Palestine - Playlist

Palestinian music is quite varied, from the traditional Dabka folk dancing, to more modern forms of music such as rap, my Palestinian virtual journey has had quite an enjoyable soundtrack, as I've been reading, cooking and watching movies.

Here is my Palestinian playlist:

1. Le Trio Joubran

I'd heard about Le Trio Joubran before I started researching Palestine and I've been a fan of their music for quite a while.  I guess the best way to describe their music is by using the word 'classical' and Le Trio Joubran is made up of three brothers, from Nazareth, who come from a long line of professional oud players.  The oud is an instrument which is popular right across the Middle East and I really love its melancholy sound which evokes images of the wind hurtling across the desert.

I came across this performance of Le Trio Joubran's song Nawwar on YouTube.  The clip comes from the TV channel France 2 and Le Trio Joubran seem to be very popular in France.  There's no way you couldn't enjoy this performance and I love the way the brothers' passion for music is seen on their faces:

2. DAM

I must admit, I've become a big fan of the Palestinian rap group DAM who I'd never heard about before I started researching for this blog.  The group consists of two brothers and their friend, who grew up in Lod/al-Ludd, one of the Palestinian towns that was depopulated after the 1948 Nakba. 

Although they grew up in Israel, DAM's music deals with the situation in the occupied Palestinian lands, as well as the treatment of Palestinians who live in Israel.  Their lyrics are hard-hitting and the combination of rapped lyrics in Hebrew and Arabic and more traditional song is epic!  I particularly liked Mali Huriye which means 'I don't have freedom' and I wanted to share some of the lyrics with you

Everywhere I go I see borders, imprisoning humanity

Why can't I be free, like other children in this world?

3. Reem Kelani

Reem Kelani is quite an interesting woman and I enjoyed watching some of her interviews on YouTube.  She's Palestinian but grew up in Manchester and has become a bit of a star on the world music circuit, having done many collaborations with musicians from all kinds of musical traditions.

She released a solo album Sprinting Gazelle: Palestinian Songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora in 2006 and it's a great collection, well worth listening to.  I particularly liked the song Yafa! (Jaffa!) which uses the lyrics of a poem by Mahmoud Salim al-Hout.  It's a mournful song and express the pain of exile and not knowing whether you'll ever see your place of birth again.

I'm pasting in a link to the video on YouTube, so you can have a listen.

http://youtu.be/sEduVB5s3ww

Some of the words, translated into English are:

Yafa! My tears have dried up

I weep for you with stricken eyes

Will I ever see you?

Will I live long enough?

4. Amal Murkus

Amal Murkus is a Palestinian who was born in Galilee and grew up in Israel.  She's an Arab-Christian communist and has been a strong voice, politically, both for Palestinians in Israel and women in a male-dominated world.  

I liked the song Ya Ba La La which is a traditional folk song and, as far as I can tell, it's about a young female mask-seller who comes to the city to sell masks and then falls in love.  A song about masks is an interesting statement from a Palestinian who grew up in Israel and I'm sure that living in a state run by your 'enemy' means adopting all kinds of masks, just to get by.

You can hear Ya Ba La La by listening to the YouTube video below:

5. El-Founin

No playlist of Palestine would be complete without reference to Palestine's leading dance troupe El-Founin. Formed in 1979, El-Founin have kept alive a long tradition of Palestinian dance and have performed concerts all around the world. 

Their current projects include one called Dance Freedom. You can find out more about El-Founin on their website. I found the following video on YouTube which is a good example of the type of music that El-Founin is famous for.

6. Ramzi Aburedwan 

Ramzi Aburedwan was born in Bethlehem in 1979 and grew up in a refugee camp in Ramallah. He studied at the Edward Said conservatory in Ramallah and also studied Chamber music at Angers in France. 

You can find out more about Ramzi on his website.

I discovered Ramzi's music via the new Rough Guide to Palestine which was released in July this year. I couldn't find a YouTube video for the song I liked most Andalus, so I'm posting a link to the song on Spotify instead, for those of you who have Spotify accounts:

http://open.spotify.com/track/27STCKL0rir1GAeb8MyTWF

7. Ashraf Abu Leil

It's hard to find information in English about Ashraf Abu Leil and I suspect that, out of all of the artists on my playlist, he's the most well-known in Palestine and possibly least well-known internationally. Ashraf is a wedding musician who keeps alive the Dabka musical tradition.  

Dabka is an Arabian folk dance which involves both men and women and is upbeat, repetitive and easy to sway to - all good ingredients for music that is associated with celebration.  

I'm pasting in a video of Ashraf below, playing live at what looks like a wedding.  Enjoy!

8 . Natacha Atlas: The one that isn't actually Palestinian

When I'm blogging about various places, I usually come across songs that are popular in that place, despite the fact that the music/artist originated somewhere else. 

It's hard to ignore this and it's only naturally that people don't limit themselves to cultural influences from their immediate surroundings, so I want to recognise the one that actually isn't Palestinian, by paying tribute to the Belgian-born singer of Arabian descent, Natacha Atlas. 

I first heard her version of I Put a Spell on You when I was watching Elia Suleiman's movie, Divine Intervention. What a captivating interpretation, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.  

Palestine - Better Together?

