From Jamal Hemmou's ramshackle workshop in Nablus's Old City in the occupied West Bank, classic Arabic songs blare into the surrounding cobbled streets.
Hemmou, 58, is the last of his kind in the city — he runs the only shop in Nablus repairing and selling vinyl records and players.
Like much of the world, Nablus is attuned to digital music, but Hemmou said working with vinyl was about preserving Palestinian heritage.
Elderly people regularly pass by at the end of the day and, "when I turn on the record player, they start crying", he says.
Hemmou began learning how to repair record players when he was 17, listening to the great Arab artists of the time as he worked.
"I have more experience than the people with the certificates," he jokes, adding that he is entirely self-taught, and acquired his passion for music from his father.
"My father was a singer, he used to sing because he loved those old singers ... almost everyone in my family is a musician," he says.
He says he enjoys Lebanon's Fairouz and Egyptian superstar Abdel Halim Hafez, but his favourite is Shadia, an Egyptian diva, who released a string of hits between the 1940s and 1980s.
"She sang from the heart, she sang with emotion, she told a story," he says.
Strewn throughout his workshop, in various stages of repair, are record players from the 1960s and 1970s. There are even several gramophones from the 1940s.
He estimates that he sells about five record players per month.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. A surge in violence last year made it the deadliest in the West Bank since United Nations records began in 2005 — with Nablus having been at the forefront of the bloodshed.
But Hemmou says it's not the military raids that hurt business — it's the strikes regularly called by local authorities in response to Israeli operations.
"We close all the shops when the Israeli raids kill someone in Nablus, especially the Old City," he says.
For Hemmou, the machines and the music they play are more than only songs, they are an essential part of Palestinian and Arab heritage.
"When you play the record, you're transported back 50 years," he says.
"You listen to this music, and you remember what it means to be an Arab or a Palestinian," he adds.
Hemmou says that today's artists don't match the emotion of the great Arab singers of the 20th century.
"The modern singers do not know what they sing. The old singers, they summon what is deep within us and they revive our heritage," he explains.
Known throughout the old city as Abu Shaadi, he has developed a reputation beyond Nablus. Music enthusiasts will travel from afar to buy from him.
"My customers are from all over the West Bank, from Jerusalem, from Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqiliya," he said.
"They come from all of Palestine to buy from me."
Hemmou explains he has tried to bring his two sons, aged 26 and 27, into the business.
"They aren't interested," he says. "They tell me to turn it off, they don't want to listen."
The street on which his shop sits has been the site for fierce battles in the past year, as Israeli forces conduct raids targeting a nascent militant group called The Lions' Den, which is in Nablus's Old City.
The shop bears reminders of the conflict — plastered on its shutters are the images of Palestinian fighters killed in recent months.
"When there are clashes we have to close the shop, of course, but what can I say, I am still alive, thank God," he says.
"I play some national songs, that is my way of resisting."
Basbousa, the viral Arabic song featured in Louis Vuitton's show — in pictures
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Spanish star Rosalia performs at the Louis Vuitton menswear autumn/winter 2023-24 show during Paris Fashion Week. AP -
Rosalia opened the live event for the LVMH-owned fashion house with a snippet of her hit song Candy. Getty Images -
The Latin Grammy Award-winning pop star then ran through many of her chart toppers, animating the set. AP -
Rosalia performs on stage while a model displays a creation. AP -
BTS member J-Hope sat front row at Louis Vuitton. Getty Images -
Rapper Tyga at the Louis Vuitton show. Getty Images -
The Louis Vuitton set was drawn up to resemble someone's home, recreated inside the Louvre’s oldest courtyard. EPA -
Since the death of designer Virgil Abloh in 2021, the Louis Vuitton men’s studio has taken over the brand’s creative control. EPA -
This season, the youthful studio team and guest designer Colm Dillane channelled growing up as members of the first generation raised on super-connectivity. EPA -
Patterns evoked encrypted computer coding, while handwritten notes were upcycled to produce a surreal white suit and top hat look, the facade of which was constructed entirely of the note paper. EPA -
The best looks were minimalist, such as a light grey suit jacket that sported one large childlike button. EPA -
Oversized tailoring at the Louis Vuitton autumn/winter 2023-2024 show. EPA -
Models filed past, wearing long jackets with crisp lapels, clutching shiny bags, their looks topped off with curved bucket hats and baseball caps. EPA -
An oversized eye features on a jacket. AFP -
Louis Vuitton emphasised outwear with lengthened silhouettes, ranging from tailored coats to puffed-out bomber jackets, and sprinkled some artwork and logos into the mix. AFP -
Dillane’s imagery, with bold colours and artistic graphics, combined with Vuitton basics. AFP -
The biker trend also made an appearance. AFP
