Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, which is a U.S. Gov't cocnern. My friend Bob Feldman writes:
"If you do an advanced search on the Smithsonian music site by 'country,' you'll find that for 'Palestine Territory' there apparently are just 5 albums being distributed, while for 'Israel' there are 51 albums being distributed, including an album containing songs from the IDF."
Feldman notes, "What you might also notice about the Smithsonian music site is that under its genre category, 'Judaica', the Smithsonian appears to be still distributing many more albums that appear to have been made from a pro-Zionist historical perspective (including one that appears to present Theodore Herzl in a positive way, etc.). (Links: Four pages of albums, under Judaica, most of them seemingly Zionist songs. Reenactment of Herzl's Diaries.)
If there’s any truth to this very disturbing report, the coming methane disaster from the BP oil spill will push all other problems to the, ahem, back-burner
Article here
Interesting that one of the Israeli-themed albums is “Jerusalem of Gold,” performed by “Margalit Ankory and the Feenjon Group.” This song, which became the unofficial anthem of the 1967 war, is extraordinarily beautiful. The melody is also stolen–from a Basque lullaby–according to its ostensible composer, Naomi Shemir (she add the great sharped note at the end of the first phrase, I think). Kind of like “The Hatikvah,” stolen, ultimately, from a seventeenth-century Italian song, or “Dixie,” probably composed by blacks.
Reminds me of an old joke:
Q: What’s “Israeli food?”
A: When you go into an Arab restaurant and say to the waiter, “I’ll have what he’s having. No, I literally want what he’s having. Bring it now.”
Apparently land is not the only item stolen
And if you look carefully you’ll see that one of the five “Palestinian” records — “Folk Music of Palestine” (1951) — is apparently a collection mostly of music by Mizrahi Jews living in Palestine (although the three penultimate tracks seem to be of Islamic-themed music).
… although I have to say it’s pretty fucking cool that you can get the “Palestine Lives!” CD from the Smithsonian. It’s more or less an underground classic (I got my copy a few years back from Rashid Music on Cort Street in Brooklyn, by far the best Arabic music shop in the area). It’s a collection of anthems, poetry and interviews that was put together in the early 70s by the PLO’s cultural offices. I’d recommend everyone go out and buy it…
oh please.
I screwed up the blockquote. Let me try that rant again
oh please.
Technically true, but not particularly relevant for the complaint here.
Smithsonian took over the Folkways catalog after Moses Asch (son of Yiddish writer Sholem Asch) died, and a good use of government money, I should say, since they have continued Asch’s policy of never letting any Folkways recording go out of print. Smithsonian Folkways is a national treasure.
It’s not surprising that there are recording sympathetic to Israel and Labor Zionism, considering the general view of the left at that time, and the Jewish left. But like I said, everything Folkways ever recorded is always for sale. It’s reasonable to criticize Folkways for the overall imbalance, and lack of Palestinian recordings, but to link to a page listing “Judaica”, including such nefarious titles as “Jewish Children’s Songs and Games” by Ruth Rubin and Pete Seeger, is something different. What’s next? Maybe we should link to Pete Seeger’s website and ask him why The Weavers recorded Tzena Tzena Tzena but not Palestinian songs.
Songs from the IDF? Just… bleh. If its anything like their T-shirts…
C’mon, Mooser. Give us a list of the IDF’s greatest hits.