My Voice is My Weapon My Voice is My Weapon Music, Nationalism, and the Poetics of Palestinian Resistance David a. McDonald Duke University Press ✹ Durham and London ✹ 2013 © 2013 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ♾ Cover by Heather Hensley. Interior by Courtney Leigh Baker Typeset in Minion Pro by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data McDonald, David A., 1976– My voice is my weapon : music, nationalism, and the poetics of Palestinian resistance / David A. McDonald. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8223-5468-0 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-8223-5479-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Palestinian Arabs—Music—History and criticism. 2. Music—Political aspects—Israel. 3. Music—Political aspects—Gaza Strip. 4. Music—Political aspects—West Bank. i. Title. ml3754.5.m33 2013 780.89′9274—dc23 2013012813 For Seamus Patrick McDonald Illustrations viii Note on Transliterations xi Note on Accessing Performance Videos xiii Acknowledgments xvii introduction ✹ 1 chapter 1. Nationalism, Belonging, and the Performativity of Resistance ✹ 17 chapter 2. Poets, Singers, and Songs ✹ 34 Voices in the Resistance Movement (1917–1967) chapter 3. Al-Naksa and the Emergence of Political Song (1967–1987) ✹ 78 chapter 4. The First Intifada and the Generation of Stones (1987–2000) ✹ 116 chapter 5. Revivals and New Arrivals ✹ 144 The al-Aqsa Intifada (2000–2010) contents chapter 6. “My Songs Can Reach the Whole Nation” ✹ 163 Baladna and Protest Song in Jordan chapter 7. Imprisonment and Exile ✹ 199 Negotiating Power and Resistance in Palestinian Protest Song chapter 8. New Directions and New Modalities ✹ 231 Palestinian Hip- Hop in Israel chapter 9. “Carrying Words Like Weapons” ✹ 262 DAM Brings Hip-Hop to the West Bank epilogue ✹ 283 Appendix: Song Lyric Transliterations 287 Notes 305 Bibliography 321 Index 329 Figure 2.1. Lake Tiberias, the Galilee, and the Israeli city Teveria as seen from Umm Qais ✹ 35 Figure 2.2. Adnan Odeh, ʿudist and composer for Firqat Aghani al- ʿAshiqin ✹ 38 Figure 3.1. Image of the fidāʾiyīn ✹ 90 Figure 3.2. Firqat Aghani al-ʿAshiqin’s Min Sijn ʿAkka cover art ✹ 107 Figure 4.1. Boom box as weapon of resistance ✹ 124 Figure 4.2. A kiss good- bye to the fighting ✹ 134 Figure 4.3. Sabreen, Jay al-Hamam (Here come the doves) ✹ 137 Figure 5.1. ʿAla Abwab al-Quds (On the doors of Jerusalem), intifada song cover art ✹ 146 Figure 5.2. Damaʿ al-Aqsa (Tears of al- Aqsa), intifada song cover art ✹ 147 Figure 5.3. Mais Shalash ✹ 156 illustrations Figure 6.1. Kamal Khalil ✹ 165 Figure 6.2. Baladna in performance ✹ 168 Figure 6.3. Depictions of thirst in intifada cover art, Sawt al-Hurriya (The voice of freedom) ✹ 186 Figure 7.1. Ibrahim Nasrallah ✹ 223 Figure 8.1. dam Performing in Lyd ✹ 234 Figure 8.2. Tamer Nafar ✹ 235 Figure 8.3. dam (Tamer Nafar, Suheil Nafar, Mahmoud Jrere) ✹ 244 Figure 9.1. dam (Suheil Nafar, Tamer Nafar, Mahmoud Jrere) ✹ 264 Figure 9.2. dam concert flyer in Ramallah ✹ 265 Figure 9.3. Nadi al-Braykdanz (Break-Dancing Club) ✹ 275 example 2.1. “Yama Mawil al-Hawa” ✹ 37 example 2.2. “Min Sijn ʿAkka” (From ʿAkka Prison) and Palestinian “ʿAla Dalʿuna” variant ✹ 54 example 2.3. “ʿAla Dalʿuna” melody variant ✹ 63 example 2.4. “Ya ẓarif al-ṭul” basic melody structure ✹ 65 example 3.1. Melodic and rhythmic structure of “Wayn al- Malayin?” (Where are the millions?) ✹ 100 example 3.2. “Hubbat al- Nar” (The fire swelled) in melody and rhythm ✹ 109 example 3.3. “Ishhad Ya ̔Alam” (Witness oh world) in melody and rhythm ✹ 112 example 6.1. “Laya wa-Laya” ✹ 183 example 7.1. “Dawla” ✹ 201 note on transliterations Transliteration of Arabic words has followed the system used by the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies , except for colloquial Pal- estinian names, texts, and phrases for which I have adapted the system used in the Hinds and Badawi dictionary to Palestinian dialect. At times throughout the research and writing of this book it was extremely dif- ficult to distinguish between colloquial and formal texts. Throughout I have attempted to provide transliterations of popular song texts, poetry, dialogue, and commentary that remain legible to the reader while pre- serving essential aspects of dialect, accent, and inflection. However, there are several instances where song texts, slang, and other commentary re- quired a bit of creativity in transliteration. Palestinian poets, singers, and musicians are notorious for manipulating the pronunciation of their texts to fit syllabic patterns and