|  
List of Palestinian Books Reviews
A Lake Beyond the Wind
Yehya Yakhlof
First published in Arabic in 1991 by
Dar al Aadab, Beirut
English Edition: 1999, Interlink
publishing house, USA
214 pages
Translated from Arabic by Mayy Jayyousi and Christopher
Tingley. Palestinian novels so far have run short of reflecting the catastrophe
that befell the Palestinian people 50 years ago. While the memory of the
Nakba remained dominant on the poetic and political scene, it was not dealt
with sufficiently in the novel form. In this sense, A Lake Beyond the Wind
is one of the few Palestinian novels which tried to handle this issue and
is part of a trilogy which traces the political and social history of the
Palestinians in novel form since their forced exodus in 1948 until the
mid 90s.
In this first novel of the trilogy, the writer attempts
to reflect on the details of the daily life of the residents of Samakh
village, the author's home town, and their feelings on the eve of the catastrohpe.
The novel also looks into the various forms of resistance used by the residents
and follows their fate as it is formulated by major world events.
The novel combines the autobiographical technique
and the re-writing of history in a way that allows the readers to understand
the events through a mixture of fiction and historical facts.
[Back to up]
Palestinian Embroidery
of the Society of In'ash El Usra, El Bireh
Compiled by: Leyla Akram Nouri 1996
The Society of In'ash El Usra is a pioneering women's
society in Palestine, particularly in promoting
Palestinian women's handicrafts most prominent of which
is embroidery. Over the years it has developed innovative products and
marketed them all over the world. This book documents the special embroidery
that Palestinian women produce at the society. With more than eighty pages
full of illustrations, photos, and description in English and Arabic, this
book gives a comprehensive overview of traditional beautifully embroidered,
shawls, cushions, wall hangings, table runners, dresses, jackets, and other
products which can be obtained from the society shop. Price: US $15
In'ash el Usra society, El Bireh
Tel. (02) 2401123, 2402876
Fax: (02)2401544
[Back to up]
Embroidering a Life: Palestinian
Women and Embroidery
Researched and Written by: Elizabeth
Price Book of the week.
Published by: Sunbula in cooperation
with the Palestinian Heritage Center Bethlehem 1999.
48 pages, pictures and illustrations.
Once a traditional craft practiced by village
women, Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery has become an important symbol
of Palestinian culture. Embroidered pieces can be found in the homes of
most Palestinian families in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Israel, and the
Diaspora beyond, adorning the walls of houses in Jerusalem, villas in the
Gulf, suburban homes in the United States, and cement block houses in refugee
camps. The popularity of em-broidery springs from both its beauty and its
association with the Palestine of the past. Common patterns reflect the
millennia-long history of the land.
The designs are derived from sources as diverse
as ancient mythology and foreign occupation and date as far back as the
Canaanites who lived in the area over three thousand years ago. There are
a number of books on Palestinian cross- stitch embroidery which approach
the subject with the primary purpose of collecting and classifying patterns
and techniques. This books is based on stories told by Palestinian women
for whom embroidery is a central part of their lives.
Twenty women, young and old, from West Bank
villages and towns, a Bedouin community in the Negev and a refugee camp
in the Gaza Strip were interviewed. While the wearing of traditional embroidered
dresses has declined over the years, many of these women use embroidery
in modern clothing or around their houses. This booklet attempts to ex-
plain the cultural significance of Palestinian cross- stitch embroidery
in the women's own words. For those readers who embroider some of the oldest
and most common patterns in Palestinian embroidery are reproduced at the
end of the book.
[Back to up]
Homeland:
Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians
Edited by Staughton Lynd, Sam Bahour, and Alice
Lynd 1994,
Olive Branch Press,
99 Seventh Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11215,
305 pgs,
maps,
index,
bibliography.
$ 14.95.
Throughout the world, Palestinians have often
been viewed through narrow prisms of "terrorists" or "victims". This comprehensive
collection of oral histories brings to life generations of Palestinians,
those living in the occupied territories as well as those in the far-flung
exile of the Palestinian Diaspora. The editors traveled throughout Israel,
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to find the multi- generational families
living in towns, villages, and refugee camps whose voices resonate in Homeland.
These are Palestinians who lost their homes in 1948, who grew up as refugees
in Jordan or Lebanon after the dispossessions of 1949 and 1967, women battling
for their land as well as their rights, former prisoners, farmers, workers,
children and great-grandparents. Homeland poignantly links the people to
the land, the attachment to which has created and sustained Palestinian
national identity around the world. These are stories of loss, of exile,
of remembering.
