“Shamali Lali Ya Hawali Lidirah Shamali Lali Ya Warriloo,” are words from the “Palestinian Trouble” that sparked a state of political and historical controversy after it appeared in a “video clip” produced by an Egyptian called “Owners of the Land,” which specialists who spoke to the website indicate. Al-Hurra said that it carries “hidden messages” that intersect with the war in the Gaza Strip and the “expected” Israeli invasion of Rafah.
3 weeks created “controversy”
Despite its presence on social media platforms, especially YouTube, for 3 weeks, the video clip “Owners of the Land” received a lot of attention after it was shown in the presence of the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, during the Egyptian family’s iftar.
The video clip is based on a number of “imaginary scenes” whose events take place in the Gaza Strip, and is accompanied by the words of “Palestinian Tarweda”, which is a type of Palestinian popular singing, which is governed by a specific rhythm that relies primarily on recitation.
Since its release until now, “The Land Owners” has achieved about 3 million and 700 thousand views on the YouTube platform, before it sparked controversy due to… It was presented in the presence of SisiAnd the participation of “Egyptian official bodies” in its production, including the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Regarding the state of controversy, the historical researcher involved in the production of “Owners of the Land,” Muhammad Amir, points out that the video clip was subjected to “banning and deletion” from social media sites several times.
Showing the clip in Sisi’s presence is a “clear message” of approval of “all that was mentioned in the video” of “hidden symbols, messages and signals” that confirm Egypt’s position of rejecting “the displacement of the Palestinians, the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, and the continuation of the war in the Gaza Strip,” according to his talk to the “Al-Hurra” website.
Who are the “owners of the land”?
“Palestine” is the name given by Greek writers to “a small pocket of land” that they occupied in the twelfth century BC, according to “Encyclopedia Britannica“.
The name was revived by the Romans in the second century AD in “Syria Palestine”, to refer to the southern part of the province of Syria, and from there it made its way into the Arabic language, where it was used to describe the region.
After the Roman era, the name had “no official status” until after World War I and the end of the rule of the Ottoman Empire, when it was adopted for one of the mandated territories of Great Britain.
In the clip, the word “Owners of the Land” appeared in Arabic and Hebrew, while the video description was accompanied by the word “The Natives” in English, which means “the original ones.” Who are these people?
The Israeli political analyst, Joab Stern, points out that what is meant by the “owners of the land” in the clip is “the Palestinians and the Arabs,” while the other party, “Israel,” also confirms that it is the “owner of the land.”
The Israeli side also considers itself the owner of the land and all the Arabs on the Palestinian lands as “new immigrants,” while the “Children of Israel” are the “original owners of the land,” as mentioned in the Qur’an, according to his interview with the Al-Hurra website.
The Israeli political analyst explains that the phenomenon exists in both parties, as each party says, “We are the original owners of the land,” instead of “adopting a narrative that recognizes the rights of others,” so that there is not only one party winning and the other party losing.
Instead of “each party trying to prove that it is the owner of the land,” the two parties can coexist peacefully, away from “wars, destruction, and devastation,” according to Stern.
For his part, the Israeli historian, Mordechai Kedar, confirms that the name “Palestine” did not appear on the Ottoman maps because the name of the land for the Ottomans was “Greater Syria,” and therefore the Palestinians “are not the original owners of the land.”
The names of many of the “Palestinians” indicate that the “Palestinian people” are nothing but a mixture of groups that immigrated to this land in search of work in the Jewish towns that were established since 1880, according to his interview with the “Al-Hurra” website.
He points out that Jordan occupied the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem for 19 years between 1948 and 1967, asking: “Why did Jordan not establish a Palestinian state for (the Palestinian people) during all these years in the West Bank with Jerusalem as its capital, as it calls upon us today?!”
Kedar talks about the “religious aspect” of the issue, and says: “The name (Palestine) is not mentioned in the Qur’an even once, while the Jewish-Israeli people (the Children of Israel) are mentioned dozens of times, which indicates the antiquity of the Jewish people and the modernity of the Palestinian people,” as he put it.
Therefore, Kedar describes “The Owners of the Land” as a “propaganda” clip that does not have “any historical foundations.”
“The Owners of the Land” is produced by the “Arab propaganda machine” that is trying to “create a Palestinian people out of nothing,” and it is based on the fabrication of an artificial history at the expense of the “Jewish people” who returned to the land of their ancestors from which they were wrongfully displaced, according to the Israeli historian.
But on the other hand, Palestinian political analyst, Ayman Al-Raqab, describes Kedar’s statement as “a historically and religiously incorrect proposition.”
There are texts in the Qur’an and the Torah that talk about “a mighty people or the Amalekites” who inhabited the land of “Palestine” and were enemies of the Jews in the biblical texts, according to his interview with the Al-Hurra website.
In the modern era, the former Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, held a “Palestinian passport,” and the former Israeli President, Shimon Peres, held a “work permit from Palestine,” Al-Raqab points out.
