BETWEEN THE LOCAL , THE GLOBAL , AND THE AID ECONOMY IN PALESTINE
tend to focus on top-down analysis and overlook Palestinian agency . The Ma ‘ had ’ s negotiations with the LPA over the Christmas Concert were a moment of local cultural resistance . Insisting on a single concert in Bethlehem entailed potential risk , as some of the Ma ‘ ahad ’ s administrators worried it could jeopardize donors ’ funding needed to complete the new conservatory building in Beit Sahour . But Suhail backed Michele on the need to follow BDS guidelines and for the Ma ‘ had to stand its ground . Considering the dependency of Palestinian cultural institutions on the aid economy , this was a defiant stance . The story of the Christmas Concert for Life and Peace shows that while Palestinian music education institutions have benefited tremendously from foreign investment , they are also intent on setting their own agendas . Music conservatories follow and domesticate donors ’ discourses and standards selectively and aim to advance local positions . And their disposition towards the occupation is not a politics of accommodation , but of resistance . While Palestinian music institutions cannot contest Israel ’ s sheer material power , they do contest its moral legitimacy through cultural production , both locally and globally . They also advocate for Palestinian narratives internationally , pressure donors to take a moral stand , and contribute to new formations of nation-making and cultural resistance in Palestine .
The Christmas Concert for Life and Peace : from ‘ music for peace ’ to ‘ music for liberation ’
At the basis of the negotiations taking place between the Ma ‘ had and the LPA prior to the concert was a clash of opposing conceptual frames —“ music for peace ” and “ music as resistance .” In such a high-profile event , this process was bound to become fraught with tensions . The Ma ‘ had was transparently advancing Palestinian cultural resistance ethics and strategies , using the event to promote itself and to voice “ Palestine ,” musically and politically , locally and abroad . The LPA ’ s position retained irreconcilable ambiguities . On the one hand , the LPA presented the new format of the Christmas concert to the Ma ‘ had as a gesture of solidarity with Palestinians that followed the Palestinian Statehood ’ s United Nations ( UN ) bid ( September 23 , 2011 ) and Palestine ’ s admission to UNESCO ( October 31 , 2011 ). 10 On the other hand , the LPA remained invested in the “ music for peace ” ethos . Maintaining this ambiguity was a means of trying to mediate between irreconcilable ideologies . It also enabled the LPA to avoid taking a moral and political stand in a highly contested terrain of cultural production .
The LPA had greatly benefitted from participating in the peace economy for the past decade . This engagement enabled the NGO to raise considerable funds and to build numerous alliances with the Bethlehem municipality , the church custodians of the Holy Land , and Italy ’ s entertainment industry and political apparatus . The Italian sponsors listed in the concert program included Italy ’ s Cabinet , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ,
13