"Who's a Terrorist?": The Other Israel Film Festival

by Miriam (Egypt/Israel/USA)

A quiet revolution is happening in upper Manhattan. The Other Israel Film Festival, a series of screenings, dialogues and performances focusing on the Palestinian citizens of Israel, was founded and financed by Carol Zabar. Under the advisement of the Palestinian Israeli actor and film director Muhammad Bakri (Behind the Wall; Jenin, Jenin and Since You Left) Zabar’s festival team has put together a lineup of films focusing on the 20 percent of Israel’s population collectively defined as “Arab.”

But even more startling is the dialogue that has ensued. On more than one occasion Bakri has taken Zabar to task in very public settings for insisting on the use of the term “Arab-Israeli” instead of “Palestinian-Israeli”. And because people from both the Arab and Jewish communities of New York are showing up for the events, the audiences are frequently in disagreement about the history and politics that run through this volatile art form.

Tonight, the Palestinian Israeli Hip Hop group DAM came. DAM is most famous for the song “Who’s a Terrorist” (“Who’s a terrorist? I’m a terrorist and I’m living in my own country!”) They were at Cinema Village to screen scenes from their new film, Slingshot Hip Hop, perform a few songs as a warmup for their show tomorrow at South Paw in Brooklyn, and lead a very complex and hard-hitting talkback session about everything from the hip hop industry to the relationship between the Palestinian and African-American experience. The musicians were quick to talk about the connection they feel not only with the aesthetic of hip hop but also with the history of the civil rights movement, particularly the more agitating segments (Black Panthers, Malcolm X), and also mentioned the Brazilian film City of God as something that any Palestinian could relate to, regardless of language. While the rappers in DAM are not living under occupation, their hometown of Lod/Lydd is a mixed city that has high crime rates and limited upward mobility.

Palestinian resistance music is not a new genre in the Arab world, but resistance hip hop is. DAM talked about the politics of selling out and how they have to balance their concern for their livelihood with their moral and community obligations–they were even willing to discuss their having pulled out of the One Million Voices Jericho event (they ended up holding a free concert in Ramallah instead some weeks later.)

It was laugh-out-loud funny at points in the screening to see members of the group as well as youngsters around Lydd imitate the gangsta-rap stance and gestures they’ve seen on Tupac and Public Enemy. But there are a few things the hip hop scene around here could learn from DAM too. When asked about women’s participation in the music scene, Tamer Nafar noted that they often partner with Arabiyat of Akka and Tulkaram’s Abir Al-Zinaty. He then quoted Nawal Al-Saadawi’s seminal book Woman at Point Zero to talk about the paradoxical way women are treated and the virgin/whore binary. He also mentioned a song that DAM wrote and performs often called “Al-huriyya untha” which they translate as “Freedom for my sisters.” I ask you, when is the last time we can recall a major rap artist in this country quoting Betty Friedan or Maya Angelou on women’s rights?

The only damper on the evening were some ladies sitting in the row next to us who seemed “very upset” with the content of the event. The Other Israel Festival is surely ruffling some feathers.

(This contribution is cross-posted here and here is a short review of Since You Left.)