Social and Cultural Mobilization for the Protection of Artists

Written by Dina Salem

The subject of the artists’ rights is one that takes on new meanings when posed within the context of Palestine, and was the topic of discussion in a panel discussion titled “Social and Cultural Mobilization for the Protection of Artists”. The panel, which featured prominent members of the music scene like Ahmed Eid and Maysa Daw, alongside Habib Achour, took place as part of The Palestine Music Conference (PMC), a two-day conference organized by Jafra Productions 

Palestine’s particular social and political context imposes varying legal frameworks and degrees of creative accessibility and freedom of movement and expression. This is a direct result of the colonial system that is imposed on every Palestinian by Israel, and as such artists in the West Bank experience an entirely different social landscape and degree of freedom than their counterparts in Jerusalem and the occupied 48 cities. In 2022, for instance, Israeli police attempted to shut down a performance by Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar, claiming that his lyrics is inciting against the police and state of Israel. 

The disconnect is even more pronounced when it comes to visa and entry or exit permit restrictions, as in the case of Haifa-born singer, songwriter, rapper, and musician Maysa Daw, who like many artists from the occupied 48 cities, spoke about her inability to travel to and perform in neighboring Arab countries like Algeria and Lebanon by virtue of holding an Israeli passport. The enforced geographical and cultural separation means that Palestinian musicians’ capacity to create, perform, and live off their music hinges on support and exposure through existing local institutions, which are already very limited.

In the absence of a local collective model, the rights of artists generally and musicians more specifically become precarious and virtually unprotected in Palestine and on a global scale. “We need collective management organizations to push leaders and colleagues to provide better protection in the music industry,” said Habib Achour, Director of International Development at Sacem, a Collective Management Organization (CMO) based in France, “In the 19th century, artists in France began to understand that music is a business. It is serving other industries,” he said, further describing how the emergence of an industry around music brought on the need for CMOs to guarantee and protect and facilitate the rights of musicians. 

AFP/Lionel Bonaventure

Currently, in Palestine, there are no established CMOs and Palestinian artists can only rely on existing collectives like Sacem. “There are 22 collective organizations in France, there should be one here in Palestine,” Achour added. Copyrights, distribution rights, and freedom of expression are not only unregulated but are seldom a choice for artists, such that Palestinian musicians often just resort to global digital platforms like Spotify and YouTube to make their music heard and to collect royalties. 

While the international funding model allows most Palestinian artists to receive the needed resources and financial support, artists more often than not still in a position of self-management, performing tasks that would usually be run by a team all on their own, which often derails them from engaging in their own creative process. As Daw noted, “Musicians usually have a whole team behind them, marketing, visual identity, branding, and so on. Artists in Palestine don't have that luxury and have to handle everything alone which takes away from their capacity to produce music.” 

Combined with a lack of infrastructure in Palestine, artists have little to call an industry. “We need labels, production houses, and other professions to provide a basis for artists to produce, and to make it easier for them to start,” said Ahmed Eid, musician, and co-founder of the internationally renowned band Bukahara, highlighting the need for local community spaces as well as an industry. 

In 2022, Eid founded and curated “Palestine Music Space,” a project that provides intensive training for new or emerging bands and musicians free of charge, with an emphasis on non-traditional and non-classical genres of music.“I began to create bands and to study their identity and their needs and I helped them in writing music, performing, and publishing. This is in the effort to create an alternative music scene in Palestine,” he said. 

Ahmed Eid Photo by Tokpa Korlo

Eid’s project runs under the Ramallah Municipality Artists’ Studio residency program that offers him a studio space in the heart of Ramallah Tahta, a neighborhood that houses the city’s most vibrant cultural sites. The aim was to fill a very obvious gap in the music teaching model, by offering workshops and live concert opportunities for musicians who would otherwise rely on self-teaching methods instead, and to do so through the existing community. “We can create safe and independent spaces here in Palestine, not just by seeking external sources and funding. Grassroots art spaces that have the least amount of bureaucracy, that just allows artists to create their identity and explore their practice,” said Eid. 

Local organizations like Al Kamandjâti and The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music offer teaching programs for classical music, yet spaces for experimental and alternative genres of music are virtually nonexistent. What is termed “alternative” music, usually encompasses genres like electronic, hip hop, and jazz for example, and it's in their departure from their more classical counterparts that many Palestinian artists try to voice their political and social critiques. Without a doubt, that proves to be a challenge, with concerns over censorship and growing an audience within Palestine. As a result, Palestinian artists and musicians often find it easier to perform outside of Palestine. As Daw put it, “It is important to provide support to music that we don’t understand. Unfortunately, now the support is directed towards a particular style and genre of music, and I think it important to allow artists to make whatever music they want to make, not just what we think they should be making.” 

Daw, who is a member of the Palestinian hip-hop band DAM, also pointed towards the gendered element that female artists have to navigate, especially when speaking back to their local communities. “We live in a society where difference is rarely accepted. Artists here have a responsibility to develop and push for alternative viewpoints. Of course, there are different ways to do this. The task of the artist is to find those means to propose those topics like women’s rights in a way that provides space for the audience to think about it,” she said in a concluding statement. 

From the varying and dissonant social and legal frameworks, and the political restrictions on movement, to the absence of CMOs and other models of protection, Palestinian artists are without a doubt forced to grapple with questions surroundig their precarious rights and limited avenues for creative expression. The absence of local infrastructure, coupled with the scarcity of spaces dedicated to “alternative” music, highlights the need for local grassroots initiative like that of Eid, where artists can benefit from an open, unconditional and sustainable space that welcomes all types of music.