There are cities that inspire poets and musicians and so become immortalised in depictions that might not reflect their reality. Free Jerusalem; tranquil Alexandria, Bride of the Sea; Beirut, the Sheltering Tent—the symbols seem more real than the cities. But Gaza and Cairo are both cities that resist romanticisation and so elude song. No one sings to Cairo, but it is the capital of the Arabs. No one sings to Gaza either, but it remains the indisputable capital of Palestine.
