Palestinian Contributions to Arab Culture

posted on: Aug 28, 2009

Very few Arabs or thoughtful Westerns view the Palestinians as one-dimensional resistance fighters or, worse, terrorists. The Palestinians are known for their poetry – the late Mahmoud Darwish was the most well-regarded Arab poet in his life – and Elie Suleiman is probably the preeminent Arab filmmaker today, and many Arabs know about other Palestinian contributions to Arab culture.

But what most do not know about are those contributions that took place behind the scenes, so to speak.

To begin: One of the most prominent musical acts in the Arab world in the last century has been Lebanon’s Farouz and the Rahhabani Brothers; second only to Egypt’s Umm Kalthoum. But what is rarely known is that this Lebanese act is indebted to Palestinian artists. Farouz, for starters, was not discovered on Lebanese radio, but on a Palestinian radio in Jaffa: el-Sharq el-Ebbna (Near East Radio). And that many of the plays, including the most famous ones, of the Rahhabani Brothers were directed by a Palestinian artist named Saber Sherif. And it was the late and famous Palestinian and resident of Hafia musician Helim el-Roumi whom gave Farouz her stage name. Her real name is Nouhat Haddad.

Although an ongoing tragedy for the Palestinian people, their forced exile at the hands of Zionist militias-cum-terrorists in 1948 was a gain for Arab culture. A generation of educated Palestinians found new homes in the Levant and in the Gulf. They brought with them their talent and skills. The pioneering broadcasters of the Arab world in the 1950s and 1960s were disproportionately Palestinians trained at the aforementioned el-Sharq el-Ebbna radio station. And while Arabs sit down during this Ramadan and every night after Iftar watch another episode of their favorite Ramadan serial, they may not know that it was Palestinians whom started the idea and production of serials, probably first in Syria, that would air a new episode for every night of Ramadan.

The Dabka? The dance has since motivated a generation of Arab-Americans to take hours to learn it as a means of connecting with their heritage. Most will tell you that there are four kinds of Dabka: Palestinian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese. But what they may not know is that what is known as Lebanese Dabka style was taught to Lebanese by Palestinian Wadea Khatabee.

The Palestinian maestro Salvadore Arneata went on, after his forced exile in 1948, to conduct classical orchestras in several Arab countries, the first such institutions, and was the first to teach it at the American University of Beirut.

These are the forgotten contributions of Palestinians. Mahmoud Darwich was a star in his own right, but many Palestinians did not seek the limelight but instead working to teach, conduct, direct and launch projects of culture for which they seldom got credit.

Recognizing in full Palestinian contributions is essential toward understanding and appreciating the Palestinian experience.

Marco Villa
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