Thursday, August 24, 2006

Palestinian Hip-Hop Group 'Dam': "Who's The Terrorist"

Ok, I admit it, I've discovered YouTube big time :) Palestinian hip-hop groups have been getting a bit more attention in the western press of late, I don't know how popular these guys really are in the territories. I imagine in a place like Ramallah where there are a lot of Palestinian-Americans that they've got something of a following.

This is called "Who's The Terrorist" from a group called Dam (pronounced more like "dumb" in English and meaning "blood" in Arabic - Bible readers will recall the word from "Akeldama" or the "field of blood" in the related Aramaic which Judas' 30 pieces of silver were used to purchase after he committed suicide). I think it comes across well in Arabic, don't know how it sounds to only-English speakers who have to go from the subtitles, but the video footage and lyrics tell a strong story:



A couple Palestinian-American hip-hop groups include the Philistines and Iron Sheik.

This is a trailer to a documentary on Palestinian hip-hop called Slingshot Hip Hop which shows a bunch of different groups in Gaza, the West Bank, and inside Israel (one of the Gaza guys must have spent a lot of time in Egypt given his strong Egyptian accent):


3 Comments:

At 8:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i am actually glad that there are Palestinians expressing theirselves and explaining what really is going on in Palestine. The western media is so biased and soes not give the Palestinains a fair view of how they live or are being treated by the other party. This video depicts some of the real issues facing the people of Palestine and how they are misrepresented by the media and how people actually think of all arabs.
Sheren

 
At 10:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well "Daam" is basically how it would be pronounced in English. Short 'a' ("dam") is what you're thinking and that's blood. Daam (DAM), the name of the band, means 'eternity.' Or acronym for "Da Arab Mc's. So their name in Arabic means 'eternity,' 'blood' in Hebrew and can mean 'blood' in Arabic if you take out the long vowel "Alif." Filasteena 7ura.

 
At 11:33 AM, Blogger NonArab-Arab said...

Ah, thanks anonymous for the correction. I had presumed it was dam with a fatha not an alif, that's what I get for only looking at the English transliteration and not checking the Arabic.

 

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