Rise Of Hip Hop Music In Israel And Palestine

The final type of music, as seen through the rise of youth culture, that has made a significant impact on society is hip hop music in Israel/Palestine. The rise of hip hop music can only be understood in the context as emerging the Israeli-Palestinian issue. After the formation of the Israeli state, only fifteen percent of Palestinians remained in the new formed state, obviously comprising the minority of the population. Since they were the minority, they were often discriminated again not just by Israelis but also by other Palestinians outside of Israel. In regards to discrimination faced within Israel, these Palestinians were not allowed to resist, so they had to channel their protests elsewhere (Maira). One of the ways that they channeled …show more content…
An important trend to realize in regards to Hip hop is its growth. Hip hop has been growing exponentially since the Palestinian of ’48 and it has especially attracted great interest since 2001. This growth makes sense because of the majority of the age group of the population; “this new subgenre quickly gained popularity in a country with half of its population under the age of 18” (Kahf 360.) Subsequently, the youth of Israel/Palestine was essential to progressing this new form of music, and possibly wouldn’t have possible without their participation. Additionally, as with pop music in Iran and rai music in Algeria, hip hop music was an amalgam of styles in which artists “incorporated western and eastern music with powerful and politically charged lyrics that ‘tell it how it is’” (Kahf 360.) These charged lyrics where very critical for bringing about awareness to the youth in Israel as seen with an interview conducted with a senior at Tufts University, Yotam, who is from Israel (see appendix B.) When asked if hip hop music had opened you(his) eyes to any culture issues in Israel, Yotam responded “It sure has.