Art, Music & Culture
The Arts, Music & Culture section of EI reports on Palestinian and Palestine-related film, books & literature, music, theatre, photography, comedy, and performing arts -- offering reviews, news, and notice of key upcoming events. Quality submissions are welcomed.
Naseer Shamma and the music of resistance
Stefan Christoff, The Electronic Intifada, 4 February 2010
Celebrated Iraqi musician Naseer Shamma plays emotive compositions in beautiful tones on the oud to major audiences across the Middle East, stirring musical reflections on human realities in US-occupied Iraq. Although Iraqi current affairs are clearly interwoven into Shamma's sound, it is also unique musical talent that has earned Shamma a reputation as one of the world's preeminent oud players. Stefan Christoff profiles Shamma for The Electronic Intifada. [MORE]
"A different kind of occupation": an interview with Elia Suleiman
Sabah Haider, The Electronic Intifada, 1 February 2010
Nazareth-born filmmaker Elia Suleiman is one of the darlings of Cannes and stands out from the pack of contemporary Palestinian filmmakers for his unique style of filmmaking based on sewing together a series vignettes, silence -- an emphasis on visual storytelling versus dialogue, and deadpan comedy found in often grim humor in the lives of everyday people living under the tyranny of what he calls a "pathetic occupation." Sabah Haider recently interviewed Suleiman for The Electronic Intifada. [MORE]
Book review: Avi Shlaim's "Israel and Palestine"
Max Ajl, The Electronic Intifada, 26 January 2010
When prolific writers compile a decade or more of their writing in a single collection, changes in style, political outlook, or interpretive tendencies are readily apparent. Consistency in all these respects is visible too. While Avi Shlaim's latest book -- Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations reveals such changes and continuities, his analytical gaze suffers from a blind spot when it comes to the ideology upon which Israel was founded. Max Ajl reviews for The Electronic Intifada. [MORE]
Zionism's destabilizing force: "Israeli Exceptionalism" reviewed
Ahmed Moor, The Electronic Intifada, 20 January 2010
In his new book Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism, M. Shahid Alam successfully argues that the moral force behind the Zionist movement is a sense of Jewish, and consequently Israeli, exceptionalism. This claim of exceptionalism underpins what he calls the "destabilizing logic of Zionism." According to Alam, Zionism "could advance only by creating and promoting conflicts between the West and the Islamicate." Ahmed Moor reviews for The Electronic Intifada. [MORE]
In Lebanon refugee camp, "hip-hop is a school"
Rasmus Bogeskov Larsen, The Electronic Intifada, 15 January 2010
Hip-hop has got hold of the Burj al-Barajne camp in Beirut. As the music from a small but nascent rap-scene reverberates around the streets of this crowded community, its rappers are acutely aware of their position to foster not just musical change, but social change. Rasmus Bogeskov Larsen reports. [MORE]
Sailing into trouble: "To Gaza with Love" reviewed
Asa Winstanley, The Electronic Intifada, 4 January 2010
To Gaza with Love is a documentary by Aki Nawaz for Iran's English-language channel Press TV. It is an account of the first boats that successfully broke the siege of Gaza in August 2008. The filmmakers traveled to the Gaza Strip with the Free Gaza Movement, which organized the trip. Asa Winstanley reviews for The Electronic Intifada. [MORE]
Blogging beneath the bombs: An interview with Sharyn Lock
Arwa Aburawa, The Electronic Intifada, 30 December 2009
Activist Sharyn Lock sailed to Gaza on the first "Break the Siege" boat with the Free Gaza Movement in 2008. During Israel's winter attacks last year, Lock documented the invasion on her blog "Tales to Tell." Her writing has recently been published in the short book Gaza: Beneath the Bombs. The Electronic Intifada contributor Arwa Aburawa interviewed lock about her experience in Gaza. [MORE]
Palestinians celebrate Arab film at Gaza festival
Rami Almeghari, The Electronic Intifada, 23 December 2009
Last Thursday marked the end of a one-week film festival in Gaza City. The Palestinian Film Forum, an independent Palestinian community organization, sponsored the event with 33 films produced in six Arab Gulf states. Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. [MORE]
Audio: "For us, olive trees are a matter of resistance"
Gretchen King, The Electronic Intifada, 21 December 2009
Planting olive trees is a matter of resistance for the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, a non-profit organization based in Amman, Jordan. The organization began in 2003 with the goal of replanting one million trees on Palestinian land. By 2008, they achieved this goal and now hope to plant one million more trees in Palestine. Gretchen King reports. [MORE]
Book review: Alastair Crooke's "Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution"
Hicham Safieddine, The Electronic Intifada, 12 December 2009
Alastair Crooke's new book Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution studies the philosophy of resistance among Islamic movements as articulated by influential Islamist thinkers and revolutionaries of the last century. However, by defining an essence of Islam, Crooke reinforces many of the assumptions he is trying to dispel. Hicham Safieddine reviews for The Electronic Intifada. [MORE]
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