Culture against normalization
Thursday, 29 December 2011 11:34
Seemingly innocuous, cultural events run the risk of presenting a distorted view of the Israeli occupation of Palestininan lands. When artists perform in both the occupied territories and Israel, it creates the illusion of a conflict between two peoples, obscuring the lopsided power structures and roles of the occupier and occupied.
The Palestine Youth Orchestra plays in Jordan (photo: Fares S Mansour)
The perception of Palestine around the world, often highlighted by international media, is that Palestine exists exclusively in relation to Israel. Consequently the Palestinian people, their society and their culture are deprived of being viewed as such - a People, a Society and a Culture of their own. Whoever is involved in cultural activities in Palestine is confronted with the dual and delicate task of promoting Palestinian culture per se without whitewashing the impacts of the political situation there. In other words, it is a matter of addressing both inherent cultural value and cultural resistance.
In an article published a year ago in the Palestinian monthly This Week in Palestine, I expressed the hope that some day in the future the presence of music ensembles from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM) would replace that of guest European orchestras performing Christmas “Concerts for Peace” in Bethlehem. I argued – as I still do - that since those orchestras performed in free West Jerusalem as well as in occupied Bethlehem - with both concerts aired internationally on Christmas Day by Italian national television network RAI - the message carried to international audiences was misleading in its portrayal of a balanced situation in Palestine/Israel. Suggesting that the situation there is a “conflict” or “dispute” between two peoples is in stark contrast with the actual facts on the ground, where one people enjoys total freedom as their highly-militarized state controls all the land, all the resources and, crucially, the freedom of the other. Additionally, a series of physical barriers and military laws is designed by Israel to prevent contact between Palestinian and Israeli civilians as well as separating Palestinians from each other.
In this context it is important that cultural initiatives that are offered to both “sides”, such as the “Concerts for Peace”, carry a political message which clearly exposes and confronts the status quo in the name of justice and human rights. It is unlikely that after decades of sharing the same weather, eating the same food and drinking the same water, Palestinians and Israelis will be any closer to “making peace” because they now listen to the same Christmas concert. Only by raising the awareness and knowledge about the political realities will such an event have a chance to contribute to ending military occupation, colonization dispossession and injustice. Such an approach would represent an honest tribute to the message of Peace and Hope traditionally associated with Christmas.
The Italian Life and Peace Association, promoter of the “Christmas Concerts for Life and Peace from Bethlehem and Jerusalem” - now in its 11th edition - has recently approached the ESNCM with a different agenda than in previous years: Taking into account the Palestinian Statehood bid at the UN and the admission of Palestine as a member State of UNESCO, the Association suggested performing this year’s concert with a Palestinian orchestra and only in occupied Bethlehem, as a gesture of friendship and solidarity towards its citizens. In view of this shift in policy, the ESNCM agreed to provide the participation of one of its orchestras in a concert in the Nativity Church on the 20th of December.
ESNCM teachers and guest musicians from Italy joined local members of the Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO) for the event, replacing those members of the PYO who reside outside Palestine and would have been unable to obtain entry permissions from the Israeli military authorities controlling Palestine’s borders.
At the promoter’s request, the title of the event was maintained as “Christmas Concert for Life and Peace from Bethlehem.”
The orchestra was conducted by Juan David Molano, principal conductor of the ESNCM Orchestra. The repertoire consisted of traditional and classical music from both Palestine and Europe with soloists from Palestine (singer Sanaa Moussa, pianist Fadi Deeb) and Italy (singers Petra Magoni and Enrico Nadai, violinist Laura Marzadori, violist Sara Marzadori, oboist Nicola Barbagli).
The concert was aired live on Palestine TV. There will be two further broadcasts on RAI network on the 24th of December at 20.30 GMT (Rai Radio 3) and on the 25th of December at 13.30 GMT (Rai Tre TV).
The writer is the Academic Director of The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music and the Artistic Director of the Palestine National Orchestra and Palestine Youth Orchestra.