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Art in Palestine

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Historical background

The era following the First World War saw the termination of the Ottoman rule which had plagued the Arab nation over the preceding four centuries. The Arab rejoicing was however short-lived, for national independence was far to come. In spite of the official promises of granting independence to its Arab "allies", Great Britain, in collusion with France, substituted the Ottoman ruler as governors of the Middle-East. Syria and Lebanon were ceded to France, while the British extended their mandate over Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt.

The Arab populace, disillusioned over broken promises, rose against the occupying powers, and following a series of uprisings, strikes, and revolts, they were able to liberate their countries one after another. By mid-century, all Arab countries managed to gain independence, with the notable exception of Palestine.

The British, as it turned out, had other designs for Palestine. Unbeknown to the Arab "allies" at the time, the leaders of the Jewish Zionist movement were able to elicit an undertaking or "promise" from the British Government to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish "homeland" in Palestine. This was embodied in the ill-fated Balfour Declaration of 1917 which read.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object."
In furtherance of this object, ship-loads of Jewish immigrants, organized and funded by the Jewish Agency, started to arrive into Palestinian ports. The volume of immigrants, mostly illegal, rose dramatically in the aftermath of the 2nd World War, with drastic effects on the population balance in the country. The percentage of the Jewish community to the Arab inhabitants rose from 8% in 1918 to 33% in 1948.

The Arab majority of Palestine, apprehensive of the threat posed to their existence and national identity, rose against the British ruler in an effort to stop the influx of Jewish settlers. From 1919 up to 1948, a series of revolutions broke out, often with great suffering on the part of the Arabs at the hands of the British military forces and the well-armed Jewish gangs. In 1947, the United Nations resolved to partition Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab, thus denying the Arab majority the right to self-determination. The ensuing Arab-Jewish war of 1948 ended in the defeat of the ill-equipped and disunited Arab "armies", and the victorious Jews proclaimed their State of "Israel" over three quarters of the land.

The Arab population, terrorized and victimized by numerous atrocities and massacres, fled their homes to take refuge in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the remnants of their usurped lands. With over a million people driven out of their homes, the Palestinian Arabs were turned into refugees almost overnight. The exodus would soon overcrowd refugee camps in both the West Bank and Gaze, and would spill over to yet more refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

The Early Experiments

Prior to 1948, Palestine witnessed little activity in the field of arts . What few attempts or experiments in drawing or painting which materialized at the time were amateurish in nature and had not developed into the professional or full-time involvement which characterized artists in other Arab countries. This was due to the turbulent and unstable conditions which beset the Palestinian scene throughout the first half of the century. Yet in spite of such extremely unfavourable circumstances, many Palestinian "artists" managed to demonstrate their inborn talents. Foremost among those was Jamal Badran. Born in Haifa, Palestine, in 1905, this man studied ornamental art and Arabic calligraphy in Cairo in 1927 and later went to London to study applied arts. He worked as art and handicraft instructor and assistant inspector in Plestinian schools and was credited with the discovery of numerous fledgling talents whom he patronized and who, with encouragement on his part, proceeded to study arts in Cairo in the mid-thirties.

Jamal Badran was extremely fond of Arab Islamic arts and calligraphy as well as traditional artistic handicraft.

He devoted his work almost exclusively to this field and his influence was clearly evident in the works of his students.

Two other artists, namely Hanna Mismar and Faddoul Odeh from Nazareth studied art in the twenties. The first studied ceramics in Germany, while the other took up drawing and painting in Italy. Their work however, was very limited.

Only very few artists could draw oil paintings in the "Western" sense. Art exhibitions, in their present day form, where paintings are displayed in a public hall by a single artist or group of artists for public viewing or sale, were virtually non-existent in Palestine prior to 1948.

Paintings dating back to that period were produced by art and handicraft Instructors and other so-called amateur artists. These works were either kept in storage or posted in homes, schools or social clubs. They bore no relation whatsoever to the Palestinian theme. They were confined to portraits, landscapes, religious icons, and historical figures. They also contained ancient Arab episodes, which were mainly copied from well-known works.