Formerly known as Diwan, Sira brings to Jerusalem the kind of bar a lot of us know and miss from the Western world – a gloomy, shabby, high-ceilinged dive where the peeling-paint walls look like they might be a little slimy to the touch, and the bulletin board by the door has become almost three-dimensional with ripped flyers and postcards. A place where entry requires squeezing in so close to dozens of people that it might as well be advertised as an orgy. Sira is that kind of place, and dammit, the world needs that kind of place.

Sira also happens to be Jerusalem's most reliable live music bar, with almost nightly shows featuring everyone from up-and-coming bands to some of the biggest performers in Israel's burgeoning rock, electronic and hip-hop scenes, crammed democratically into one small corner of the tiny dance floor.