About the Editors:
Staughton Lynd is a noted US labor historian.
His books include "Nonviolence in America" and "Labor Law for the Rank
and Filer." Sam Bahour is a Palestinian American from Youngstown, Ohio,
and was the national coordinator of Palestinian American youth. He is currently
living and working in the West Bank. Alice Lynd edited "We can't go: Personal
accounts of War objectors," and with her husband edited "Rank and File:
Personal Histories by Working-Class organizers."
[Back to up]
Psalms: Poems by Mahmoud Darwish
Translated from the Arabic with an Introduction by Ben
Bennani
1994, Three Continents Press
published by Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
1800 30th street, Boulder, Colorado 80301
70 pgs,
pbk, $ 12 in the US
Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian poet par excellence,
has been writing poetry since the sixties and continues, until this day,
to produce some of the most eloquent and touching verse not only in Palestine,
but also in the Arabic language as a whole. His mastery of the language,
his rich imagery, his profound understanding of the deepest human feelings,
the music of his words, added to it a deep feeling of loss of the homeland
and the experience of the exodus for the most part of his life, makes
of his poetry the most expressive of what it means to be a Palestinian
and an Arab in the last few decades before the end of the second millennium.
As the translator, Ben Bennani, writes: Darwish's
poetry refuses categorization. It is at once classical and modern, formal
and colloquial, universal and personal, experiential as well as experimental
as the next seventeen psalms amply illustrate. Though primarily "motivated"
or "inspired" by political and military circumstances, the poems rise from
their sources - like the phoenix - to celebrate what is at once personal
and mythical, local and global, in language that is both simple and textured,
natural and studied, culminating in both magic and rapture."
Darwish's psalms, first published in Arabic
in 1972, are an excellent example of his poetry of longing: to the family,
to the loved ones, to the homeland. They are full of beautiful imagery
describing the minutest details of his memories of the land: the trees,
the wind, the air, the smells, the earth, and his mother.
About the translator: Ben Bennani was born
and raised in Lebanon to Moroccan parents, and was educated in classical
and Islamic Arabic studies. He is an honors graduate of Dartmouth College
and holds an MFA in poetry writing and a Ph.D. in comparative literature,
as well as a graduate certificate in literary translation.
Palestine in postage stamps
1865 - 1981
Compiled by: Dr. Nabil Ali Shaath, Hasna'
Mikdashi
Artistic director: Al Labbad
Second edition: 1985
First published in 1981
Publishers: Dar al Fata al Arabi, Corniche
al Mazra'a,
P.O.Box 5236/14, Beirut Lebanon And the Arab experimental
workshop for children's books,
4 al Malla st. Al Matariyye, Cairo Hard Cover.
This book includes a comprehensive collection of postage
stamps used in Palestine since the mail system was introduced in 1840,
including those produced by the Arab revolutionaries during their revolts
prior to 1948 and after 1967 in the Diaspora. The stamps produced by the
revolutionaries are about 30, and the rest were produced by the Ottoman
State, the foreign consulates, the British mandate, and the occupation
authorities. This book includes 30 color pages with photographs of the
various stamps used in Palestine over more than 100 years. Even though
the text itself is in Arabic, the stamps themselves are an excellent historical
document that transcends the confines of language.
The Dome of the Rock
Saiid Nusseibeh and Oleg Grabar
Great Britain, Thames and Hudson 1996
156 pages (9 X 12 inches) with 200 illustrations,
150 in color Hard Cover
"The Dome of the Rock" contains 150 stunning
photographs that capture the aesthetic achievement of the building by the
same name. The introduction, written by one of the world's pre- eminent
Islamic scholars, Oleg Grabar, explores history, art, and architecture,
as well as the cultural and religious significance of the building. The
introduction is complemented by a wealth of reference material, including
transcriptions of the earliest known Koranic script (inscribed on the building's
octagonal arcades), historical travelers' accounts of the Dome, maps, and
drawings. An exceptional book, "The Dome of the Rock" is the most detailed
and complete visual documentation ever published on this profound monument.
[Back to up]
Foreign Aid and Development in Palestine
Jerusalem Media and Communications Center,
March 1999
Written by: Dr. Adel Zagha
Research assistants: Manal Jamal and Fadi
Harb.
This book is the culmination of three studies
within the project entitled "foreign aid and development in Palestine."
The aim of the project is to examine whether the donor community and Palestinians
are distributing funds in a way that will help ensure sustainable development,
or whether they are instead helping to create structural dependency.
