Palestinian youth express themselves through hip-hop

[ProgressiveMuslim]

Suzanne Manneh, New America Media, May 26, 2008


This article was originally published by New America Media and is republished with permission.


Palestinian hip-hop group DAM performs an open-air concert near Israel's separation wall in the Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem. (Luay Sababa, Maan Images)
SAN FRANCISCO - May 2008 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Nakba - Arabic for catastrophe, the expulsion of the Palestinian people and creation of the state of Israel. However, the Palestinian Diaspora decided to commemorate it with a different image: sharing and performing hip-hop. A commemoration concert was recently held here at the Civic Center Plaza and it was free and open to the public.

Performers were male and female. They ranged in ethnic backgrounds – from Palestinian and other Arab nationalities, to African American, Mexican and Caucasian. They had come from across the United States, Canada, the West Bank and Israel.

"This is a hip-hop festival for Palestine. Hip-hop is not dead; it lives in Palestine. It's about unification for our people," Patriarch, a Palestinian-American hip-hop artist asserted before the audience.

Event organizers say this was the first large-scale gathering of 3,500 or more people: Palestinians, other Arabs and nearly a third of non-Arabs, recognizing the Nakba through hip-hop.

The performances were in English and Arabic, with some performers using both languages. The music was energetic and its sounds reflected everything from the classic African-American hip-hop of the 1980's and 1990's to contemporary underground African-American hip-hop. Some artists incorporated classical Arab beats, music, and melodies into their routine.

read on...
http://imeu.net/news/article008838.shtml

[frazzled]

1. I've heard some

The artist D.J. Spooky is an acquaintance of ours, and he played us some collections of global hip-hop he has been collecting and using for a project--including not only Palestinian but Israeli and crazy examples from all over the world.