Ramallah – and large parts of the West Bank, it is safe to say — have been having an orgy of Fatah-anniversary events this weekend.
Palestinian television this evening had a wonderful Fatah-45th-anniversary musical event starting at 7pm that was broadcast live from the Qasr Thaqafi (Cultural Palace) in Ramallah. The singers and musicians were first rate — why don’t we hear more from these people? Why aren’t their songs playing on every radio station? In every hotel and restaurant?
[UPDATE: Some of the performers were: Omar Hassan, Ra’ed Kabbaha, Dalal Abu Ammeh, Ahmad al-Jamaawi, and Basim or Basil Said…]
One singer [I did not catch his name well, — I think it was Abbas Abu Nisri (sp?), and I think the announcers said he was from Kuwait] had a rousing, throbbing song, starting off about (East) Jerusalem (al-Quds), which included the refrain: “Al-insaniyya ahla hurriyeh” (roughly, “The humanitarian is the best (most beautiful) freedom”) which brought the audience to its feet.
There was a comedic monologue by one of the actors on Palestinian televisions hit comedy show, “Watan 3ala Watar” (“Homeland on a Shoestring”) which premiered in Ramadan. In the performance at tonight’s Fatah festival, the actor’s most appreciated remarks were directed at independent Palestinian politician Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, and his Mubadara political party. The actor’s jabs at Hamas appeared to fall a bit flat…
[Meanwhile, what was happening in East Jerusalem itself? See this account, on Mondoweiss here, of the very miserable and deteriorating situation, accompanied by photographs… And, Mondoweiss also reports on the weekly Friday demonstration yesterday in Bil’in, here, illustrated by a news photographer, wearing a gas mask, carrying out his journalistic and reporting functions in a cloud of Israeli-fired tear gas.]
Later, after the news, Palestinian television rebroadcast another Fatah-45th-Anniversary political rally (Palestinian television said it was in “occupied [East] Jerusalem” possibly in Abu Dis) addressed by Ahmad Qurei’a (Abu Alaa’), by Tawfik Tirawi, and earlier by another staccato political orator. These speeches were followed by a beautiful quiet musical performance by a lovely and serious young women in a black pants suit with long dark hair and wire-rim glasses (without the ususal heavy makeup) who played the ‘oud accompanied by a couple of other musicians. She sang in the most beautiful voice that dominated the performance. The audience at the rally wasn’t paying too much attention — after all the speech-making, they were relieved to have a break to mix and mingle and greet each other. When Adnan Husseini, Governor of Jerusalem, stood up to leave (greeted intermittently by well-wishers), Palestinian television faded away in the middle of the young woman’s song. But she was very, very good — great — and more should be heard from her.
Fatah has the best singers — that’s for sure.
During the news, Palestinian television showed the Fatah-45h-anniversary event in Libya — that there there were some pretty good girl dancers (folkloric).
Palestinian television — which is supposed to be the “national” television — which has focused on the doings of the leadership, seems to have become Fatah television (the official Fatah satellite TV channel that was launched last May, and which was headed by the more-or-less ousted Nabil Amr, has now gone off the air at the end of December — and the new Fatah media chief, Mohammad Dahlan, is preparing to launch a new satellite TV channel…)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was not there – travelling again on important diplomatic missions. His representative at the Ramallah event, according to Palestinian television, was Tayib Abdur Rahman. But Salam Fayyad (and Madame) shared the center front row spot with the Palestinian Authority’s Mr. Culture, Yasser Abed Rabbo (he was Minister of Culture at the time he persuaded the Japanese Government to pay for constructing the Cultural Palace) and his wife, the novelist and filmmaker Liana Badr. Azzam al-Ahmad and Saeb Erekat were near the center of the front row, as was Jibril Rajoub. Not far away was Mohammad Dahlan. As the audience clapped in time with some of the musical tunes, it became clear that these politicians were not at all good clappers — they had no rhythm, no sense of timing. They certainly did not clap all together. They were, quite simply, clapping-impaired. Of the front-row group, Sa’eb Erekat was the best and most enthusiastic clapper, and Dahlan was by far the worst.
The Fatah festival was kicked off on Thursday evening at 6pm with a televised address given by the leader, President Abbas, at the Palestinian Presidential Headquarters, or Muqata’a, in Ramallah. In that speech, Abbas again defended his actions during the crisis that began in early October when he initially agreed to postpone discussion, in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, of the Goldstone report concerning last winter’s war in Gaza. And, in Thursday’s speech, Abbas again made his incomprehensible “Muhammad Goldstone” joke… He also criticized Hamas.
For those who missed the speech, Abbas’ new crowd of media advisers have booked him for one interview after another in recent weeks, which are ususally replayed at full length at least twice, if not more. Last night, Abbas was interviewed on Palestinian television, for almost two hours, and in that interview Abbas repeated the main points from his speech.
Abbas was elected Fatah party leader by acclamation last August in Bethlehem, live on television during what were until that sudden and unannounced (except to the TV cameramen) moment during strictly-closed proceedings, at the Fatah General Conference (the first in two decades).
Meanwhile, in Gaza, as Ma’an News Agency reported, “The facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh congratulated the Fatah movement on the occasion of its 45th anniversary, asking those he called ‘rational’ within the movement to complete the process of national reconciliation…Haniyeh, however, speaking in front of the destroyed buildings of the Palestinian Legislative Council, noted his willingness to sign the Egyptian reconciliation deal after some amendments to the draft plan that Fatah signed on in October. This agreement, he said, should be based on true political will, rather than a written document, to achieve reconciliation between the two bitter rivals without external influence”. This report can be read in full here.
