Book ban turns intra-Palestinian fight cultural

Hamas's ban from schools of a book of folklore has fueled moderates' concern about greater Islamist constraints.

from the March 9, 2007 edition

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Hamas and Fatah, the mainstream and secular political faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), are moving closer to reaching an agreement that would pave the way for the creation of a national unity government.

The two sides have been wrangling after what was hoped to be a breakthrough powersharing deal reached in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, last month. Banning of the book, written by Kanaana and coauthor Ibrahim Muhawi, adds to concerns of many Palestinians that Hamas has not moderated on core issues, be it reconciliation with Israel or making Palestinian society more Islamic.

Many notable Palestinians have condemned pulling the book from schools. Yahya Yakhlef, who was the PA's minister of culture until a year ago, when Hamas formed its cabinet after its landslide election victory in January 2006, says he was shocked.

"We consider this an act of ignorance," says Mr. Yakhlef. "What we are worried about is that the trends become a normal pattern in our life, and we'll get to the point where we'll be like a Taliban culture. We will not allow medieval values to dominate."

First nonpolitical book to be banned

Still, many Palestinians say that, thus far, having Hamas leadership has been felt as a political issue, even perhaps in the form of a worsening economy and lack of security – but not as a sign of cultural oppression.

One of the incidents people here cite happened two years ago, when the Hamas-run municipality in the West Bank city of Qalqilya banned a cultural festival that would have including the debke, a Palestinian folk dance that includes men and women holding hands.

"We can say now that Hamas is being revealed to the Palestinian people," says Yakhlef. "I think the popularity of Hamas has dropped."

It's not the first time the PA has banned a book. In the 1990s, the works of intellectual Edward Said were banned because of his criticism of the PLO and the Oslo Peace Accords. Israel once used to censor Palestinian newspapers and periodicals. But this is the first time that a book is being taken off the shelves for something other than its political content. "Speak Bird, Speak Again," is still being used in colleges and can be purchased in stores.

All of this surprised Kanaana, who wrote the book with an audience of graduate and PhD students in mind. The book was later added to school libraries – usually just one per school – so that teachers could access it and choose an appropriate story or two to share with children or teenagers.

"Any folk tales of any people in the world will have an obscene term or two. I recorded these stories in colloquial Arabic in the exact words people use, because otherwise, there's no point," says Kanaana who sat calmly drinking his afternoon coffee. At the insistence of his wife, he has turned off the phone for a break from nonstop calls.

"All that attention is not over me," he says. "It's toward Hamas and the political struggle."

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