rhyme schemes, to shield meaning from cen- sors and the secret police, and to play with words and their relations. In- sofar as is practicable, I have tried to maintain a middle ground between what was said or sung and what was meant or intended. Consistency has been difficult to maintain as artists often shift their pronunciation from performance to performance. Song titles, poetry titles, and other titles of published works have been capitalized and transliterated without diacriti- cal marks (except for ʾ and ʿ). Common names have also been capitalized throughout, transliterated, and italicized without diacritical marks (except for ʾ and ʿ). Words that appear in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary or that have an accepted English spelling and/or pronunciation, such as Cairo , Beirut , and Yasser Arafat , remain in their familiar forms without diacrit- ics. In instances where individuals, ensembles, or other organizations have readily adopted an English transliteration (for example, El-Funoun instead of al-Fanūn ), I have maintained their transliteration throughout. I adopted the same approach for the one Hebrew transliteration in this text as well. note on accessing perforMance ViDeos I have deposited a portion of my ethnographic field recordings with the evia Digital Archive Project housed at Indiana University (www.eviada .org). The evia project is a collaborative venture to establish an online digital archive of ethnographic field videotapes for use by scholars and instructors. Funded from 2001 to 2009 by the Andrew W. Mellon Foun- dation, Indiana University, and the University of Michigan, the project developed from the joint efforts of ethnographers, scholars, archivists, librarians, and information technologists to make available ethnographic field tapes for use online in teaching and research environments. How- ever, the evia project is much more than simply a digital archive. The process of depositing these recordings requires rigorous annotation and peer review whereby each performance, each song, is painstakingly docu- mented, analyzed, and fully searchable across the entire collection by various keywords and controlled vocabularies. As a companion to this text, my evia project, entitled Music, Folklore, and Nationalism among Palestinian Refugees in Amman, Jordan (2003– 2005) , allows the reader to view video field recordings of many of the per- formances discussed in this monograph; easily search within the collec- tion for titles, lyrics, or artists; and quickly toggle between performances of the same songs and dances by various performers. While making their way through this monograph, readers are invited to explore this ethno- graphic video collection for further explanations, performances, and dem- onstrations of core aspects of Palestinian music and dance. Below is a list of pertinent audio/video examples available for viewing on the evia website. Each example below has been assigned a persistent uniform resource locator, or purl, which functions as a unique marker or web address for locating the audio/video example in the evia project collections. Throughout the text I have also labeled each example with a xiv ✹ Accessing Performance Videos parenthetical code (e.g., evia 14-a3387). Those who wish to access the evia project collections must first create a free account by clicking “enter the archive” and then clicking the login button, which opens the “create an account” page where they may register with the evia project. Once an account has been created, the listed examples below may be easily located. Readers of the print edition of this book may access the videos by logging into the evia project and typing into their web browser the full purl ad- dress associated with a specific media example. These purl addresses are listed below as well as in the endnotes of the chapter wherein an example is discussed. A purl address includes a root that never changes and a six-digit, one-character, purl identifier at the end of the address (e.g., 14- S9030) that is unique to each specific media example. Once the full purl address has been entered, readers may view other media examples simply by replacing the unique purl identifier at the end of the address with the purl identifier of the media example they wish to view. Readers of the electronic version of this book may simply click on the purl address for each example wherever it arises; once they have logged into the evia website, this active link will take them directly to the requested media ex- ample. Once registered