By Taghreed Saadeh
I will speak as a Palestinian, and from within the Palestinian cultural scene. Over long and multiple years of conversations, my most important critical reference has always been the exceptional critic Waleed Abu Bakr, an eminent critic whose immense knowledge and extensive experience have profoundly shaped Palestinian and Arab literary criticism.
Many times, when the compass seemed lost, and when media pressure pushed toward highlighting names I knew did not deserve such attention, I would turn to him. He was my intellectual refuge, and through my questions to him, I would regain confidence in my judgments, which I believe are objective, grounded in reading, knowledge, and understanding.
I sought inner reassurance at a time when confusion was widespread, personal interests intertwined, relationships advanced, and sometimes political or ideological affiliation became a decisive factor in determining a writer’s or intellectual’s fate. Most importantly, genuine literary criticism had nearly disappeared.
From a broad reading of the Palestinian cultural scene, I assert that the cultural left writes for the left and celebrates its own, paying little attention to others. I claim that the mere label “leftist” is enough for newspapers and websites to glorify a name, regardless of the actual value of the work or idea. Conversely, any name with a different affiliation is often marginalized or excluded.
Thus, some names gained fame, not through their achievements, but through personal connections and ideological alignments. “Leftist” automatically implies sophisticated, ahead of its time, enlightened. This stereotype has been entrenched for a long time, even though the left’s own experience, politically and culturally, has revealed clear failures and an inability to overcome its structural crises. The Arab Spring exposed the opportunism of much of its discourse. This is another topic that deserves frank and thorough discussion, particularly regarding the influence of ideology on personality, thought, and cultural behavior.
The Palestinian cultural scene today faces real crises, which are not separate from the broader Arab and global context. We are not an exception. Yet some intellectuals, through personal connections or by adopting a political stance opposing the authorities, have managed to receive substantial support, portrayed as purely individual achievements and deserved awards.
Many do not realize what happens behind the scenes, how committees are formed, who selects their members, the orientations of the funding bodies, and how awards are sometimes tailored to serve a particular direction or interest, presented to the public as the most important or influential names on the scene.
I write this as a critical reflection and candid confession, without any intent to offend or accuse. Sometimes, openly acknowledging our crises is necessary to seek collective solutions and reorganize priorities. The real problem lies with those who pass judgment without knowledge or scrutiny, measuring cultural value by the number of awards rather than by the depth of contribution.
Culture is the backbone of identity formation, a tool for building social reality, and shaping collective consciousness that facilitates internal cohesion. In Palestine, this is why we lose our way and struggle to engage in meaningful cultural dialogue. External interventions have not been only political but also cultural, shaping collective consciousness without adequate attention to the resulting harm, a harm that has brought us to the state of dialogue paralysis we face today.
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