to discuss the issues faced by local music production today.

The third session of the 2023 Palestine Music Conference discussed music production in relation to its wider society, under the title of “Community and Audience Engagement”.

On September 21, The Palestine Music Conference (PMC) hosted a panel discussion titled “The Industry from the Artists’ Perspective: Production, Publishing, and Needs in Palestine” as part of its two-day program in Ramallah. Renowned Palestinian musicians such as Makimakkuk, Marwan Halabi, Tarek Abboushi, and Majd Hajjaj were among the panelists, with Maya Khalidi moderating

On Saturday, December 3rd, 2022, we hosted our first face-to-face meeting with participants in our NEST program.