Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 53)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 53)
- المحتوى
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«Sea Chant», deals with the life of the
Palestinian fishermen before 1948, and
their role in the struggle after the oc-
cupation. Life along Palestine’s coast is
one of four areas of the popular culture
on which AI Ard has concentrated in its
works. For the purpose of illuminating
the Palestinian culture in detail, the
group defined four areas: the village,
the city, the desert (bedouin culture)
and the coast. Covering all of Palestine
in cultural terms, AJ Ard has, through
songs and dance, given expression to
the village woman, the fisherman, the
camp child, the old man who is still
waiting to return to his home in Haifa,
the fedai (freedom fighter) and all the
Palestinian people - their pain and their
hopes.
Al Ard has gained popularity
because, as Abu Imad explained, it
«adheres to the issues relevant to the
masses, and dares to present them with
courage.» The group has always con-
veyed a clear political message to its
audiences, based on belief in mobilizing
the masses. One example is their song
against the Amman accord with the
Jordanian regime, and against relations
with reactionary regimes. One verse
goes as follows:
He who surrenders is not one of us.
It is the Palestinian gun that speaks
for us...
Freedom must be taken, it will not
be given...
Describing the first time he watched
Al Ard perform, Ahmed, eighteen
years old and now a dancer in the
group, said, «Their performance really
touched my heart.» Ahmed had lived
with his family in Egypt for many
years, far from the arena of Palestinian
struggle. He saw Al Ard while visiting
Yarmouk camp in 1985, and today he
tells that «I felt very close to home.» He
joined the group the same year.
HERITAGE COMMITTEE
Al Ard has formed a committee for
collecting Palestinian heritage, which
searches for old poems, songs and
stories. The committee’s main resource
is elderly Palestinians. Abu Imad says,
«The old people have committed a
great deal to memory. By going back to
them, we ensure the authenticity of the
culture.» Members of the committee
visit Palestinian camps, meeting with
people to gather information about
traditions and costumes in different
parts of Palestine. All the mati.
gathered is stored in an archive for
future reference.
There is also an educational commit-
tee which is charged with keeping in
contact with progressive nationalist
Palestinian and Arab writers and poets
who sometimes contribute to Al Ard’s
work.
The Al Ard ‘family’ believes that the
Palestinian Expressive Artists Union
should be more active in consolidating
the role of cultural groups and enlisting
more Palestinian artists from all over
the world to contribute to protecting
and developing the Palestinian culture.
«Our revolution is not only with
bullets,» says Abu Imad, «It’s media
and bullets.» Pointing to the need for
the union to do more to expose Zionist
theft of the Palestinian heritage, he tells
how he saw «with my own eyes, the
urghoul on display in European
museums, labeled as an Israeli instru-
ment.» He reminded that the
stewardesses on El Al wear the Palesti-
nian national dress as if it were Israeli
heritage.
Abu Imad also spoke of the impor-
tance of the international allies of the
Palestinian revolution supporting ef-
forts to protect the Palestinian civiliza-
tion and spread its cultural heritage.
This can be by inviting folklore groups
to perform, or offering Palestinian ar-
tists and musicians opportunities to
study.
PERFORMANCES ABROAD
Besides performing in Syria and
Lebanon, and London as mentioned,
Al Ard visited Libya in 1985, to per-
form in the September Ist celebration of
the Libyan revolution. The same year,
the group participated in the World
Youth Festival in Moscow. In 1986, Al
Ard was invited to the United Arab
Emirates by the Department of
Culture. The growp toured the major
towns of the UAE where it was cn-
thusiastically received by citizens and
the resident Palestinians. Sumayeh
says, «People rushed to talk to us after
each performance. They looked like
they had yearned for their homeland.»
Al Ard has produced four casette
tapes: «The Political Song», «Al Ard»,
«Folklore Selections» and «Sabra»; in
addition, there is a video tape of the
group’s performanceinthe UAE. @
52 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 27
- تاريخ
- ديسمبر ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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