Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance, Louis Brehony

Dammi Falastini' ('My Blood is Palestinian') was removed from the Spotify streaming service.While no clear reason was provided for the removal, the incident raised suspicions of suppression of pro-Palestinian content (Aladam 2023).After the harsh escalation of hostilities in Gaza after the attacks of 7 October 2024, 'Ana Dammi Falastini' became an international rallying cry, featured in videos posted on Instagram and TikTok.With its driving beat and mijwiz-and-strings instrumentation, the song became a potent sonic symbol of resistance.Assaf, who in 2013 became the first Palestinian artist to win the Arab Idol singing competition, provides a current example of the centrality of music to the Palestinian liberation struggle.His story is touched upon briefly in Louis Brehony's Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance.The result of 10 years of ethnographic research, Brehony's book is a towering achievement, and essential reading that provides context and texture to current world events.When discussing Palestinian creative culture post-1948, the saying 'existence is resistance' is axiomatic.In the face of occupation, violence, and active attempts at cultural erasure, Palestinian publics between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea-as well as those dispersed around the globe-use expressions of Palestinian culture as a potent method of asserting their existence.With increased global attention on Palestinian identity, cultural expressions such as dabke dancing, tatriz embroidery and the wearing of the kufiyah scarf have all taken on increased visibility.Palestinian music, in particular, provides the resistance's beating heart.In his book, Brehony weaves an incisive argument about the centrality of steadfastnesssumud in Arabic-as a form of grassroots critique.Musicians, Brehony argues, serve at the vanguard of collective self-organizing in the Palestinian liberation struggle.Forged in the crucible of repression and displacement, composers and performers simultaneously inspire and are inspired by revolutionary organizing.'In times of historic strife, cultural movement and political criticism are driven from below', Brehony writes, adding that 'music and politics always coexist and frequently coalesce' (p. 7).