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Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Through Hip Hop

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Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Through Hip Hop Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Hip hop culture developed in the 1970s by disenfranchised youth in African American and Latino communities seeking a way to express political and cultural discontent. This art form enables young people to respond to the social, economic, and political realities in which they live. Hip hop began in New York City and quickly spread around the world as a popular form of artistic expression. It took root in the Middle East in the 1990s quickly became a po pular musical style in both Arabic and Hebrew. Growing up in highly politicized environments, both Israeli and Palestinian youth have embraced hip hop as a way of expressing their perspectives on the political situation in their country. This lesson provides the lyrics of four Israeli Israeli hip hop songs and four Palestinian hip hop songs along with discussion questions for each song. These materials provide a forum to emphasize the differing perspectives on the conflict and for students to understand the multiple narratives and understandings of the conflict. About the Artists: DAM: Dam is a Palestinian hip hop group based in Lod, Israel, and founded in 1999 by Tamar Nafar, Suhell Nafar and Mahmoud Jreri. DAM is an acronym for Da Arabian MCs and also means forever in Arabic and blood in Hebrew. They rap primarily in Palestinian Arabic, but also have some songs in Hebrew and English. They sing primarily about the Palestinian-Israel conflict and the dissatisfaction they feel from both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. They also talk about the poverty and poor living conditions of Palestinians. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1691246,00.html http://www.slingshothiphop.com/posts/ http://damrap.com 1 Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Ramallah Underground: Based in Ramallah, the Ramallah Underground strive to give voice to a generation of Palestinians in a situation of economic, artistic, and political difficulty. Their music combines hip hop with traditional Middle Eastern music as a commitment to raising awareness of their local culture. Stormtrap, Boikutt, and Aswatt rap in Arabic only. http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=9221 http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/hip-hop-singer-conveys-hope- under-occupation-1.190771 Subliminal: Subliminal (Kobi Shimoni) is an Israeli artist from Tel Aviv and is considered the founder of Zionist hip hop. He began rapping in the 1990s with his partner Hatzel (Yosi Eliavi) and produced their first album of patriotic songs in 2000, following the outbreak of the second intifada. Subliminal is uses his music to inspire Israeli youth to stand together as a unified nation. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-11-06-hiphop-usat_x.htm http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/israeli_rapper_subliminal_has_b uilt_a_music_empire_20080519/ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/israeli-hip-hop-takes-u-s- 20041028 HaDag Nachash: HaDag Nachash, which means Fish Snake, is one of Israel‟s most popular hip hop groups, with six albums released. Their songs call for peace, tolerance, and equality and include themes of political and social protest. The band is involved in local in social action work throughout Israel and, in 2010, was awarded the “Activist of the Year” award in 2010. http://www.jpost.com/topic/Hadag_Nahash http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2004/08/16/david- grossmans/ http://hadagnahash.com/?lang=en Muki Muki is an Israeli singer and rapper best known as the leader of the Israeli hip hop act Shabak Samech. Muki‟s first solo album was released in 2001 after the start of the second intifada and included songs calling for peace, such as “talking about peace” and “the land cries.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muki_(singer) 2 Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Hip Hop and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/mixing_desk/2006/08/levantine_hiphop_ 101.