ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Introduction
Sitting by the fireplace of Bethlehem ’ s Casa Nova hotel ’ s lounge-lobby , Michele , the academic director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music ( ESNCM ), explained the conservatory ’ s refusal to take part in previous editions of the annual Christmas Concert for Life and Peace to the Italian television channel production team here to record the 2011 concert for broadcast . “ I ’ m against calling it a conflict . Conflict implies even opponents , not a cruel occupation ,” Michele declared .
The Christmas Concert for Life and Peace was an annual event produced by the Italian non-governmental organization ( NGO ) Life and Peace Association ( LPA ) beginning in 2000 and was presented as a cultural enactment of Jewish-Israeli , Palestinian , and international hopes for regional peace . Historically , the event included two performances by an Italian orchestra , one held at Bethlehem ’ s Nativity Church and the other at Binyanei ha-Uma ( The Nations ’ Buildings ) in the predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem , then aired as single broadcast on Christmas day via Italy ’ s national RAI channel and other stations in Europe . For Michele and the ESNCM , this dual format perfectly illustrated the problematic essence of what is often termed normalization ( taṭbīʽ ). In the Palestinian-Israeli context , normalization is equated with building relationships between two sides possessing different powers , in which the weaker side finds itself acting in the service of power ( Salem , 2005 ). From the ESNCM ’ s point of view , the LPA — by advocating peace and dialogue in the highly unequal circumstances in which Palestinians living under military occupation in Bethlehem are not even permitted to enter Jerusalem — was whitewashing the violence of the occupation , or normalizing the ethical abnormal . Michele was paraphrasing the discourse of the Boycott , Divestment , Sanctions ( BDS ) movement and its cultural arm , the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel ( PACBI ). The ESNCM ’ s position speaks to local cultural institutions ’ role in supporting and disseminating the ethics of BDS — which has become an important global player in the Israeli-Palestinian battle over narratives and international legitimization . 1
In 2011 , the LPA accepted the ESNCM ’ s conditions for the conservatory ’ s participation : a single concert in Bethlehem with a cultural focus on Palestine rather than a dual performance format . For the 11 th edition of the Christmas Concert , the Association would , for the first time , produce a concert in Bethlehem with the Palestine Youth Orchestra ( PYO )— a national institution founded by the ESNCM — providing the orchestral base for both Palestinian and Italian guest soloists . 2 The LPA agreed to the ESNCM ’ s terms , but insisted the concert was to retain the title of previous years : the Christmas Concert for Life and Peace , a title the ESNCM accepted .
The ESNCM ’ s negotiations with the LPA for this eventuality — and the tensions occurring throughout the concert production — reveal the machinations of a broader field of power dynamics , interests and agendas characteristic of the political economy in post- Oslo-era Palestine , and the roles that cultural productions take on within this field . The rapid development of contemporary cultural production and cultural institutions
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