Music of Palestine

In the areas now controlled by both Israel and Palestine, multiple ethnic groups and religions have long held on to a diversity of cultures. Mandatory Palestine population with Arabs (including urban and rural Muslim classes, Arab Christians, Druze and Muslim Bedouin) constituted the largest group, followed by Jews (including Sephardim, Mizrahim and Ashkenazim), Samaritans, Circassians, Armenians, Dom and others. Wasif Jawhariyyeh was one oud player, famous for his post 1904-diary.

Mohammed Assaf is a Palestinian pop singer.

Palestinian music reflects Palestinian experience.[7] As might be expected, much of it deals with the struggle of living under Israeli occupation, the longing for peace, and the love of the land of Palestine. A typical example of such a song is Baladi, Baladi (My Country, My Country), which has become the unofficial Palestinian national anthem:

Palestine, Land of the fathers,
To you, I do not doubt, I will return.
Struggle, revolution, do not die,
For the storm is on the land.[8]

"Zareef et Tool" is one of the most popular Palestinian songs of today and can be traced back decades. The song encourages Palestinians not to leave their homeland:[9]

يا زريف الطول وقّف تاقلك ... رايح عالغربة و بلادك أحسنلك
خايف يا زريف تروح و تتملك .. و تعاشر الغير و تنساني أنا

O, elegant and tall one stop so I can tell you
You are going abroad and your country is better for you
I am afraid you will get established there
And find someone else and forget me

Armure Hijaz 01

Armure Hijaz 02

Armure Hijaz 03

Unlike many other cultures, traditional Palestinian songs have no set lyrics but rather a set rhythm. The singers are usually family members or close friends who make up the lyrics on the spot. At modern Palestinian events there may be a professional singer, but the forms mentioned below, still very popular today, were created before the popularization of professional singers. Therefore, the song lyrics differ from city to city. Many types of Palestinian songs, including Atab/Mejana and Dal'ona, have transcended time. Due to the relevance of the subject matter and the need to maintain tradition and culture, traditional types of Palestinian songs can still be heard at events of today, such as weddings or gatherings. They still remain extremely popular throughout the Palestinian culture. Among the forms:[9]

• Ataaba is the most popular type of song in Palestine. It is often sung by farmers, workers, and shepherds as a work song. However, weddings are the main environment for the songs. As with the other forms of songs, Mejana is based on poetry. Usually the singer starts with the long sound of "Ooaaaff". Then the verses of ataba follow. Ataba is composed of four verses of poetry. The first three end with the same word in sound but different meanings. The fourth verse ends with a word that usually ends with a sound like "Aab or Aywa!"[9]
• Dal'ona is the second most popular type of song in Palestine. It is easier to compose than ataba because it does not require the similar sound of the ends of the first three verses. However, like ataba, dal'na has four verses of poetry, where the first three have similar endings and the fourth usually ends with a sound like "Oana". Dal'ona is the sound of the Palestinian popular dance, dabka, where the dancers sing it along with the sound of the shubbabah (flute), yarghool or mijwiz.[9]
• The Sahja is another popular form of Palestinian song usually sung at weddings. It may be done by men or women and involves clapping to the rhythm of the song that is being sung to the bride by women, or groom by men. The men gather in two lines facing each other, or surround the groom. Then the zajal leads the sahja. The zajal is a talented singer or close family member who sings the sahja on the spot. The zajal leads the sahja with a verse, and the entire group repeats. The sahja done by women carries out the same process but with many women leading (usually older women) while the young women repeat. Also, the women may add a loud, "Lolololeey" during and at the end of the sahja. There is no female zajal.
• Zaghareet (pl), one of the oldest forms of Palestinian song, is another important form of song during Palestinian weddings. The zaghreet is traditionally sung by women at weddings or important events. One woman starts the zaghroot with a loud "Heeey Hee..." or "Aweeha...". She then continues with a short poem or few rhyming words. After the women are done, they all join with a loud, "Lolololoolololoeeeey" sound. Unlike the women's sahja, the zaghroot involves no clapping, and only one woman must take turns to offer a zaghareet.

American radio personality and record producer DJ Khaled, of Palestinian descent

Beginning in the late 1990s, Palestinian youth forged a new Palestinian musical subgenre – Palestinian rap or hip hop – which blends Arabic melodies and Western beats, with lyrics in Arabic, English and even Hebrew.

Borrowing from traditional rap music that first emerged in the ghettos of Los Angeles and New York in the 1970s, "young Palestinian musicians have tailored the style to express their own grievances with the social and political climate in which they live and work."[10]

DAM were pioneers in forging this blend. As Arab citizens of Israel, they rap in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, often challenging stereotypes about Palestinians and Arabs head-on in songs like "Meen Erhabe?" ("Who's a terrorist?")

More peculiar is the West Bank group Ramallah Underground, found by the two brothers Aswatt, Boikutt and Stormtrap. Their sound is a mix of hip hop, trip hop, and downtempo alongside traditional Arab music. There are many rappers who defend Palestinian nationalism, and the best of them, Ortega (Alhasan) who caused a sensation in the Israeli media in 2012 because of his songs' hostility to Israel. Ortega (Alhasan) is considered a better performer of Palestinian rap in the Persian Gulf region, because he was born in the United Arab Emirates.

In the diaspora are the Abu-Ghaben brothers, who founded Jaffa Phonix in Cairo, Egypt. They blended big-beat, hip hop, and vocal punk elements.

According to the human rights organization Freemuse, Palestinian musicians feared what was going to happen in the Palestinian territories where Islamic fundamentalists have become increasingly assertive since the militant Hamas group scored political gains in the Palestinian Authority local elections of 2005.[11]

In 2005 an outdoor music and dance performance in Qalqiliya was suddenly banned by the Hamas led municipality, for the reason that such an event would be forbidden by Islam. The municipality also ordered that music no longer be played in the Qalqiliya zoo, and mufti Akrameh Sabri issued a religious edict affirming the municipality's decision.[11][12] In response, the Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish warned that "There are Taliban-type elements in our society, and this is a very dangerous sign".[11][12][13][14]

The Palestinian columnist Mohammed Abd Al-Hamid, a resident of Ramallah, warned that this religious coercion could cause the migration of artists, and said "The religious fanatics in Algeria destroyed every cultural symbol, shattered statues and rare works of art and liquidated intellectuals and artists, reporters and authors, ballet dancers and singers – are we going to imitate the Algerian and Afghani examples?"[12]

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  Palestinian Oud player
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  Palestinian Kamanjah player
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  Musicians in Jerusalem, late 19th century

• List of Palestinians: Musicians
• Palestinian Arabic
• Palestinians

• Morgan, Andy and Mu'tasem Adileh. "The Sounds of Struggle". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp. 385–390. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

• Cohen, Dalia and Ruth Katz (2005). Palestinian Arab Music: A Maqam Tradition in Practice. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-11298-5.
• Mashmalon, Micah (1988). Palestinian Folk Songs. Morris Moore Series in Musicology, 4. Shazco. LCCN 88011605. OCLC 17918259.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Music of Palestine.

• Smithsonian Jerusalem Project: Palestinian Music Winter 1999, Issue 3, Jerusalem Quarterly