The JMCC hopes that this information will
serve as the first step in establishing a forum to discuss economic development
and the role of the donor community in Palestine. Chapter one is a compilation
of various materials pertaining to the donor community and the Palestinian
economy, including pledges, commitments, disbursements, and sectoral concentrations
for the period 1994 - 1998. Chapter 2 identifies and prioritizes the key
issues relevant to the responsible use of funds received, through interviews,
workshops, and other fora. Chapter 3 prioritizes the various components
of the development process and formulates policy guidelines and recommendations.
[Back to up]
PACE Tour Guide of the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip - Palestine"
Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange,
Ramallah, in cooperation with the Palestinian
Ibrahimi center for Languages, Gaza.
Authors: Dr. Adel Yehya, Dr. Muin Sadeq,
Dr. Hanna Abdulnour.
288 pages, color pictures and maps.
Price: $ 10 PB, $15 HC.
This is the first comprehensive guide to touristic
and religious sites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its special relevance
relates to the fact that it has been authored by Palestinians (most available
guides are written and published either by Israeli or foreign agencies.)
This guide goes into details of some sites which are yet undiscovered to
the foreign, and even local tourists. The guide places special emphasis
on the Arab, Muslim, and Christian aspects of the various sites, indeed,
since this is the nature of these areas and it represents their most prominent
characteristics from the seventeenth century up to the present.
As Danny Rubinstein notes in his review of
the book published in the English "Ha'aretz" of July 25th, "The Palestinian
guide is the first of its kind in the new political entity of "Palestinian
rule" and the state-in-the-making. It is an intriguing read even for those
who do not plan to pop into Gaza for a visit tomorrow."
[Back to up]
Drinking the Sea at Gaza: Days
and nights in a land under siege
Amira Hass
Translated by: Elana Wesley and Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta
New York: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and
Company, 1999 (translation)
US$ 29
Available from: Bookshop at the American
Colony, telefax: 02-6279731,
email: usbooks@palnet.com
In 1993, Amira Hass, an Israeli woman reporter, drove
to Gaza to cover a story-and stayed for four years. Hass was the first
journalist to live in the grim Palestinian enclave, so feared and despised
by many Israelis that in the local idiom, "Go to Gaza," is another way
to say "Go to Hell." Now, in a work of calm power and painful clarity,
Hass re- flects on what she has seen in Gaza's gutted streets and destitute
refugee camps. Drinking the Sea at Gaza maps the zones of ordi- nary Palestinian
life. Hass gives voice to Gaza's doctors and housewives, its taxi drivers,
farmers, and Islamic leaders. From her friends, she learns the secrets
of slipping across sealed borders and steal- ing through night streets
emptied by curfews. She shares Gaza's early eu- phoria over the Oslo ne-
gotiations and its subse- quent despair as hope gives way to unrelenting
hardship. But even as Hass charts the griefs and humiliations of the Pal-
estinians, she offers a remarkable portrait of a people not brutalized
but eloquent, spiritually resil- ient, bleakly funny, and morally courageous.
Full of testimonies and stories, facts and impressions, Drinking the Sea
at Gaza makes an urgent claim on our humanity.
[Back to up]
Endangered Cultural Heritage sites in the
West Bank Governorates
Emergency Natural Resources Protection Plan
Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation
February 1999,
164 pages
Colored maps and pictures
The West Bank governorates have a multitude of cultural
monuments and internationally important archaeological sites due to Islam's
and Christianity's relationship with the region. After decades of Israeli
occupation and misuse of cultural resources, it has become paramount for
the Palestinian authority to initiate efforts for protection of both the
cultural sites and their environments. This book is a joint effort of the
Directorate for Urban and Rural Planning within the Ministry of Planning
and International Cooperation (MOPIC) and the Department of Antiquities
(Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities).
The book is divided into 3 main chapters:
an Introduction, historical context, and important cultural heritage sites
in Jerusalem, Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus, Ramallah-El Bireh, Jericho, Bethlehem,
and Hebron areas.
The report maintains that there are more than
6000 sites, most of them un-excavated, which can be found in the West Bank
and Gaza governorates representing a wide spectrum of historical cultures
in Palestine. The report briefly outlines the historical context of the
West Bank governorates, and a description of each of the historical sites
and cultural environments. These descriptions are divided into a description
of the environment of the site and its condition, a short summary of the
excavation history and a section on the history of the site itself.
