In about a month and a half, on the evening of Independence Day, the composer and creator Avihu Medina will march in the Hall of the Nation and receive the Israel Prize from the President and Prime Minister.
It will be a powerful and symbolic event: Avihu, who has been fighting against the anti-Oriental line taken by the musical editors of the mainstream radio and television since the 1970s, will be praised and appreciated for his work.
Historical Synopsis: "Oriental" music, which grew up in the "Second Israel" environment at the time, received hostile treatment from representatives of the secular, Tel Aviv "Israel First" (friends, these are historical concepts. Today it is not entirely relevant), claiming that it is "not of high quality. "Or" not Israeli. "
"Not high quality?"
Here is an example: In the early 1990s, Aviv Geffen's song "Now Cloudy" ("Fucked Generation") was played in a loop.
A matter of taste.
In those days, songs such as those of Moshe Giat, written by medieval poets or sources, and composed to classical tunes by composers such as Farid al-Atrash, were almost never played (except in the famous one-week ghettos).
Wait, do not know Moshe Giat?
Here is the explanation: Avri Gilad used to tell that in the 1980s, when he served as a broadcaster in IDF waves, Mizrahi organizers used to send records to the station to gain exposure. Avri and his friends used to play "flying saucer" with them. Medina said in an interview: "
This distortion ignited a public struggle.
It was a solid struggle, since music is forever part of the group identity, and in fact Avihu Medina who led the protest fought for the image of Israeli society.
Medina explained that he had never been a singer, or composer, from ZRH.
As a traditional Jew, he longed to hear cantorial chapters of the Ashkenazi community and always spoke of "a combination of East and West."
And here, for the past 20 years, this combination has gained an open door on the mainstream channels.
But make no mistake: the doors were opened not because it came from the people, on the contrary.
The green light was given because it came from Europe and America, which in the context of the progressive wave sanctified "authenticity" and "multiculturalism."
The West Germans were happy to receive Ofra Haza's curls, and our progressives made sure to play Umm Kultoum's Inta Omri in a loop.
This is how it is with them: foreign products will get a green light; while local products will be labeled as provincial-neighborhood. If we want to understand what is really behind the exclusion, here's the code: This is why the "Eastern Rainbow" did not join the struggle either).
Today, unfortunately, the "oriental" music of the younger generation does not exhibit qualities and performances like those of the previous generation, to say the least, but the voice of those "qualitators", with the ponytail and earring, who once criticized oriental music, is not heard.
These have already integrated into the industry as producers and entrepreneurs who own companies, and in the flattering culture of the market economy they are filling their mouths with water.
When one of them already dares to criticize Mediterranean mainstream music, he is denounced as "arrogant and racist."
In contrast, Avihu Medina showed courage.
True, in recent years the power has dissipated, and the power of taste makers has diminished.
Were it not for YouTube and streaming services, it is likely that "Revivo's Project," which revived the true oriental music of yesteryear, would not have soared to the heights of viewing and listening.
But this understanding is lacking: technology is capable of changing world orders, but will never leave the crucial place of pioneers and leaders.
A state, which defines itself as a "lone wolf," is one such: a non-conformist who has cracked the system and provided a conceptual framework for understanding what is really going on.
Even today, we have fighters in various fields.
They too were "disqualified in advance."
Therefore they act as seers who are not seen and are not counted.
To promote their success, the general public must step up at the level of public control and criticism, and the (veteran) elites must step down from the shaky ladder that gives them a distorted perspective on the people.
Were we wrong?
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