mural of a woman’s face 27/11/2007
Posted by dlatman in Graffiti, Morocco, africa, anti-war, art, travel.add a comment
This photo of a beautiful woman’s face was taken in Asilah, Morocco. My friend Marouane said the Arabic script on the upper-left is the name of the artists’ collective who painted the mural. Don’t ask me what the name is, I can’t read Arabic to save my life.
I am thinking about Morocco because The NY Times Magazine cover story this week is about a bunch of boys who grew up in the same neighborhood of Tetouan and became terrorists. One young man took part in the Madrid subway bombing in 2004, while several others have joined jihadists in Iraq. The story is heartbreaking, informative, and very well-written; journalist Andrea Elliot won a Pulitzer Prize for a previous series of articles on a Brooklyn mosque. The cover story includes personal interviews and photographs of the young men’s families, friends and neighbors, and readers can understand that most Moroccans and Muslims are horrified by suicide bombings and the killing of innocent civilians.
Since Elliot’s article leads to that no-duh conclusion, it frustrates me that jihadists and terrorists continue to occupy the front pages of our most beloved media institutions. It only takes a handful of crazy guys to make a whole lotta mess; and it disturbs me that this minority can instill so much fear in the majority, when most people are actually pretty decent.
A lot of my American friends want to travel to Morocco ’cause it seems cool, but girls especially are too scared because they think it would be dangerous. Maybe they got that idea from the dumb Brad Pitt movie where unsuspecting blonde ladies get shot by Berber shepherds. According to the US State Department, Morocco certainly has its share of crime, but it doesn’t seem worse than pre-Giuliani NYC. It’s more no-duh news, but if you dress modestly, travel with someone who knows the language, and engage some normal big-city caution when exploring the markets, you should be fine.
I’d hate to think a lot of blonde girls would miss out on delicious Moroccan tea, eating from a tagine, gorgeous art and the utmost in hospitality, just ’cause the NY Times and Brad Pitt said you should be afraid.
DAM/Slingshot Hip Hop @ the JCC 13/11/2007
Posted by dlatman in "middle east", Jewish, music, ny, peace, u.s..3 comments
Update 5/17/08: Listen to Tamer Nafar interviewed on Democracy Now! this week, as part of a series on the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba. There are some clips of DAM’s recent US performances in the video streaming as well. I am happy to hear that “Slingshot Hip-Hop” has finally been finished and won awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
[From L-R: Mahmoud Jreri, Tamer Nafar, DJ Ori Shochat, Suhell Nafar]
No, I’m not kidding: along with a screening of the documentary Slingshot Hip Hop which features them so prominently, the Palestinian hip-hop group DAM performed last Saturday at the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side. Only two people walked out, one lady gave them all hugs, and afterwards I ate cupcakes.
DAM and Slingshot Hip Hop were featured as part of the Other Israel Film Festival, founded by philanthropist Carol Zabar, scion of the Upper West Side gourmet institution Zabar’s. Interestingly, while the festival professed to showcase the “stories of Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bedouin, defined collectively as Arab Citizens of Israel,” program literature excluded any mention of Palestine or Palestinians, except to state that “[t]his festival will be unique — it is not about the conflict — it is not about taking sides — this festival is about people.” (Hmm, that sounds familiar.) What about Palestinian people?
Members of DAM (which means immortal in Arabic, blood in Hebrew, and stands for Da Arabian MCs in Brooklyn-English) might officially be considered “Arabic citizens of Israel,” since they come from the town Lud about ten miles from Tel Aviv, but they strongly identify as Palestinian. In one song they initiated a call and response with the audience, repeating the lyrics, “DAM jayeem/Min falestin” (DAM is coming/We are from Palestine). They also performed their hit “Meen Er Habi” (Who’s the Terrorist) while the majority of the audience sang along.
DAM’s music melds American hip-hop rhythms with traditional Arabic music and samples from Arabic theater, while MCs Tamer Nafar, Suhell Nafar and Mahmoud Jreri rap mostly in Arabic. DAM members claim Tupac Shakur and Public Enemy as major inspirations. According to filmmaker Jackie Salloum, “What inspired Tamer to begin rapping was Tupac… when he saw the images in the video ‘Holler if Ya Hear Me,’ he thought it was Lud.”
Jackie Salloum introduced Slingshot Hip Hop by describing it as her response to misrepresentations of Arabs in the media. She was excited to learn about DAM’s music several years ago, and when she traveled to Palestine to visit family in 2003 (her mom is originally from Gaza), she asked DAM if she could make a documentary about them. Salloum said that she and her family are usually depressed after visiting Palestine, but groups like DAM make her feel hopeful.
Check out DAM tonight in Brooklyn, next week in California, and after that in Europe and the Middle East for your own anti-depression fix. Or, just eat more cupcakes.
i <3 NY… & Palestine… & Detroit 07/11/2007
Posted by dlatman in "middle east", art, ny, peace, shopping, travel, u.s..add a comment
UPDATE 3/7/08: Newsweek reports that Wal-Mart has opened an “Arab-American emporium” in Dearborn, Michigan (just outside Detroit) to satisfy the consumer demands of the area’s large Arab-American population. In addition to Wal-Mart’s usual items, the store, which opens this week, will feature hundreds of products “targeted at Middle Eastern shoppers,” including Halal meat, grape leaves, gallons of olive oil, and Arabic pop music CDs. While Wal-Mart might provide a cheaper and more efficient option for their targeted consumers, what are the implications for workers, local Arabic mom n’ pop shops, and the local economy in general?
I was walking by the flea market on Broadway when this image stopped me. The green, red, white and black (the colors of the Palestinian flag) script reads “I <3 NY” in Arabic. According to David Ferrara, who sells t-shirts with this logo through his e-Bay store Coolest-Tees.com, “It was originally drawn on a small piece of paper by a local restaurant manager and then turned into that t-shirt which had been requested by a friend of mine in California.” Because it is custom-made, each shirt costs about $40. For a different, more cost-effective message t-shirt, check out Not-A-Wear, a new company started by Palestinian American UNC student Mike Mallah.
According to population statistics, New York has a significant Palestinian American community. Perhaps because of their presence, or maybe ’cause NY is a major art center, the city has hosted several art projects in recent years that feature Palestinian artists and themes: in 2005, “Three Cities Against the Wall” included artists from Ramallah, Tel Aviv and New York in a collaborative exhibition to protest the Separation Barrier being built between Israel/Palestine. The “Made in Palestine” exhibit, featuring many Palestinian/American artists, showed in NY last year to critical acclaim.
Does anyone else find it ironic that NY hosts a significant Palestinian population, as well as the largest Jewish community outside of Israel? Yet somehow the two groups are able to get along here, or at least not fire-bomb each other regularly. My guess is that our conflict is not caused by innate ethnic or religious differences, but human rights violations that occur as part of the colonial project.
I recently had the “pleasure” of visiting Detroit, another American city with a large Palestinian population. It’s kind of funny that anyone would seek refuge in Detroit, because it’s got to be the most abandoned, depressing city in the U.S. But hey, Iron Sheik is from Detroit, it has an amazing outdoor art project, Eddie Murphy played a Detroit cop fleeing his hometown in the 1984 action-packed comedy Beverly Hills Cop, and other cool stuff happens there as well, so I don’t mean to be all negative.
Me & the nice Coolest-Tees employee agree: NY rocks!