The project supervisor, Dr. kamal Abdul Fattah,
is Chairman of History, Geography and Political Science Department at Birzeit
University, and is an authority on the History and Geography of Palestine.
For further information contact: Ahmad Hammad
Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation
(02) 2961860/1
Email: hammad@mopic.pna.net
http://www.planning.pna.net
Palestine and the Palestinians
Samih K. Farsoun with Christina E. Zacharia
Westview Press 1997
375 pages, with tables,
illustrations, glossary, and selected bibliography
US$ 28
available from: Bookshop at the American Colony
Telefax: (02) 6279731
email: usbooks@palnet.com
Following the historic Oslo Accords between
the PLO and Israel, the future status of the Palestinian population living
under Israeli occupation since 1967 has taken center stage. Effectively
negotiated out of the agreement is the right of return or of compensation
for almost four million Palestinians in exile. This book argues that because
these Accords formally sever the Palestinians' historical claims from the
present, it is crucial to understand the larger historical and ideological
context in which the claims arose. In this analysis, the authors examine
the social, economic, ideological, and political history of the Palestinian
people from antiquity to the present.
The book opens with an overview of Palestine's
place in regional and global history. Subsequent chapters discuss Palestinian
society before and after the catastrophic division of Palestine in 1948
and explore the forces and constraints affecting the formation of Palestinian
national identity, as embodied in popular institutions, the PLO, and resistance
movements. The final chapter considers the prospects for Palestinian self-determination
and statehood despite the limitations imposed by the Oslo Accords, as well
as Palestine's future viability.
Samih K. Farsoun is chair of the Department
of Sociology at the American University and is a member of the executive
committee of the Center for Policy Analysis of Palestine. Christina E.
Zacharia is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the American
University.
[Back to up]
Exile's Return: The Making of a Palestinian-American
Fawaz Turkiook of the week
New York, The Free Press (A division of Macmillan
Inc.), 1994
Hard cover,
274 pages
Available from: Bookshop at the American Colony
Telefax: (02) 6279731
Price: US$ 23
Palestinian writer, Fawaz Turki, was expelled
from Palestine in 1949 along with his family, and spent his boyhood in
the refugee camps of Beirut. As a young man living in Paris, where he became
active in the Palestinian nationalist movement, he met and married an American
and returned with her to the United States, only to be quickly caught up
in the currents of social protest and rebellion of the 60s - an experience
which had a powerfully transformative effect on him, though many years
would pass before he realized its actual extent. In "Exile's Return", Turki
tells the story of this personal and political odyssey in a highly evocative
mem- oir that interweaves scenes of his life as an exile with incidents
of his visit, after a forty-year absence, to the Israeli occupied West
Bank. Though he continued to think of himself as an exile, Turki writes,
during his years in the US he had unconsciously absorbed the liberal values
of American society. Now, like any ethnic American in search of his roots,
Turki returns to his birthplace wanting badly to identify with native Palestinians
of the home ground. But what he finds there is a pattern of com- plexity
beyond his expectation, one that leads to a defining moment of ultimate
self-revelation.
[Back to up]
Ya Kafi Ya Shafi
….
The Tawfik Canaan Collection of Palestinian
Amuletstion
Editor: Khaled an Nashef.
Constributors: Vera tamari Leila Mantoura
Wissam Abdullah Gisele Helmecke.
Birzeit University 1998 Tel. (02) 2982000
This book is a catalogue in Arabic and English
which accompanies the exhibition by the same name shown at Birzeit University
from October 30, 1998 until February 25, 1999.
The Tawfik Canaan collection of Palestinian
amulets was bequeathed to Birzeit University by members of the Canaan family
in 1995. The collection was protected and sheltered for decades since 1948
and only selected specimens, curated by Gisele Helmecke, were shown publicly
for the first time during that exhibition.
The Tawfik Canaan collection of Palestinian
Amulets is a testimony to the authenticity and evidence of the richness
of Palestinian heritage: the collection echoes a web of interrelated aspects
of folk beliefs and social customs. Dr. Canaan acquired the first amulet
in the year 1905 and the last one in 1947. It offers a complex scope of
narrative data, re-anchoring the fragmented glimpses of the past which
Palestinians have brutally lost, and thus shedding light on the issue of
identity and assertion of historical and political rights.
Vera Tamari writes in her introduction of
the book: " Amulets and talismans are in the minds of many people merely
as objects of superstition, fetishes that simple folk resorted to in solving
health ailments or as remedies for social or psychological problems. Dr.
