Weekly Report 4: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Rim Banna, a Palestinian singer, composer, arranger and activist, recently passed away on March 24 at the age of 51 after a battle with cancer. She was a Palestinian Christian living in Nazareth, who united the Palestinians despite political and geographic divides since she sang for the Homeland. She first achieved popularity during the First Intifada by singing versions of traditional Palestinian songs that were close to being forgotten; composing her own songs as well, she has been in the media since the 1990s.
Rim Banna
Since politicians have been failing to unite the Palestinian people, music does the job instead. The calls for "Palestinian unity" have been ignored, their music has brought people closer together. The longevity of Palestinian culture defines the people, regardless of the atrocities Israel commits against them. One of these atrocities has been trying to erase the Palestinian culture; they have been trying to erase Palestinian cultural icons, including, but not limited to, Rim Banna, Reem Kelani, Kamilya Jubran and Shadia Mansour.
Cultural resistance is at the heart of the Palestinian fight for freedom. Palestinians contend with cultural hegemony, not as an academic notion, but as a daily reality. Israel has spent decades launching and perfecting its cultural war against Palestinians, aimed at erasing Palestinian culture, on the one hand, while imposing its own cultural alternatives on the other. However, the ‘Israel brand’ is essentially a Palestinian, Arab brand, stolen and rebranded.
So, when Rim Banna, Reem Kelani, Mohammed Assaf, and numerous others – joined by poets, artists, and other Palestinian cultural warriors – celebrate the traditions, music and culture of their people, they stand at the frontlines of fighting a violent Zionist discourse that has, for over a century, been committed to the total erasure of Palestine.
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