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/oct/26/israelandthepalestinians.pop androck http://www.hillel.org/NR/rdonlyres/137BF7D8-C7F1-4FA5-B91E- 6A964D39F419/0/talkspace_GPmicrophone.pdf About Palestinian Hip Hop http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/03/the_arab_league_of_hip _hop http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=8343 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3613/rap_the_casbah/ http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/22/rapping_the_revolution http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/06/09/137067390/the-rap-songs- of-the-arab-spring About Israeli Hip Hop http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-11-06-hiphop-usat_x.htm http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/land-of-no-hop-1.4354 http://www.forward.com/articles/126435/ http://www.nyu.edu/pubs/anamesa/archive/spring_2007_democracy/Korat. pdf 3 Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Comparing Israeli and Palestinian Hip Hop Music 1. In reviewing Palestinian and Israeli hip hop music, what are the major themes that emerge? Why do you think there are such significant differences between Israeli and Palestinian music? (This is a good place to talk about democracy and freedom of expression) 2. Subliminal, the Israeli artist, was in part responsible for discovering DAM and DAM‟s growth to fame. Subliminal and DAM were friends and even performed some music together. Eventually they parted ways, due to differences in politics. What are those differences? Why do you think they could no longer work together? Do you think there is a way for DAM and Subliminal to work together despite differences in political opinions? 3. Think about some of today‟s American hip hop. How do they compare to Israeli and Palestinian hip hop? What sort of issues are American artists rapping about? 4 Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Min Irhabi, Who is a Terrorist? By DAM 1. What is this song about? 2. Define terrorist? What makes someone a terrorist? 3. How does the song define terrorist? Do you agree or disagree with this? Why? 4. Throughout the song, DAM says “you” (ex: line 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, etc.) Who is the „you‟ they are referring to? How do you think the „you‟ would respond to this song? 5. In the second stanza, DAM says “Why am I a terrorist? Because I‟m not indifferent?/I‟m hotheaded because I walk with my head up high/Trying to defend my land/…/But I‟ll keep on crying out loud.” What do they mean by crying? Is that crying considered terrorism? What can DAM and other Palestinians do to “defend their land” and “cry out loud”? 6. In lines 35-36, DAM says” I‟m not against peace, peace is against me/It wants to eliminate me, to erase my heritage.” What do you think that means? 7. Ghandi said “Violence breeds violence...Pure goals can never justify impure or violent action...” How do you think DAM would respond to Ghandi? 5 Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Ng’ayeer Bokra, Change Tomorrow By Dam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QAKJHfvx5E 1. What is this song about? What is the main message that DAM is sending in this song? 2. In the chorus, DAM sings that “we want education, we want improvement/to have the ability to change tomorrow.” Can education contribute to the ability to change tomorrow? How? 3. In the first stanza, how does DAM describe the reality of life? What is DAM‟s message to the next generation? 4. In lines 19-21 DAM asks the “small kids of this big world” to seek out equality and if someone asks them to hate, DAM encourages them to say no. Who might ask the younger generation to hate? How can they say no? 5. Have you ever been asked or told to do something by an adult and not done it? What was that like? 6. In lines 37-39 DAM says that “we failed…we cried.‟ What does that mean? 7. In the final stanza, DAM encourages the youth not to resort to violence but to “grab a pen and write.” Is that an effective way to create change? How can you use a pen to effect change? 6 Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Mali Huriya, I Don’t Have Freedom By DAM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P1ACAklfiY 1. What is this song about? 2. The title of the song is “I Don‟t Have Freedom.” According to DAM, what is freedom? According to you, what is freedom? Do you think you have freedom? Why/why not? 3. In the chorus, DAM sings “Why can‟t I be free like other children in this world?” Do you agree that other children in the world are free? Why/why not? 4. In line 35-36 DAM says “Our leaders only flavor their speeches/Opening their mouths but shutting out hope.” What does that mean? What do DAM think of their leaders? What do you think of your leaders? 5. In lines 50-54 DAM says that the purpose of the occupation is to suffocate the Palestinians. What do you think of that? How do you think an Israeli would respond to that? 6. In lines 57-58, DAM says that “The US has made it their 51st state.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? What do you think President Obama would say to that? 7. Do you think comparing the Palestinians to the Native Americans is an adequate comparison? Why/why not? 8. What is the purpose of the little girl reading the poem at the end? What does she say? Do you agree with her? Does DAM? 7 Current Perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict through Hip Hop Min al Kahaf, From the Cave Ramallah Underground http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7EtoUO9V-c 1.
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