Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 36)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 36)
- المحتوى
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Street in Cairo
More important is that whereas the overwhelming majority
became small farmers, owning less than an acre, the number of
the wealthy rural landowners, with more than 100 acres,
decreased from 5,000, owning 500,000 acres, with an average
holding of 100 acres, to 2,000, owning 413,000 acres, with an
average holding of 206.5 acres. This indicates the extent of
class differentiation in the rural areas. More than half the
owners have less than an acre, while the filthy rich own more
than double the maximum set by the last land reform law,
issued in 1969, that limited land ownership to 100 acres per
family. Thus, we see the phenomenon of more and more
poverty among small land owners (bearing in mind that the
income of agricultural wage laborers is much lower still). On
the other hand, ownership of land and means of production is
concentrated in the hands of the rural rich. The accumulating
land ownership confirms this fact.
The data which we relied on to analyze the changes in the
social constellation stops with the year 1976, due to the absence
of a current census that can be relied upon. It is necessary to
apply the same indicators and directions of investments, con-
centration of capital, poverty and wealth, on the entirety of
this constellation. We will find that the tendencies noted above
have intensified with the furthering of the open door policy
which has accelerated over the past ten years.
Palestinian Popular Arts Ensemble
— The Popular Arts ensemble was
established in Al Bireh in the occupied
West Bank in 1979, by a group of men
and women who were interested in the
arts, particularly Palestinian popular
arts.
— The group was interested in explo-
ring the Palestinian people’s original
cultural roots and employing these in
artistic works that encompass progres-
sive humanitarian contents in a sophis-
ticated, aesthetic framework.
— The ensemble despatched trainers to
several institutions in occupied Pales-
tine in order to establish groups there.
— In 1981, the ensemble won first prize
in the dabka (folkdance) festival held
by Bir Zeit University.
— In 1983, the Friends of Society cha-
ritable association in Al Bireh began to
sponsor the ensemble, putting all
capacities at the group’s disposal so as
to advance it.
— In 1983, the ensemble presented its
first long work which was entitled
«Folklore Scenes» and also won the
first prize in the dabka festival of that
year.
— In 1984, the ensemble participated in
the Bir Zeit Nights festival, performing
the play entitled «Wadi Al Tuffah»
(Apple Valley) which received first
prize at the festival.
— In 1985, the ensemble once again
won first prize at the Bir Zeit Univer-
sity’s dabka festival.
— In 1986, the ensemble presented its
36
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icons
new work called «Mashaal» which is a
name, while also meaning torch.
MASHAAL
The story of «Mashaal» is rooted in
Palestinian popular legend. The
ensemble did not stick to the exact his-
torical details or the original story.
Rather they formulated it in a new
artistic style, adding new incidents
which served the main line of the story.
The story goes back to the outbreak of
World War I, when the Ottoman sultan
issued an ordinance for drafting Arab
youth to participate alongside the
German and Turkish troops in the war.
This elicited a new phenomenon called
‘escapees’ and Mashaal was one of
those. He escaped to the mountains,
but could not stand staying away from
his village and home, his wife, Aysha,
and the village spring. This homesick-
ness led him to endanger his life by
heading for the spring where Turkish
soldiers were waiting. They arrested
him.
Mashaal was carried by ship to
Europe to fight for the cause of others,
to fight a war that was not his own, this
crazy war being waged by the capitalist
powers with the people as cannon
fodder.
When the war ended, Mashaal
returned to his village, carrying with
him the British promise that if they
were victorious and the country (Pales-
tine) came under their rule, they would
withdraw shortly after the war ended.
Mashaal then started looking for a
sword, a horse and a rifle for the pur-
pose of showing off, for there was no
need to worry anymore.
After a short period of time, Mashaal
discovers that the British were lying and
had broken their promise. So he conti-
nues looking for a sword, horse and
rifle, but this time for purposes other
than showing off. Thus, he sells
Aysha’s jewelry, but it is not enough to
buy all the things, so he decides to
travel to Haifa to work as a porter in
the harbor.There he spends several long
years. During his stay in Haifa, he par-
ticipates in the famous harbor workers’
strike. Afterwards, he returns to his
village with the three things - sword,
horse and rifle, to create a bright new
dawn for his beautiful Aysha. - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 21
- تاريخ
- يناير ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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