It was interesting, last Monday evening, to watch the televised backbench debate from the House of Commons, on whether or not the British parliament should recognise a Palestinian state.  It wasn't a surprise to see Labour MPs speaking in favour of the debate but, the idea of a two-state solution for Palestine/Israel has gained such common currency in Britain that even Conservative MPs were speaking in favour of recognition, which surprised me.

International recognition of a Palestinian state

Free Palestine by James_London

The outcome of the vote for symbolic recognition was overwhelmingly in favour (274 ayes and 12 noes) and, although this vote doesn't officially change the British government's approach to Palestine, it's seen as a historic moment, atoning for past mistakes in British policy on Palestine and the first step towards official recognition of the Palestinian state by the UK government, which would then join the 134 other countries who currently recognise Palestine.

Since I started blogging about Palestine just over a month ago, Grenada and Haiti have officially recognised Palestine and the newly-elected Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Loftven, has announced that Sweden will recognise Palestine, becoming the first European Union country to make this commitment.

Parallels between Palestine and Scotland?

Pro-Palestinian protest in London by James_London

I can't help but draw parallels between the campaign to gain recognition for the Palestinian state and the recent referendum on the question of Scottish independence.  I don't really believe in nationalism, however, in the case of Scotland, it seems so obvious to me that Scotland is a country, that I unreservedly support the right of the Scottish people to have their own nation.  Having said that, people voted as they did and the majority in favour of remaining in the United Kingdom was clear, so it would seem that independence is not really what Scottish people actually want . . . well, certainly not right now.

The reality is always a lot more complicated and how we understand the nature of a nation very much depends upon the times we live in.  There are pluses and minuses for Scottish people, in terms of independence and, unlike in Palestine, a 'no' vote in Scotland won't necessarily lead to repression of the Scottish people or their being denigrated to second-class citizens (although there has been some anti-Scottish sentiment in the media 'south of the border').

Demonstration at Houses of Parliament by James_London

Of course, the situation in Palestine is very different and whether or not Palestinians have control over their own affairs is crucial to protection of human rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.  Unlike Scotland, Palestine isn't an equal partner in any kind of union with Israel and, in reality, it's difficult to compare the need for independence in these two countries, as their contexts are not the same.

As with Scotland, it's always been obvious to me that Palestine is a country and, logically, should have its rightful place at the table of nations.  Until I started researching for this blog, I never really questioned the two-state solution for Palestine/Israel, however, I'm beginning to see another side to this situation that hadn't really been obvious to me before.

The Palestinian population of Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank

One thing I didn't really grasp before I started researching for this blog, is the fact that 20% of Israel's population identifies as Arab/Palestinian.  After the 1948 nakba more than 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes and sought refuge in neighbouring countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where they remain to this day.  However, many Palestinians didn't flee, but chose to remain, particularly in places like Nazareth, which is still predominantly Arab-Palestinian.

As I've been researching the literature, movies, music of Palestine, time and again I'm coming across Palestinian culture originating from the modern state of Israel, as well as the West Bank and Gaza. Whether it's the music of the Palestinian rappers DAM, who grew up in al-Ludd/Lod, just a stone's throw from Ben Gurion International airport, or the movies of Elia Suleiman, who was born in Nazareth - the culture of Israeli-Palestinians seems incredibly vibrant and sure of itself and gives me some hope for the future.

I'm now wondering what would happen to Israeli-Palestinians in a two-state solution?  Not to mention, the post-1967 Israeli settlements that have been built in the West Bank, which put more than 300,000 Jewish settlers within what is traditionally defined as the West Bank and, under international law, would be part of the new Palestinian state.  By deliberately 'colonising' the West Bank, Israel has, in a way, bound the two states together for the foreseeable future.

Would Palestine and Israel be better together?

Perhaps a single, bi-national state would be better after all although, similar to the situation in post-apartheid South Africa, it would have to be a state where the Arab/Palestinian population plays as great a role as the Israeli/Jewish population.

Israeli flag in Palestinian colours

This isn't a popular idea at the minute - certainly not for right-wing Israelis, who are living according to the principles of a Jewish homeland and I understand how a single state with equal rights for Palestinians wouldn't appeal to them, as that goes against everything they believe in.  Equally for Palestinians, the idea of belonging to a single state where Palestinians might end up becoming second-class citizens isn't really a solution.  The legacy of the 20th century for Palestinians is so full of injustice, that it would be hard for any Palestinian in the West Bank, Gaza or elsewhere to accept anything less than full nationhood.

I find myself in the strange position of supporting recognition of the Palestinian state whilst also acknowledging that this could possibly prolong nationalist agendas on both sides for at least another century. Ultimately, even with a two-state solution, the question of living together peacefully remains.  I also find it hard to stomach the idea of any nation based on a religious or racial identity, so it's hard for me to see how a purely Jewish state of Israel will be sustainable in the 21st century.

Universal human rights

Getting back to Edward Said's ideas on humanism - it would be better to facilitate the basic rights of people and their access to recognised citizenship in Palestine/Israel, rather than think along religious or ethnic lines.  We're all human and the fact this fact alone should entitle us to basic rights regardless of which part of the world we happen to have been born in.

Image credits:

For this blog post, I wanted to highlight the work of Flickr member James_London - James is currently based in Nairobi, Kenya and you can see more of his images on his Flickr photostream.

Thanks James for sharing these images with us, using the Creative Commons license.