Cultural resistance in occupied Palestine and the use of creative international solidarity through song

Abstract

Protest song has been an important component of grassroots political struggles, and the Palestinian resistance to Zionist settler colonisation is no exception. This paper draws on original research with activists in the Palestinian Popular Resistance on the impact of song during the first intifada (1987 to 1993) and more recently in the opposition to the segregation wall and accelerated colonisation of the West Bank. The significance of international solidarity to the Palestinian struggle is noted, and the role of protest song in international solidarity is explored. The activities of Edinburgh based community choir San Ghanny in using song as an expression of solidarity with the Palestinian popular anti-colonial struggle is analysed. Protest song is a globally recognisable form which can help to build connections with social movements in different parts of the world and in different periods of history, which is both rooted in individual places and struggles, and also transcends these at the level of global solidarity.