BURJ EL-BARAJNEH, Lebanon — Nassar al-Tanji is sitting at the bar at Jafra cafe talking to friends. He is a 20-year-old Palestinian refugee originally from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, Syria. He became a refugee twice in 2011 when he fled his war-torn home in Syria. For Tanji, Jafra cafe is a unique place in the Burj el-Barajneh camp in Beirut, where he can meet with other men and women, have discussions and not be harassed, breaking the existing gender barriers in the camp. Here, he has a space where he can interact with others and not be frowned upon by onlookers.
Founded in April 2015 by Palestinian musician Ashraf el-Chouli, who invested his life savings to open it, Jafra is the first mixed meeting place in the camp. Here, young men and women can go to read in its small library, listen to music or meet visiting guests from outside the camp, many of them musicians, including Palestinian singer and international star Mohammed Assaf who sang and played music with Chouli at Jafra for an evening.
Al-Monitor met with Chouli during preparations in a special kitchen set up for food to be delivered in the coming days to 300 needy families in the camp for Ramadan. The kitchen, located in a separate building, was recently completed. "When I first opened Jafra, I thought I would be able to live off it. I soon realized that was not the case. In fact, for some time, I had to sleep at the cafe because I had invested all my savings in it and could not afford my own rent. But I cannot close it. It is important for the community to have these open meeting places. The youth in particular need it. I lose as a business, but I win as an idea," he said.
What makes Jafra special is that it is entirely privately funded. It does not belong nor is it sponsored by a nongovernmental organization (NGO) or institution. Originally from the Palestinian camp of Rashidiya in southern Lebanon, Chouli, 34, is a self-taught player of the oud (a Middle Eastern stringed instrument) and a famous musician on Beirut's Hamra Street. Jafra cafe is meant to provide Palestinians with exposure to the world outside the camp and, at the same time, contribute to changing negative stereotypes about Palestinian camps with the Lebanese community. The sign over the door reads "Al-Auda" (Arabic for "The Return"), referring to the Palestinian right to return.
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