According to Al-Raqab, “Owners of the Land” touches on historical reality and corrects “false information” about the Palestinian issue.
What appears in “The Land Owners” embodies historical facts, and reveals the “falsehood” of the Israeli claims that they tried to implant in the mentality of the Arab citizen that the Palestinians “sold their land,” and this is what angers the Israelis, according to the Palestinian political analyst.
Therefore, the Palestinian political analyst asserts that the “original historical owners of the land” are the Palestinians, in view of ancient and modern history.
What is behind the “landowners”?
Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Meir Masri, believes that “artistic work serves terrorism and contributes to spreading the culture of hatred and demonization of others.”
This type of work does not even help Egyptian society know and understand the reality in Israel, because there is “a passion for religious symbols, some of which are fabricated and have no relation to the truth,” according to what he told the Al-Hurra website.
He confirms that Egyptian artistic works related to Israel or the Jews are very superficial and full of childish errors, starting with the names of the characters, passing through the details of Jewish culture, which the Egyptian mind is unable to comprehend due to the “lack of normalization.”
But on the other hand, the Egyptian political analyst specializing in Middle East affairs, Fadi Eid, stresses that “the artistic work contributes to raising awareness of the Palestinian issue and emphasizing Egypt’s historical role in supporting the Palestinian people.”
The current Israeli government is the one “spreading hate speech and violence and using religious texts to propagate war in the Gaza Strip, and Egypt is also preparing by evoking some of the biblical predictions that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, himself mentioned,” according to his talk to the Al-Hurra website.
Eid points out that the Israeli government invokes “biblical prophecies” such as “the prophecy of Isaiah” to talk about “destruction for Egypt, darkness for Palestine, and light for Israel,” wondering: “Who here is spreading hate speech and inciting against others?!”
“Hidden messages and symbols”?
“Desolate and destroyed” areas, a girl dancing “Dabkeh”, a young child running under “tunnels”, ghosts coming out of the ground and killing “people wearing blue clothes”, and a strong man wearing a “hawk-faced mask”, scenes that the “owners of the land” did not understand. The audience.
Stern praises the clip’s “music, lyrics, production, and photography,” but denounces the “veiled messages and hidden references” it contains.
He notes that there are many “hidden messages” in the clip and similes that are “difficult to understand the first time,” but they carry many connotations that refer to the war in Gaza, Israel, and the ancient Egyptians.
This is explained by Amir, who asserts that “the owners of the land” carry many “hidden symbols” that may be “incomprehensible to the public,” but they push “Arab citizens” to read and research “in-depth” about the history of the Palestinian issue.
He explains that the “ruined area” is the Gaza Strip, and the “child’s dancing” is a symbol of the Palestinian cause, because she was “learning Dabke” at the beginning before she mastered it at the end of “Owners of the Land.”
The burly man wearing a “hawk-faced mask” is the ancient Egyptian war machine, “Montu,” while the golden calf is a reference to Biblical and Qur’anic texts about “the Children of Israel,” according to the historical researcher.
In a related context, Eid points out that the appearance of “Monto” destroying the “Golden Calf” is a new Egyptian symbolic signal, to emphasize that “the Palestinian territories are an extension of Egypt.”
The scene carries a “clear message” indicating “Egypt’s readiness to defend the issue by all means,” and Egypt warns the Israeli side that pushing the Palestinians toward “forced migration” to Sinai may ignite “war,” according to the researcher in Middle East affairs.
The secret of timing?
For weeks, Netanyahu has been threatening to launch a ground attack on Rafah, near the Egyptian border, to “eliminate” the Hamas movement, which is classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries.
Repeatedly, Netanyahu has insisted that the war will continue until Hamas is defeated, and he is also sticking to his plan to launch a ground attack on the city, which he considers the last main stronghold of Hamas.
The southern city, located on the borders, has become the last refuge for about 1.5 million people, most of whom were displaced from other areas in the Gaza Strip, which raises Egyptian fears of the “displacement of civilians” towards the Sinai Peninsula.
Therefore, Eid links the offer of the “owners of the land” to Netanyahu’s insistence on invading Rafah by land, which “prompted Egypt to send such messages.”
The war in Gaza is an “important geopolitical” issue for Egypt, and the ground invasion of Rafah affects “Egyptian national security,” and therefore it “will not allow” it to happen even if “the price is the outbreak of war,” according to the Middle East researcher.
For his part, Stern points out that this type of “patriotic national songs” aims to mobilize people’s passionate emotions and spread their belonging, but it currently comes in conjunction with “wars.”
All the “messages, signals, and symbols” ultimately call for a “military confrontation with the Israeli enemy,” which contributes to the continuation of the “cycle of violence,” Stern asserts.
The war broke out in the Gaza Strip following the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, according to the Israeli authorities.
In response to the attack, Israel pledged to “eliminate the movement,” and has since carried out a bombing campaign followed by ground operations since October 27, killing 33,634 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, and wounding 75,993, according to the latest tally of the Hamas Ministry of Health issued on Friday.
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