Theatre was also part of this cultural ferment and was performed in Haifa’s Orthodox, Catholic and Islamic Clubs as well as those of other cities in Palestine. Thanks to the radio station, important musicians like Yahya al-Libabidi (1900–1941), who ran the Arabic music division of Radio Palestine, Rawhi al-Khammash (1923–1998), Mohamed Ghazi (1922–1979), Yahya al-Saudi (1905–1965) and Riad al-Bandak (1924–1992) became well known. Among its Palestinians pioneers were Augustin Lama (1901–1988), born in Ramleh to a family from Bethlehem, and his students Salvador Arnita (1914–1984), a native of Jerusalem and the last music director of the YMCA, and Yousef Khasho (1927–1996), who was born in Jerusalem and at a very young age played the organ for the Choir of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Western music, particularly classical music, was introduced with the missionary schools and religious institutions. This was the role undertaken by the Palestine Broadcasting Service Footnote 8 and its Arabic programming, Iza’at al Quds, established in 1936 by the Mandate authorities and reflecting the cultural side of a large space which went beyond Palestine: “Palestine was clearly an important passageway for musicians travelling between Egypt and the Levant they held concerts in Jerusalem, Jaffa, and other Palestinian cities and influenced musicians in those regions.” Footnote 9 The memoirs of Wasif Jawhariyyeh (1897–1973), a native of Jerusalem, provide us with a vibrant account of the city of Jerusalem as it underwent a process of modernisation, Footnote 10 as well as of his own musical practice. The Palestinian oral cultural repertoire (music, dance, poetry) was rich and the establishment of an Arabic Radio programme became an important tool for its diffusion and modernisation. Footnote 7 Between 19, Jaffa was under the administration of Yusuf Haykal (1907–1989), a leading intellectual who tried to perpetuate this Palestinian space within a framework of modernisation planning and competition with the recently established Jewish city of Tel Aviv. ![]() Footnote 6 The Apollo and the Nabil were the scenes of other types of cultural evenings (cinema, theatre, music…). Footnote 5 The Al-Hamra also hosted famous Arab singers such as Farid el-Atrash and Leila Mourad. It is well known that in 1935 Umm Kulthum attracted audiences from all corners of Palestine for her historical concert at the al-Hamra (Alhambra) Theatre in Jaffa. ![]() Footnote 3 The first cinema, The Oracle, was inaugurated in Jerusalem in 1908 by Egyptians, Footnote 4 and music as well as theatre had their own spaces. Footnote 2 Her name and work stand out alongside those of other photographers such as Fadil Saba (1901–1988) of Nazareth, Khalīl Raad (1891–1948) of Jerusalem and Issa Sawabini and Daoud Sabonji of Jaffa, names considered to be those of the founders of local photography. ![]() ![]() A native of Nazareth, as early as the 1920s Abbud captured families, mostly women and children, weddings and ceremonies in places such as Haifa, Nazareth and Bethlehem, and archaeological sites. In her documentary Looking for Zion, Footnote 1 the Israeli filmmaker Tamara Erde includes the photo studio of Karimeh Abbud (1896–1955), the first female photographer in Palestine and the wider region, who signed her work as a “Lady-Photographer”. It is quite common nowadays to read articles or gaze at photographs representing a vibrant Palestinian cultural life before the destruction of historical Palestine in 1948 referred to as Nakba (Arabic for “Catastrophe”).
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