Tawfik Canaan viewed the amulets differently; he probed and asked questions
related to their value as a source of knowledge in the interpretation of
the traditions and beliefs of his own people. His impressive collection
comprised almost 1400 amulets and other related objects."
[Back to up]
Bethlehem 2000 - Past and Present
Mitri Raheb and Fred Strickert
Photos: Garo Nalbandian
Heidelberg: Palmyra 1998
157 Pages
Hard cover, A4 size
Colored pictures, map of Bethlehem, useful
addresses and telephone numbers-
Bibliography -Foreword by Yasser Arafat
(sold at all major bookshops)
This book tries to describe the history and
culture, religion and political situation of Bethlehem in detail, as well
as the traditions and everyday life of the Palestinians. The book is well
illustrated with extensive and impressive photos of people and places in
Bethlehem and the region. As one of the most important places of pilgrimage
and tourism in the world, Bethlehem is an excellent subject for a book
that goes into the details of history and every day life of the city.
Consisting of 8 chapters, the book takes a
close look at the history of the city, important sites such as the Church
of the Nativity, Christianity in Bethlehem, Monasteries around Bethlehem,
Christian-Muslim coexistence, Economy, culture, and the political situation
in the city. " The text and photos give a uniquely full view of the town
and its people; the reader is taken on a trip to one of the most sacred
cities of human history. I am certain that this book will contribute to
promoting a dialogue between cultures and religions, a dialogue that is
a precondition for peace between the peoples of Israel and Palestine."
(From the foreword by Yasser Arafat.) Mitri
Raheb, born in 1962 in Bethlehem, studied theology in Germany. Today he
is the pastor of the Lutheran Church and director of the International
Center of Bethlehem. Fred Strickert, born in 1948, is professor of religion
at Wartburg College, Waverly (Iowa - USA). His special fields are New Testament
studies, biblical archaeology and Palestinian Christian Issues.
[Back to up]
Bethlehem 2000: a guide to Bethlehem
and its surroundings
Sawsan and Qustandi Shomali
Bethlehem 1997
144 pages (4" X 8")
pbk full color pictures and maps
Compiled and written by an Associate professor - Ph.D.
in communication and information - and his wife, this is the most extensive
and handy guide to the city of Bethlehem to be found today. Shomali, a
Palestinian expert on tourism in the Holy Land, tries in this guide to
provide a comprehensive presentation of Bethlehem and the surrounding areas.
In addition to historic information, the guide provides
an inside look on Palestinian and specifically Bethlehemite traditions.
It even contains old family pictures of Bethlehem families. The elaborate
full color and black and white pictures and illustrations provide an insight
into the city of Bethlehem with its multitude of historic, popular, architectural,
and religious traditions. The author does not forget to include a lot of
useful information on how to reach the city, useful phone numbers, hotel
and restaurant and souvenir shop listings, suggested Palestinian meals,
libraries, Christian schools and organizations, and a bibliography. The
inside cover portrays a map of Palestine and a map of Bethlehem, making
this guide all you need to find your way through the famous "little town
of Bethlehem".
[Back to up]
A Man and His Camera: Hanna Safieh
Photographs of Palestine
1927-1967
102 pages
Black and White Pictures
Forward by Salim Tamari
Introduction by Issam Nassar
Publisher: Raffi Safieh 1999
His pictures illustrate numerous history books
about "The most turbulent period of Palestinian history in this century"
as Salim Tamari calls it in his forward. Yet, Hanna Safieh's legacy remained
dispersed until his son, Raffi Safieh, decided to select some of his most
important photographs to be published in a book dedicated to his memory.
Ninety five photo-graphs depicting life in Palestine in the nineteen thirties,
forties and fifties, including portraits, historical events, religious
ceremonies, landscapes, and folkloric traditions, all are beautifully recorded
in these exquisite black and white chronicles of history.
"Born to a Palestinian Arab family from Jerusalem
in 1910, Hanna Safieh was one of the early local photographers of Palestine.
Born during the time when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, he
subsequently saw it fall under British rule, Jordanian rule, and Israeli
occupation. In the context of local Arab photography in Palestine, Safieh
is a unique and pioneering figure." What set him apart from his contemporaries
who focussed on portraits and traditional wedding pictures was that Safieh
worked on what could be called "landscape and ethnographic photography."
As Issam Nassar states in his introduction, this book offers us "a unique
opportunity to get to know the work of an important artist, to honor his
memory, and to celebrate his work."
