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The Appropriation of Palestinian Culture

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Cultural Appropriation

Even before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionists and Israeli propaganda have been depicting Palestinians as people “without culture”. Indeed, the Israeli state took upon itself to civilise the Palestinians who remained inside the 1948 war borders. Hence, they forbid these latter to study their own culture or to remember their immediate past: their memory was considered as a dangerous weapon that had to be suppressed and controlled.

Culture is essential for the survival of a group of people identifying as one and essential to being seen as a distinctive (political) entity. When a group appropriates the culture of another group it threatens the cultural and political survival of this group. The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature defines cultural appropriation as “the taking over of creative or artistic forms, themes, or practices by one cultural group from another. It is in general used to describe Western appropriations of non‐Western or non‐white forms, and carries connotations of exploitation and dominance.” James O. Young subdivides cultural appropriation into three groups: Subject appropriation - “when an outsider makes the culture of insiders the subject of a painting, story, film, or other work of art”, Content appropriation - when an outsider “uses the cultural products of another culture in the production of his or her own art” and Object appropriation - when an object (archaeological, artistic) is no longer in the possession of the cultural group, but in the possession of outsiders. Palestinian culture is appropriated in all the aforementioned ways, however, in this blog post, we will focus on Content appropriation  (specifically Food, Fashion and Language) conducted against Palestine by the state of Israel and other Israeli actors.

Israel systematically appropriates Palestinian culture. In systematic cultural appropriation, one nation systematically uses and claims elements of the whole culture of another group. They present the cultural heritage as their own and by appropriating the other's culture they work towards destroying the other group's cultural identity. When you steal aspects of the culture of a group it sends the message that you do not acknowledge its existence. Palestinians were physically forced out of their lands since the first settlers came to Palestine. They used Palestinian culture, claimed it as their own and tried to erase all forms of Palestinian presence. In the next paragraphs, we will discuss the cultural appropriation of Palestine in the light of fashion, food culture and language.

Palestinian meal with hummus, shakshuka, falafel, salad and vegetables.

Palestinian meal with hummus, shakshuka, falafel, salad and vegetables.

Food Culture

Food plays a major role in Palestinian culture. Dishes such as musaqa'a (an oven dish of meat and or different vegetables in tomato sauce) are part of the food culture of many Middle Eastern countries but with each country having its own interpretations (Here you can find the Palestinian interpretation). This means that the precise origins are often unknown, however, a general consensus exists in which it is believed that Palestinian food culture forms the source for Israeli dishes, such as hummus.

Dishes with a Palestinian source are nowadays often presented as national Israeli food. Ronald Ranta and Yonatan Mendel show in their research how the first Israeli settlers were influenced by Palestinian food culture and how they de-Palestinised the food. Early Israeli cookbooks show Palestinian dishes but present them as either Israeli or Jewish Mizrahi (Jews from the Middle East and Africa). Palestinian food was used by the settlers to construct a new national identity for the "New Jews". Many of the settlers came from Eastern Europe and it was seen important for them to adopt the Mediterranean lifestyle and “return” to the land not only physically but culturally as well. An example of such a dish is 'the Israeli breakfast', often presented with pride and as 'the best in the world'. They praise their breakfast for having many different elements including fresh fruit and vegetables, yoghurts, bread and shakshuka. This type of breakfast comes from the breakfast eaten in the Kibbutz, however, this breakfast was inspired by the local Palestinian community. The Palestinians still have the same kind of breakfast with the same elements but Israel claims to have the best and unique kind of breakfast. 

Today many Palestinian dishes/interpretations are known in the West as Israeli food, however, Palestinian cooks try to reclaim their food and make people aware of its Palestinian roots. Two of those chefs are the Palestinian-British chef Joudi Kalla and the Palestinian-French chef Rania Talala. Joudi Kalla has written two Palestinian cookbooks and offers online classes while Rania Talala just opened a Palestinian restaurant in Paris.

Garment and Fashion

Palestinian woman embroiding a tradition garment

Palestinian woman embroiding a tradition garment

Even though fashion can be considered as a minor issue in such a situation, the brand Nöl collective highlights the importance of it and how it can be also political : “we believe that fashion is intricately connected to the political, social, & economic frameworks which shape our lives, particularly the lives of those who make our clothes.” The most well-known elements of Palestinian fashion are the keffieh (كوفية) and the embroidery design. Palestinian embroidery has its unique techniques - cross-stitch, Tahriri-stitchmanajel (connecting stitch), tashreem (patchwork), and jadleh (hemming stitch), also each Palestinian city has its own designs and patterns, which makes this form of art very unique and diverse at the same time. The keffieh, initally used by Bedouins to protect them from sun and sand became a political symbol when Palestinian wore it during revolts in 1936 againts the British.

Language

Special plaque, Pater Noster Church, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem

Special plaque, Pater Noster Church, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem

Stealing and appropriating a culture is a modern colonial-settler states’ typical characteristic. Indeed, the Israeli state draws its success once the indigenous population in question has been eliminated, dispossessed or defeated. Simply put, what cannot be absorbed within Zionist mythology must be eradicated.   

It was, for example, the case with Palestinian literature in 1948 when the newly created Israeli State walked away with records of Palestinian history: it looted around 70,000 books. This “conservation”, in their own term, labelled “AP” on the stolen books for “Abandoned Property” has not ended to this day and is, in reality, common practice of Israeli occupation forces. (strengthening the Palestinian tragedy of 1948 and deconstructing the (moralistic-heroic) Israeli narrative)

Additionally, language eradication is also part of Zionists’ agenda to erase Palestinian culture. Indeed, Jews appropriate prestigious languages of dominant non-Jewish culture such as Arabic in Islamic lands. In fact, Hebrew is made to look more ancient than it actually is. For example, scholars tend to use square Hebrew to transcribe ancient languages and hyphenate languages: “Hebrew-Aramaic” and always place “Hebrew'' first. The Zionists’ appropriative trend does not stop there to magnify Hebrew’s importance. For example, on a special stone plaque at the Pater Noster Church on the Mount of Olives, in East Jerusalem, Hebrew and Aramaic are intentionally placed next to each other to show that both scripts look the same. But, highlighting script similarities does not necessarily mean that Hebrew was ever a spoken language or that the same script means the same sound. 

Preserving Palestinian Culture

The appropriation of the Palestinian culture by Israel is not part of the mainstream media discourse whereas culture by itself constitutes the core essence of every people’s survival. Israel uses cultural appropriation in its Zionist project, namely the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. However, Palestinians continue to resist Israel's efforts and preserve their culture. 

Even though Israel chooses to deny Palestinians culture, everyone can make the personal choice to celebrate it.

Resources

Cultural appropriation

Palestine food culture and its appropriation

Palestinian garment and fashion

The appropriation of language

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