with evia, readers may create a playlist of events and scenes for future reference. This playlist will eliminate the need to search for each example when returning to the site. The list below, orga- nized by chapter, includes the segment title, parenthetical code, and the full purl address for each audio/video example discussed in this book. Audio and Video Examples chapter 2 evia 14-s9039 | “Yama Mawil al-Hawa” (Oh song of longing) [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- S9039] evia 14-s2070 | “Min Sijn ʿAkka” (From ʿAkka Prison) [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- S2070] evia 14-a0876 | Carrying the martyr in a mock funeral march [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- A0876] evia 14-a3387 | “ʿAtābā” [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14-A3387] evia 14-a1093 | “ʿAlā Dalʿūnā” [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- A1093] Accessing Performance Videos ✹ xv evia 14-a6184 | Demonstration of dabke pattern, “ wāḥid wa nūs ” [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- A6184] evia 14-a5646 | “Yā Ẓarīf al- Ṭūl” [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- A5646] chapter 3 evia 14-s6760 | “Hubbat al- Nar” (The fire swelled) [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- S6760] evia 14-s0768 | “Ishhad Ya ̔Alam” (Witness oh world) [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- S0768] chapter 5 evia 14-s7686 | “Sadayna al- Shawariʿ” (We blocked the streets) [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- S7686] chapter 6 evia 14-s6800 | “Aghniyat Hubb li-Shahid al- Karak” or “Ahmad Majali” (A love song for the martyr from Karak, Ahmad Majali) [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14-S6800] evia 14-s0790 | “Laya wa Laya” [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14-S0790] chapter 7 evia 14-s4997 | “Dawla” (State/country) [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14- S4997] evia 14-a4295 | Kamal Khalil is greeted by Umm Imran, an elderly woman during a groom’s celebration in al-Wahdat refugee camp [http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/eviada/14-A4295] acknoWleDgMents This ethnographic study, like any other, would have been impossible with- out the support of many different individuals and organizations. Taking place over eight years, the research and writing of this book benefited from the inspiration, guidance, encouragement, and expertise of friends and family across North America and the Middle East. To this group of individuals I offer my sincerest appreciation and thanks. First, I wish to gratefully acknowledge the generous financial assis- tance of several institutions without which this project would not have been possible: the Center for Global Studies at the University of Illi- nois, which supported intensive language study in Amman in 2002; the Fulbright-Hays Foundation, which funded sixteen months of fieldwork in 2003–4; the American Center for Oriental Research (acor), which sup- ported four months of fieldwork in the summer of 2005; the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (uiuc), whose graduate college funded the writing of the initial dissertation phase of this project during 2005–6; and Indiana University’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research, which supported two months of postdoctoral fieldwork in 2010. To these insti- tutions I am profoundly grateful, while none is responsible for the views expressed herein. While I was in the field several cultural research institutions assisted me by providing contacts and interviews vital to this research. I am espe- cially indebted to the Jordanian Ministry of Culture, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, the National Music Conservatory of Jordan Noor al-Hussein Foundation, the Jordan Academy of Music, the Popular Arts Center of al-Bireh, the Inʿash al-Usra Society, Darrat al-Funun in Amman, the Abdel Hamid Shoman Foundation of Amman, the French Cultural Center of Amman, acor, the Center for Strategic Studies at the Uni- versity of Jordan, the British Council of Amman, the Faculty of Arts at xviii ✹ Acknowledgments the University of Jordan, and the Edward Said National Music Conserva- tory of Palestine. The diplomats, administrators, teachers, students, and friends at these institutions greatly facilitated the logistics of my research with interviews, source materials, and advice on myriad topics. Among the musicians and groups I worked with, I would especially like to recognize Adnan Odeh, Saʿud Shalash, Mais