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National songwriter Naomi Shemer and her lyrics represent the essence of Israeli experience - a mixture of racism, self-justification, and a lack of sensitivity - claimed MK Azmi Bishara (Balad) in his weekly column in Al Ahram.
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08/05
Al-Ahram Weekly |
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| By Ellis Shuman August 8, 2004 |
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National songwriter Naomi Shemer and her lyrics represent the essence of Israeli experience - a mixture of racism, self-justification, and a lack of sensitivity - claimed MK Azmi Bishara (Balad) in his weekly column in Al Ahram. "Bishara is not worthy of relating to the late Naomi Shemer and her songs," MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) said in response. MK Yuli Tamir (Labor) said Bishara was correct that Israelis are blind to the concerns of the country's Arabs.
In his weekly article, published in English, Bishara related to Shemer's "racist thoughts" when composing lyrics like those in her famous Jerusalem of Gold anthem: 'The markets of old Jerusalem are deserted' and 'We no longer see women on their way to the Dead Sea.'
In a society where sing-alongs and collective singing "are more than a common form of entertainment," Bishara claimed that "schmaltzy group feeling becomes justification for the most flagrantly racist remarks." Bishara explained that the "entire Israeli national secular consensus was in attendance" at a recent memorial concert for Shemer, and "they all share a love for patriotic songs: songs to national unity in the face of the Arabs, songs to the Zionist past, the songs of Naomi inspired by the nationalist hue of the Zionist Labor Party and middle class consumer trends, songs to a wall between them and the Arabs."
"If the words to Naomi's songs and the way they are celebrated tell us anything it is that the wall was built in the hearts and minds of the Israeli people long before it was built on the ground. The wall is there," Bishara wrote.
Bishara explains his outlook as a Christian Arab Israeli who has not been invited to participate in the singing: "What is important is to preserve the Jewishness of the state, to preserve the sense of nationhood built around a dream that began with the first Zionist pioneers a century ago and eventually came true, and even to preserve the dream of 'Greater Israel,' even if this remains no more than a dream and a patriotic song."
Bishara's article was sharply attacked by right-wing politicians. "Azmi Bishara is not worthy of relating to the late Naomi Shemer and her songs," MK Sa'ar said, quoted in Yediot Aharonot. Sa'ar attacked Bishara for the "grading of Israeli democracy by someone who served as a carpet at the feet of Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad and ran about with the leaders of terror groups."
"In a cover of academic theory, this man expresses his intentions to destroy us," charged MK Gilad Erdan.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said Bishara's "Nazi-like propaganda attaches a label of racism on everything nationalistic or Jewish in Israel, including the Hatikvah national anthem, the Israeli flag, the Declaration of Independence and of course, the songs of Naomi Shemer."
Bishara's commentary found an unexpected supporter in MK Tamir, Yediot Aharonot reported. "There is something in his claim that Israeli society has developed a blindness towards Arabs, and towards those distant from us. Israeli society sings, so as not to see, I agree. But it is more serious than Bishara claims. Israelis don't even see those different within the society. A total sense of egoism is covered up by hugs and collective singing," she said.
Bishara's parliamentary immunity was lifted and he went on trial after making comments in Israel and Syria in 2001 praising the Hizbullah and encouraging Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation. Bishara has claimed that though he supports the Palestinians' legitimate right to overthrow Israeli "occupation" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, he has never suggested the use of force.
Songwriter Naomi Shemer, composer of the 1967 Six Day War anthem "Jerusalem of Gold," died at the age of 73 in June. "Naomi has left us an immortal legacy of Hebrew works on which many generations of Israelis will be raised," Education Minister Limor Livnat said. "The kingdom of Hebrew song has today lost its queen."
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