ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in this book. The book discusses that Israel, with its highly heterogeneous immigrant society, offers to the observer a fascinating instance of multifaceted performance practice. The ten contributions included in the two issues dealing with the performance of Jewish and Arab music in Israel today represent an attempt to cover the most significant traditions that were established during the period before 1948. The mass transfer of the different ethnic traditions that followed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 found Israeli society at the height of a long struggle over the nature of the new culture that would and should appropriately reflect the rebirth of the Jewish nation in its ancient land. The most authentic and pervasive kind of Arab music has been the rich folk music which enhanced the events in the life of Bedouins, farmers and, to certain extent, town dwellers.
