New tune

Palestinian singers express spirit of revolt in political anthems

Associated Press

New tune — Thousand Oaks Star, 29 July 1988 — Thousand Oaks Star · Thousand Oaks, California · 29 July 1988

Transcribed from the clipping

“JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian singers usually known for sentimental love songs have found a new kind of music: political anthems calling for violent revolt against Israel and glorifying young Arab stone-throwers.

Israeli authorities have blacklisted the songs on grounds they incite rebellion, but they are distributed secretly in recorded form and are heard widely in Arab east Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. A recent No. 1 hit, ‘Insurrection,’ urges Palestinian children to ‘rise up with your stones.’

It booms from music stores and portable radios in east Jerusalem when Israeli police or soldiers are not around. In Bethlehem, junior high school students came from classes recently chanting the refrain of the song ‘Intefadeh’ (Arabic for uprising): ‘With firebombs and stones, I make my revolution.’

Arab youths also gather around stereos at home and sing along to ballads such as ‘Palestinian,’ whose lyrics say: ‘I fight for my identity, I fight for freedom, I fight for spring.’ In Jerusalem, police have raided several music stores, confiscated tapes of songs about the uprising and charged store owners with incitement.

In the occupied territories, troops confiscate tapes of banned song if they find any during house searches, but they don’t look specially for them, said a military official. ‘We act whenever we can, but this is not our first priority. We are too busy with other things.’”

Context added by this archive

Music as contraband. Cassettes blacklisted for incitement, sold under the counter, played in east Jerusalem shops when Israeli police or soldiers are not around, and confiscated from music stores whose owners are charged.

The paper prints the banned lyrics, which is how they survive here: With firebombs and stones, I make my revolution, and, from a ballad called simply ‘Palestinian’,

‘I fight for my identity, I fight for freedom, I fight for spring.’ The last word goes to an unnamed military official explaining the enforcement policy: troops take the tapes if they find them during house searches, but they don’t look specially for them… We are too busy with other things.

Cite this item

"New tune," Thousand Oaks Star, 29 July 1988. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1988-069. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1988-069