REPORTER: Matthew Carney
RAP SONG (Translation):
If I follow the law like clockwork, because I'm an Arab, you tell me I'm a crim. Come on, cut down on crime. Don't cheer whenever an Arab is insulted. You neglect the law and the killer just to keep the Arab worried. It pleases you to see an Arab insulted. I'm sick of the government and you, man in blue. I want to see the back of guys like you. My people are sick of you, policeman. We're fed up!
From the ghettos of America, rap or hip-hop has hit the Middle East with force. Incredibly, songs like this one, by Palestinian group DAM, regularly top the charts - not the Arab world, but in Israel.
RAP SONG (Translation): If a Jew is shot you come down on us like the rain. When my cousin was bleeding for half an hour how many times were you called and didn't give a stuff? We're fed up!
MAHOUD JRERY, RAP ARTIST: We're trying to be like to say everything that we feel. That's it. It's the real hip-hop, it's not a main stream hip-hop. It's not about I got house, not about that I got girls, it's about I got someone that want me to - all my time to be on my knees. This is my rap.
It's late night in the backstreets of Tel Aviv and people are gathering to hear a concert by DAM. One of the most striking things about the new, Arab rap music is its popularity among young Israelis. DAM, meaning blood, are pioneers of Arab hip-hop. Tonight Tamer, Samar and Mahmoud are rapping about the anger they feel as Palestinians living in Israel.
RAP SONG (Translation): Hey! Hey! Hey! We've built our present from our past, drawn strength from our pain. Our words spoken with fury, filled with anger. You can hear us and neglect us. You can try to stop us. We'll never quit. No, we'll wear you down.
Almost everyone here is Israeli, but they seem to be lapping up this message from the Arab streets.
GIRL: Because they come from a very difficult background, most of them and they're the ones that have a lot to protest about.
BOY: When it's authentic, when they're Arabs and they talk Arab language and their people understand them, that's the dopest, I mean, I love it.
LIRON TEENY, ISRAELI DJ: When you hear the young people rap, you can feel the anger, you can see the real thing. It's not - we're not playing anymore. It's like we're not playing anymore, this is it. This is how we feel.
Liron Te'eny is the top rap DJ in Israel. His most requested song from 2003 was from two Palestinian teenage rappers.
LIRON TEENY: This music breaks barriers. Some people who live ignorant, Israelis, that didn't have no idea about how they live and how they feel. When they listen to these songs, they can relate, they can understand. They can understand the pressure.
RAP SONG (Translation): Me, me, me. I am the one. All for one and one for all. Our pain comes from rage. Look, see what we're doing. Neither cabaret music nor Do Re Mi...
Arab Israelis make up about 20% of the population in Israel, but are treated like second-class citizens. Jobs are scarce and poverty is rampant. DAM started rapping because of the destructive effect that hard drugs were having on their friends and community.
MAHOUD JRERY: We got drugs that many have been killed from this situation. Actually Tamer's friend been killed, and Samar's friend been killed and I got friend that got shot two weeks ago. So this is a really bad situation.
It's the Intifada that has really motivated Palestinian rappers to speak out. And leading the charge is 22-year-old Mahmoud Shalaby who comes from the Arab town of Akko in Israel's north.
MAHOUD SHALABY: Hip-hop and rap music - it's like a weapon, in every art it's a weapon, you know. It's a weapon to bring the reality that we are living in. You say, you know, for the people the truth, you know. You just - it's like a shot. You are shooting in your gun but I'm shooting in my mouth, you know.
Mahmoud's band MWR got together almost four years ago, the first really successful Palestinian rap group. 'Arabs in Danger' is MWR's latest hit.
RAP SONG (Translation): Take care! They've entered Palestine. Ruined houses, murdered people, orphans in the shadow of death. Why are we quiet about these criminals? The tables are turned, the world is against us. A land soaked with blood, people sick with worry, yet our Arab leaders don't give a stuff.
Mahmoud's angry political message has struck a chord with his generation of Israeli Arabs.
BOY (Translation): They talk about the racism we have here. If someone is an Arab then he is from the lower caste. That's how other people see it. The Arab people themselves can best explain their feelings and talk about the situation they're in.
RAP ARTIST (Translation): All we can do is sing. We can't fight or do anything. At least our voice is heard. It relieves our stress.
RAP SONG (Translation): Do I dream? Do I get ahead? Do I regret what I've done all these years? We've been rapping for four years but it was all for nothing? We sing to the music but it's all for nothing?
But it's not just the Israeli occupation that MWR is rebelling against. Mahmoud and his friends are also angry at Arab leaders who they say are betraying their people.
RAP SONG (Translation): In Palestine I see the martyrs. Our leaders hold conferences. Deceit and conspiracies! They're selling us out, pretending to act, but they're doing nothing. They're only good at talking. Loitering on the White House steps, leaving their people in ignorance and humiliation. We now know it's our destiny to remain enslaved. Enslaved. Enslaved. Enslaved...
MAHOUD SHALABY: I don't have any leader to take me and tell me to do this and do this. All of the leaders they have sell us, you know, they sell their own souls so they live empty and just live, you know, drink eat sleep, like an animal. I feel like this, excuse me, but I see it like this, you know.
As a little boy, Mahmoud used to lead the Islamic call to prayer. His mother Hajar is happy that her son is still using his talents.
