Tape III of "The Catastrophe" trilogy by Asher.Zax

 A 

drain

blow

pierce

smash

empty

B

Cisterns Continues

 Cisterns / Tal Nitzan

(translated from Hebrew by the poet)

 Our hands did not drain the water

our hands did not blow up the wells

our hands did not pierce the pipes

did not smash the reservoirs

the purification plants

did not empty the cisterns

and at the sight of the little girl

descending the ghost steps

orphaned from the home

that we did not destroy

one hand holding on to her baby brother

the other carrying an empty plastic container

to be filled at the distribution point

$4 per one cubic meter

our throats are not blaze with a thirst

more scorching than any thirst.

The Catastrophe - Al-Nakba - is a term used specifically to refer to the destruction and occupation of Palestinian homeland and the displacement of the majority of Palestinians by the Israeli state. The word, and the act of, Nakba resonates from 1948 to the present day. The Catastrophe continues. It also expands its reach to infect present-day Israeli society. 

Cisterns is a musical setting of a poem written by poet Tal Nitzan. The poem, inspired by Massimo Berruti’s photograph, portrays two little children carrying a water tank in the ruins of a bombarded building in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, on their way to a water distribution point shortly after an Israeli air-force attack on Gaza in 2014.

For Cisterns Asher.Zax were joined by the musicians of the experimental music ensemble Musica Nova, percussionist Raimund Engelhardt and Contrabassist Nadav Masel. The composition draws its origins and inspiration from Raga Lalit, which is one of the ragas of the hindustani Dhrupad tradition.

Meira Asher - Voice, Structure

Eran Sachs - Electronics

Raimund Engelhardt - Pakhawaj

Nadav Masel - Contrabass

Adi Snir - Contra-alto Clarinet

Maayan Tsadka - Trumpet, Objects,

Hydrophone

Poem by Tal Nitzan

Translated to Arabic by Idan Barir

Translated to English by Tal Nitzan

Photograph: Gaza, Beit Hanoun 2015

by Massimo Berruti

A. Live at Hazira JLM-al-Quds

Poem read by Tal Nitzan

Sound by Eyal Lally Bitton

Recorded by Ido Mandil

B. Live at CCA Yafa-Tel Aviv

Sound by Adi Snir

Recorded by Meira Asher

Mixed by Daniel Meir

Mastered by Ricardo Mazza

Image design: Nadav Levi

Text assistance: Liam Evans

[Released March 21, 2023, Raash Records]

Read more: https://www.972mag.com/gaza-water-crisis-on-the-brink/