[Back to up]
Palestine: The Holy Land
PECDAR 1999
The Palestinian National Authority
130 pages full color with pictures and Glossary of terms
Price: NIS 50
For orders: The Technical Assistance and training department
PECDAR Tel: (02) 2362366, 2362370
A stunning reproduction in full color of Palestine: its
culture, history, and current attractions, "Palestine the Holy Land" is
an extremely informative book containing various maps of Palestine, information
on the main cities, historic sites, and tourist attractions (including
the Casino). Palestinian culture is presented through poetry, music, proverbs,
handicrafts, books, cuisine. A full page is dedicated to the Arabic alphabet.
The book also contains useful phone numbers and tips for tourists and visitors.
An indispensable book for any visitor who wants to get an immediate feel
for the country, its people, history, and culture.
[Back to up]
An Atlas of Palestine (The West Bank and Gaza)
Applied Research Institute Jerusalem 2000
210 pages Hard Cover 33 X 24 cms
Full color maps and illustrations
Price: $ 30 for individuals and $ 40 for institutions
Available from: ARIJ
P.O.Box 860 Caritas Street
Bethlehem Palestine
Tel. +972 (or 970) 2 2741889
Fax: +972 (or 970) 2 2776966
Dedicated to the Palestinian people with a pie chart showing
Palestinian Population worldwide in 1998 this project is the first of its
kind to be produced by Palestinians. Described by Ahmad Qrei' Speaker of
the Palestinian Legislative Council in his introduction as " another building
block towards Palestinian statehood" this Atlas was a cumulative effort
based on a number of research projects and surveys. The result of five-years
of dedicated work on the part of the ARIJ team of e perts it was hoped
that the Atlas will come out after the completion of the final status negotiations.
However as this was not the case "the Atlas was produced according to the
current status of the peace process " as the project leader Dr. Jad Isaac
states in his introduction . He goes on to add; "This Atlas does however
contain a couple of blank pages which will be filled when the boundaries
of Israel and Palestine have been delineated in the final status negotiations."
The Atlas consists of 6 Chapters: The first on History
and Politics containing historical maps and in-formation dating back to
3000 BC until the January 5th 2000 Sharm Esh Sheikh Memorandum (Phase 2).
Chapter 2 presents the Socioeconomic conditions with charts and maps portraying
important socioeconomic statistics on the Palestinian population and Israeli
colonies in Palestine. Chapter 3 moves into the Physical Characteristics
of the land with Topographic maps and chapter four presents the Water Resources
with maps of Water sources Groundwater basins and Wells . Chapter 5 highlights
land use with maps of Industrial zones road networks dumping sites forests
and nature reserves and immigration routes of different bird species amongst
others. Chapter si ends the Atlas
with a closer look on the main Palestinian cities past
and present with comparative aerial views of these cities in the beginning
of this century and in the mid and late nineties.
This publication is truly an indispensable resource for
"those who wish to add to their knowledge and understanding of Palestine
as well as for those who are able to appreciate the dedication with which
this publication was produced."
[Back to up]
Amin Nasser: Complete Musical Works 1999
476 pages
NIS 80
Born in Ramleh in 935, Amin Nasser is one of the pioneers
of music education in both Jordan and Palestine. Beginning his studies
at Birzeit College (currently Birzeit University), he continued his higher
education in Austria and Germany. He started his music career in Jordan
through taking part in the establishment of the Jordanian Music Conservatory
which he became head of for a few years, after which he returned to Ramallah
and assisted in establishing the Palestinian National Music Conservatory
which he also headed for a couple of years. Currently, he is coordinator
of the music program at Birzeit University.
Dedicated to his cousin, martyr poet Kamal Nasser, this
book compiles the author's compositions since 95 , already when he was
still a high school student. As Rima Nasir Tarazi describes in her introduction,
"Amin's compositions fall into three categories or genres: The national
anthems, the art songs, and the classical compositions for the piano."
Growing up in a family with deep national commitments, witnessing the horrors
of the 948 war and exodus, and the tragic assassination of his cousin Kamal
Nasser, Amin Nasser's music reflects his commitment to the aspirations
of his people for a free homeland. " Many times in his life," comments
Rima Tarazi, " Amin finds himself succumbing to long periods of despair
and the inability to compose… Yet hope lures him on, and once in a while
Amin goes back to the national anthem, his favorite musical form." Thirteen
national anthems, 7 art songs, and 9 piano pieces constitute this book
of 476 pages which is a unique contribution to the Palestinian tradition
of composition which remains for the most part undocumented.
|
|
