Palestinian Rap Group DAM Use Hip Hop to Convey the Frustrations, Hopes of a Dispossessed People

by via Democracy Now

Thu, May 15, 2008 7:48AM

Thursday, May 15, 2008 :We turn now to three young Palestinians who use hip hop to tell their story of the Nakba and what it means to be a Palestinian growing up inside Israel. DAM or Da Arabian MCs is the first group of Palestinian rappers and was formed in the late 1990s. All three members were born and grew up in the slums of Lod or Al-Lyd, a mixed town of Arabs and Jews 12 miles from Jerusalem.

They are featured in “Slingshot Hip Hop” the new documentary about Palestinian hip-hop that premiered at Sundance this year. DAM, which is Arabic for blood and Hebrew for eternity, is on tour across North America right now. Their latest album is called Ihda, or Dedication.

Tamer Nafar is one of the members of DAM. He joins me from Toronto, Canada where the group will be performing tonight at El Mocambo.

Tamer Nafar, Member of DAM or Da Arabian MCs, the first Palestinian rap group. They are from Lod or Al-Lyd, a mixed town of Arabs and Jews inside Israel.