Shalash, Mohammad Smik, Firras Muhiddin, Ibrahim Sbeyhat, Nadar Jalal, ʿIssa Boulos, Suheil Khoury, Reem Talhami, Mustafa al-Kurd, Samer Totah, Ahmad al-Khatib, Heather Bursheh, Mohammad Fadel, Mohammad Yacoub, Khaled Kata- mesh, Hussein Munther, Abu Arab, Hussein Nazak, Mahmoud Darwish, Sharif Kanaaneh, Abd al-Aziz Abu Hudba, Moslih Kanaaneh, Moham- mad Sakkijha, Ibrahim Nasrallah, Daoud Abbasi, Abeer al-Zinaty, Mo- hammad al-Farra, Sanaaʿ al- Moussa, and the members of Firqat Aghani al-ʿAshiqin, Firqat al-Quds, Firqat al-ʿArryaf, Baladna, dam, pr, Firqat al-Yarmuk, Firqat al-Riif, Firqat al-Ajiil, Firqat al-Hanouneh, Firqat el- Funoun, Firqat al-Ibdaʿ, Karloma, Nawazen, and Firqat al-Zaytuna. Above all else, however, I offer my sincerest gratitude to one musician in particu- lar, Kamal Khalil. Our many nights spent singing and talking underneath the olive tree in his front yard opened up spaces for discussion and de- bate about history, politics, and music essential to understanding both the musical and the personal histories of those who have dedicated their lives to Palestinian self- determination. The honesty and openness with which Kamal Khalil allowed me entrance into his life and family were truly in- spiring. I am deeply indebted to him and the entire Khalil family for their endless generosity and some of the best maqlūba ever tasted. Among those most supportive of my time in the field, I wish to recog- nize the Khoury and al-Qaisi families. By the end of my stay in Jordan it became second nature to be introduced as ibn al-khūrī (a son of the Khoury family). A prominent Palestinian Christian family originally from Ramallah and Bir Zeit, the transplanted Khourys of Amman welcomed me into their home for countless late-night dinners under the grape vines atop their front patio. The three talented Khoury sons adopted me as an older sibling and made sure that all of my many needs were met. Likewise the seven al-Qaisi children, especially Amani al-Qaisi, of al-Bayadar, pro- vided many after dinner dabke lessons, friendship, and an inside look into Palestinian family life in diaspora. My work in Amman for this project benefited considerably from the tireless efforts of my research assistant and language tutor, Nihad Kha- Acknowledgments ✹ xix dir. Throughout the research stages of this project Nihad spent count- less hours proofreading my translations, offering advice, critiquing and correcting my dialect, and sharing stories and experiences of her child- hood living as a Palestinian refugee in Kuwait during the First Gulf War. Her tutelage and friendship served to benefit this project in innumer- able ways, bringing to light an often-neglected story of Palestinian history and exile. In addition I gratefully acknowledge the efforts of my research assistant at Indiana University, Waed Athemneh, who offered translation and transliteration assistance. I am also grateful for the editorial efforts of Jeffrey Culang and Haya Bar-Itzhak, who painstakingly went over the many transliterations contained in the appendix of this text. I am especially grateful to Donna A. Buchanan, Thomas Turino, Bruno Nettl, Ken Cuno, and Matti Bunzl at the University of Illinois, to whom I owe a sincere debt of gratitude for encouragement and continued support of this research. I am equally grateful to David Harnish, Jeremy Wallach, Tony Perman, Sarah Long, Eduardo Herrera, and Stefan Fiol for their insightful commentary on earlier drafts of this manuscript. At Indiana University I have had the pleasure of belonging to a lively, challenging, and stimulating cohort of folklore and ethnomusicology scholars and students. Specifically, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to Judah Cohen, Henry Glassie, Pravina Shukla, Daniel Reed, and Ruth Stone for encouraging me to freely discuss the ideas captured within these pages and looking over portions of the text. Ted Swedenburg, Julie Peteet, Vir- ginia Danielson, Anne Rasmussen, and an anonymous reader should also be acknowledged for their careful and insightful reading of portions of this text as well as informal discussions and commentary. While this book benefited considerably from the tutelage of many, all omissions are my re- sponsibility alone. Finally, this book is dedicated to my wonderful son, the wee laddy Seamus Patrick McDonald, who has brought immeasurable light into my life. It is my greatest hope that one day he will find his passion as easily as I found mine. “More than the oceans, more than the trees, more than the red train, but not the green.”