IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
Palestinian Profiles
“A shekel and a dream and a dictionary.” That’s all Tamer Nafar had when he started out. Now, he’s one of the biggest Palestinian musicians, the godfather of the Arabic hip hop scene, and an actor, scriptwriter, and (by his own admission) “just a cool guy.”
on November 22, 2021
Roger Waters teamed up with Palestinian band Le Trio Joubran to record “Supremacy,” a rebuke to the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and eventually move the U.S. embassy there. The move was considered a major setback to the Middle East peace process.
on March 14, 2018
We write in support of Lorde, who made public her decision not to perform in Israel and has now been branded a bigot in a full page advertisement in the Washington Post. Shmuley Boteach, the author and promoter of the advert, supports Israel’s illegal settlements and wrote last month on Breitbart to thank Donald Trump for “electrifying the world” with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in defiance of international law.
on January 5, 2018
Wherever you go, teenagers want to sing and dance. Palestinian teens living in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank of Israel, want others things, too: security, freedom, hope for the future. "We want our rights, as human beings, as children, as teenagers," says Sireen Khamis, 16.
on March 24, 2017
Israeli Arab rapper Tamer Nafar's politically-charged lyrics have sparked the same kind of controversy that may have made his hero Tupac Shakur proud. Nafar, from the pioneering political rap group DAM, has touched a nerve with songs like "Who's the Terrorist?" skewering what he and others say is discrimination against Arabs in Israel.
on November 27, 2016
“Open up your heart and mind and just listen,” singer Philip Lawrence crooned against a gentle piano accompaniment before slipping into a falsetto sigh during a performance at Los Angeles nightspot The Study late last month. Lawrence – part of Bruno Mars’ songwriting trio The Smeezingtons – has helped pen hits such as Flo Rida’s “Right Round” and Snoop Dogg’s “Young, Wild, and Free.”
on May 18, 2016
“Turn them off? Off?” asked an employee of the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza City repeatedly as he talked on his cellphone. Once he received a clear answer from the director of the center, he headed to the small control room at the far end of the hall teeming with more than 1,000 attendees, who sat on chairs, lay on the floor or stood leaning against the walls.
on May 17, 2016
On the big screen, a Palestinian was trying to audition for a singing contest over the Internet, because he was unable to leave the Gaza Strip. But the shoddy connection kept freezing, and the plucky hero eventually disappeared into a hazy cloud of belching smoke, as the generator he was using broke down.
on May 13, 2016
Palestinian students at an elementary school for the blind in the West Bank are learning English through song. For the youngsters, it's a welcome departure from the usual braille textbooks and memorising the rules of grammar. "In specific subjects, I like to motivate them (to learn) so I teach them grammar or vocabulary by creating a song, because they feel better and they keep repeating it," said Hind Al-Tamimi.
on March 2, 2016