For every critic who disparages hip-hop as being all about “booty-shaking†and liquor, there’s a rapper who defies that stereotype by putting out “conscious rap.†This subcategory of the genre often deals with real life problems that the artist faces, everyday dilemmas that are problems common to the artist’s listeners. As an area with its share of problems, the Middle East has spawned some notable rappers in the past decade. One group, called DAM, short for “Da Arabian MCs,” finds the Hebrew word for “blood†(which also means “forever†in Arabic) written in its name. These rappers are bound to spawn controversy: they’re Palestinians who rhyme about Israelis.
One recent Salem-News.com article urges the change that conscious hip-hop can bring to the Middle East. It argues that “the younger generation doesn’t have the same level of animosity toward non-Jews and many are really pissed about the way their own nation regards Palestinians. If a generation grows up thinking this way, there is hope for a different future.†I’d have to take issue with that statement: not all older Israelis hate Palestinians. In fact, it was people of that generation, like Yitzhak Rabin, that tried to make peace with the Palestinians by giving them land! Rabin was born in 1922 and was in his 70s at the time of his death, yet was willing to compromise for the sake of peace.
In an interview, one of the members of DAM, Tamer Nafer, said, “For the Israelis—and I’m quoting the Parliament of Israel, the government of Israel—we are considered a ‘cancer.’ This is how they call us, a cancer, because we are a demographic bomb for them, like we are Arabs inside of Israel, and we are a threat, us being natural and having babies. Small, cute babies are called demographic bomb and demographic threat for the majority of having—for the Jewish majority.” Nafer’s statement implies that all Jews–and all Israelis–regard Palestinian Arabs as a “threat” to Israel’s sovereignty. I doubt most Israelis think that way. Jews acknowledge Palestinians have a stake in the land, too–but so do we, as a people. Instead of this violent tug-of-war, maybe we could share the table a bit. That would make some good hip-hop music.
The article continues to say that Israelis “stand in judgment of legitimately elected political groups like Hamas…that gave up suicide bombing for good in 2005.†First of all, standing in the way of terrorist organizations, legally elected or not, can’t be a bad thing. Secondly, Hamas is still attempting to send suicide bombers out to wreak havoc.
The article posits that young rappers, speaking out about their suffering at Israeli hands, might help change matters. I agree that anyone should be able to express himself or herself through hip-hop, which has proven to be a wonderful art form for oppressed people in the past. Looking at some of DAM’s lyrics, though, I wonder whether this group is using its platform well.
Instead of advocating for cooperation and a peaceful solution, DAM lumps all Israelis together in a category of the “enemy.†In the song “Freedom for My Sisters,†one rapper says, “Americans discriminate against the Arabs/Zionists discriminate against the Arabs.†No doubt, some Americans do discriminate, as do some Zionists, but, by claiming Americans and Zionists are all racists toward Arabs, aren’t the members of DAM being discriminatory themselves? Not all Zionists are anti-Arab. In fact, many just want a cooperative existence for both Israelis and Palestinians. Zionists recognize Palestinians’ right to exist alongside others, just not instead of or in place of Israelis. In claiming that others generalize, DAM generalizes in the same hateful way.
On the other hand, the group doesn’t damn all Jews, but recognize fault in everyone: in the song “Change Tomorrow,†a member rhymes, “Jews, Christians, and Muslims/None of these sides wants to understand each other/Each side thinks they’re better than the other.†In doing so, they recognize that all sides have problems in their conception of Israel as “their own.†At the same time, DAM and other groups like them should not perpetrate the same stereotypes in their music that they say they seek to combat.
The movement of hip-hop in Israeli amongst young Palestinians is a good thing. It allows young people to express themselves artistically and non-violently. At the same time that getting the message out is important, if the message is wrong, then what good does it do? The same goes for Salem-News.com. Do the research and don’t generalize: only then can we turn the corner.
