Developed in the 1980s, political Hip Hop is a type of Hip Hop inspired by 1970s musicians such as The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron. Public Enemy was the first political Hip Hop group. This type of music has long been a form of non-violent political protest, and recently, the movement has spread to the Middle East, specifically to Palestine.
Jackie Reem Salloum, a graduate of New York University, film director and activist, directed the 2008 documentary, Slingshot Hip Hop[1]. Focusing on a method of Palestinian resistance that has gained popularity in the last few years, Slingshot Hip Hop “has been one of the key players in the movement to increase global interest in Palestinian art.”[2] All about resistance and its diverse forms, the film follows the stories of various Palestinian rappers and Hip Hop artists, including the hugely popular and best known Palestinian hip hop group DAM (from the city of Lyd), PR (Palestinian Rapperz) from Gaza, Arapeyat from Akka, Mahmoud Shalabi from Akka, and Abeer from Lyd. The film’s website describes Slingshot Hip Hop as a documentary, which “braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.”[3]
Part introduction to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, part documentary on the struggles of young Palestinians who resist the urge to use violence as a form of protest, Slingshot Hip Hop first brings the viewer into Lyd (Lod), an Israeli town about 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv. As the film begins, we meet DAM (Da Arab MCs) during their interview with Chuck D, the American rapper, author, producer, and leader of the rap group Public Enemy. Suhell Nafar (one of the members of DAM) says, “It’s really important to us to meet Chuck D, one of the first people to produce political Hip Hop.” Nafar’s brother, Tamer, continues, “When they ask us, ‘What is Palestinian Hip Hop?’ We say that Hip Hop is our CNN.” The resonating line of the film, “Hip Hop is our CNN,”[4] it becomes apparent why the Hip Hop movement has been so strong and popular among Palestinian youth. Identifying with some of the greatest and most influential voices of, not just political Hip Hop, but all Hip Hop, Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., Public Enemy, Talib Kweli, Outkast, Busta Rhymes, and Mobb Deep to name but a few, DAM is one of the most influential and oldest Palestinian Hip Hop groups.
Salloum establishes the roots of DAM, and the viewer begins to understand the stories of the members of DAM. Seen as the pioneers of the Palestinian Hip Hop scene, DAM is looked up to by the other rappers in the film. The film follows the other rappers and rap groups, including Palestinian Rappers (PR), as they try to meet up with DAM in a final, but inaugural group concert. The journey is as much a symbol of the struggles living within Israel and the Occupied Territories, as it is a symbol of the struggle within Palestinian art.
Resisting Through Music
The film has won a number of awards and has been recognized internationally, with Best Director Audience Award at the Beirut International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Films de Femmes Festival, the Festival Award at the Festival De Libertes, the Audience Award at the DoxBox Festival, and was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival. Furthermore, Jackie Salloum, in a recent interview, talks about her experience creating a film, and its symbolism as a form of resistance:
Any Arab who is putting out work that challenges stereotypes and state/foreign policies or creates work that reflects our culture and history is enacting resistance…The rappers featured in the film are opening a window into Palestinian life in their own way. [Other young minorities] are finding connections between their own struggles, and the stories told about life in Occupied Palestine and Apartheid Israel in the lyrics of Palestinian rappers.
With footage from live concerts interspersed with scenes of life in the ghettos of Israeli cities and the refugee camps of Gaza and the West Bank, Salloum paints a loud picture of a non-violent movement within the Palestinian resistance. Because the Hip Hop movement is a non-violent form of resistance to the conditions of occupation and apartheid within Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel, rappers like Tamer Nafar have been presenting their stories and their art at various children’s camps and after school programs within Palestinian communities. The film captures this in a particularly poignant scene where Tamer visits a school. As Tamer talks to the children about self-empowerment through music and art, through strength and courage, he says, “Let us talk about us, the Palestinians, living inside Israel.” One boy raises his hand and shouts out, “I’m Palestinian?!” The words resonate, as the viewer sees the young generation of Palestinians who have assimilated so far into Israeli culture that they have forgotten their own heritage. Salloum addresses this in her interview with Al Jazeera, in which she discusses some of the startling revelations during the filming of Slingshot Hip Hop: “I was taken aback by the level of assimilation that Palestinians were subjected to. Some of the younger people I met were confused about their Palestinian identity, and would not know how to identify themselves.”
In the film, the rappers also discuss why they started rapping, and what their vision for a Palestinian future looks like. Mahmoud (the third member of DAM) says, “We were angered by what was going on here in Israel, and what was being shown on TV.” Later, Tamer Nafar describes his vision for the future of Palestinians and Israelis, “I don’t want to be misunderstood. We reach for peace. I’m for coexistence, 50/50. Not 99% for you and we split the rest as well. You came, you conquered, and now you kick me out? It’s crazy. Doesn’t make sense. I’m fighting for my rights.”
Salloum even interviews the families and parents of the Hip Hop artists, who are all very proud of their children and their choice of resistance. Um Tamer (the father of Tamer and Suhell Nafar) says, “As long as they do positive things, I’m proud of them.” These are not the fanatical and extremist families the media portrays Palestinians and Muslims to be. Instead, Slingshot Hip Hop allows audiences across the world to see young Palestinians expressing themselves through non-violent protest, through their music, and through their words. In one of their most powerful and popular songs, Meen Erhabe (Who is the Terrorist?), DAM says:
“Who’s the terrorist?
I’m the terrorist!?
How am I a terrorist when this is my homeland!?
Who’s the terrorist?
You’re the terrorist!
You’ve taken everything while I’m living in my own land
You’ve killed me liked you’ve killed my ancestors
Go to the law?
What for?
You’re the witness, the lawyer, and the judge.”
*Fauzia Dawood is a graduate of New York University with a Bachelor in Political Science and Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies.She will be studying for a Masters of International Affairs in the fall of 2008 at Institut Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland.
[1] Slingshot Hip Hop, 2008. Dir. Jackie Reem Salloum.
[2] “Palestinian rhythms of resistance,” Focus: Film, Al Jazeera English, http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/11/20081167455110341.html
[3] Slingshot Hip Hop. http://slingshothiphop.com/about.
[4] Attributed to Chuck D, in the film.