The Palestinian Anthem

Daled Amos
19 October '10

Eli Hertz passes along the following anecdote:

"In 1926, Lord Plumer was appointed as the second High Commissioner of Palestine. The Arabs within the Mandate were infuriated when Plumer stood up for the Zionists' national anthem Hatikva during ceremonies held in his honor when Plumer first visited Tel Aviv. When a delegation of Palestinian Arabs protested Plumer's 'Zionist bias,' the High Commissioner asked the Arabs if he remained seated when their national anthem was played, 'wouldn't you regard my behavior as most unmannerly?' Met by silence, Plumer asked: 'By the way, have you got a national anthem?' When the delegation replied with chagrin that they did not, he snapped back, "I think you had better get one as soon as possible." [1]

[1] Christopher Sykes, "Cross Roads to Israel - Palestine from Balfour to Bevin" London, Collins, 1965, pp. 92-93

70 years later, in 1996, they finally did come up with an anthem:

(Read full post)

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