Cultural Intifada

I think I previously mentioned Dam Rap, a Palestinian group from Lod. They are here again singing (protesting?) against the continuous discrimination they face as Arab citizens of Israel.We, Arabs of Palestine, whether Israeli citizens or not, have similar claims against the injustice and discrimination of the State of Israel which of course favours Jews over anyone else.Unfortunately, we do not have a political leadership, none of our politicians is competent enough to raise our claims in their true sense, the official Palestinian leadership, in its efforts to achieve an independent state of its own, is really oblivious to the threat of continued discrimination that such a state would entail against all segments of the Palestinian people.Several groups of disenchanted youths are springing up against this whether through music, films, photography or other cultural activities, they are trying to express what we all feel, each in what they do best. This is creating a core group of dissidents, not necessarily against A state (which is only one protagonist in this conflict) but also against our own society, and our own political leadership. The passiveness and even oppressiveness that our society practices agaisnt its youths is a major factor in maintaining the current injustices.What is needed is to disseminate the outputs of these youths, to bring what they say to every house, whether Arab or Jewish. Then we need to build a movement around the claims these groups are presenting, which are in fact, our own claims that we have held for long inside us. Maybe one day this form of cultural protest would materialise in a movement that is strong enough to demand, and achieve, the justice and equality that we have always dreamt of.The politics of Palestine/Israel has for long been played as a zero sum game. It does not necessarily have to be so, by changing the rules of the game, you can reach a situation where everybody can when. This, of course, can only be done when everyone realises that for you to gain, others should not lose. Therefore the rules of the new game should be based on the equal perceptions of the needs of every part of this large mess we call Palestine/Israel.If we can move this cultural movement from a sporadic set of separated events and people to a united group working towards one goal, we can then achieve this and build around it. The cultural production of these groups can inspire the millions who await so eagerly for the day the bloodshed would end.