“Little is known of Thuraya – she is mentioned in Wasif Jahariyyeh’s “The Storyteller of Jerusalem”. AMAR and NAWA, the Palestinian Institute for Cultural Development, believe that Thuraya lived in Jerusalem and moved to Egypt in the mid-1920s. This recording is from either 1925 or 1926 and was released by Baidaphon.

Thuraya is almost lost to history – we don’t currently know who she was or where she ended up – or even if she was Palestinian. But by listening to this recording, we are connected to her – her voice echoes through the ages, reaching us tonight after almost a century.” Sam Salem – Another Sky