The Brooklyn Nomads Staged "The Story of Hanzala" at Roulette in Boerum Hill, NYC

On Sunday, October 18, The Brooklyn Nomads presented "Palestine Will Be Free: The Story of Hanzala" at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave in Boerum Hill. The Brooklyn band, whose music is rooted in Arab traditions, built the evening as a tribute to the Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali.

Al-Ali began drawing Hanzala in 1969: a barefoot ten-year-old boy seen from behind, hands clasped at his back. The character was said to refuse to grow up until Palestine is free. Al-Ali was assassinated in London in 1987, and Hanzala remains ten.

The concert used 100 of al-Ali's drawings, animated and projected above a nine-piece ensemble. The group played twelve songs of childhood, freedom and return, spanning 1948 to the present. Between songs, the program wove in archival footage of figures who shaped the struggle for liberation, along with poetry from guest artist Mosab Abou Toha. The organizers described a room where people who learned these songs from their grandparents would sit beside those hearing them for the first time, with the whole audience singing by the end.

Doors opened at 6 p.m. and the show began at 7. Tickets ran from $35 to $175, and a portion of proceeds went to Anera, Gaza Soup Kitchen and The People's Forum. The venue listed step-free access with wheelchair seating, live CART captions on a screen beside the stage, assistive listening receivers at the box office, and a relaxed seating area where audience members could move freely or step out.

Roulette sits about two minutes from the Atlantic Ave–Barclays Center station. The performance has now taken place; the Nomads' site keeps a Hanzala project page with more on the work.