HAJAR (Translation): When he first started to sing you could say I was supportive. I was proud of him.
Mahmoud has taken his message around the world. Last year MWR toured Europe with an Israeli contemporary dance group. Tonight they've been invited to perform with them again, at a concert in Tel Aviv.
MAHOUD SHALABY: We have a new generation, we have a new rap, you know, new rap and pure rap only in Arabic, no English, no, no, any language, only Arabic, you know. So we want our hope to get our voice out of here, you know, to hear us all. Liberty for all, freedom for all.
Frustrated with the old ways, Palestinian youth have found a voice in rap. Their message may be defiant, but many Israelis are keen to listen.
LIRON TEENY: I know some kids that listen to MWR and now they've got a whole different way of thinking about the conflict. And I think that the generation that loves hip-hop and listen to Israeli hip-hop and to the Arabic hip-hop as well, understand that it's time for peace, it's time for talks.
RAP SONG (Translation):
If I follow the law like clockwork, because I'm an Arab, you tell me I'm a crim. Come on, cut down on crime. Don't cheer whenever an Arab is insulted. You neglect the law and the killer just to keep the Arab worried. It pleases you to see an Arab insulted. I'm sick of the government and you, man in blue. I want to see the back of guys like you. My people are sick of you, policeman. We're fed up!
From the ghettos of America, rap or hip-hop has hit the Middle East with force. Incredibly, songs like this one, by Palestinian group DAM, regularly top the charts - not the Arab world, but in Israel.
RAP SONG (Translation): If a Jew is shot you come down on us like the rain. When my cousin was bleeding for half an hour how many times were you called and didn't give a stuff? We're fed up!
MAHOUD JRERY, RAP ARTIST: We're trying to be like to say everything that we feel. That's it. It's the real hip-hop, it's not a main stream hip-hop. It's not about I got house, not about that I got girls, it's about I got someone that want me to - all my time to be on my knees. This is my rap.
It's late night in the backstreets of Tel Aviv and people are gathering to hear a concert by DAM. One of the most striking things about the new, Arab rap music is its popularity among young Israelis. DAM, meaning blood, are pioneers of Arab hip-hop. Tonight Tamer, Samar and Mahmoud are rapping about the anger they feel as Palestinians living in Israel.
RAP SONG (Translation): Hey! Hey! Hey! We've built our present from our past, drawn strength from our pain. Our words spoken with fury, filled with anger. You can hear us and neglect us. You can try to stop us. We'll never quit. No, we'll wear you down.
Almost everyone here is Israeli, but they seem to be lapping up this message from the Arab streets.
GIRL: Because they come from a very difficult background, most of them and they're the ones that have a lot to protest about.
BOY: When it's authentic, when they're Arabs and they talk Arab language and their people understand them, that's the dopest, I mean, I love it.
LIRON TEENY, ISRAELI DJ: When you hear the young people rap, you can feel the anger, you can see the real thing. It's not - we're not playing anymore. It's like we're not playing anymore, this is it. This is how we feel.
Liron Te'eny is the top rap DJ in Israel. His most requested song from 2003 was from two Palestinian teenage rappers.
LIRON TEENY: This music breaks barriers. Some people who live ignorant, Israelis, that didn't have no idea about how they live and how they feel. When they listen to these songs, they can relate, they can understand. They can understand the pressure.
RAP SONG (Translation): Me, me, me. I am the one. All for one and one for all. Our pain comes from rage. Look, see what we're doing. Neither cabaret music nor Do Re Mi...
Arab Israelis make up about 20% of the population in Israel, but are treated like second-class citizens. Jobs are scarce and poverty is rampant. DAM started rapping because of the destructive effect that hard drugs were having on their friends and community.
MAHOUD JRERY: We got drugs that many have been killed from this situation. Actually Tamer's friend been killed, and Samar's friend been killed and I got friend that got shot two weeks ago. So this is a really bad situation.
It's the Intifada that has really motivated Palestinian rappers to speak out. And leading the charge is 22-year-old Mahmoud Shalaby who comes from the Arab town of Akko in Israel's north.
MAHOUD SHALABY: Hip-hop and rap music - it's like a weapon, in every art it's a weapon, you know. It's a weapon to bring the reality that we are living in. You say, you know, for the people the truth, you know. You just - it's like a shot. You are shooting in your gun but I'm shooting in my mouth, you know.
Mahmoud's band MWR got together almost four years ago, the first really successful Palestinian rap group. 'Arabs in Danger' is MWR's latest hit.
RAP SONG (Translation): Take care! They've entered Palestine. Ruined houses, murdered people, orphans in the shadow of death. Why are we quiet about these criminals? The tables are turned, the world is against us. A land soaked with blood, people sick with worry, yet our Arab leaders don't give a stuff.
Mahmoud's angry political message has struck a chord with his generation of Israeli Arabs.
BOY (Translation): They talk about the racism we have here. If someone is an Arab then he is from the lower caste. That's how other people see it. The Arab people themselves can best explain their feelings and talk about the situation they're in.
RAP ARTIST (Translation): All we can do is sing. We can't fight or do anything. At least our voice is heard. It relieves our stress.
RAP SONG (Translation): Do I dream? Do I get ahead? Do I regret what I've done all these years? We've been rapping for four years but it was all for nothing? We sing to the music but it's all for nothing?
But it's not just the Israeli occupation that MWR is rebelling against. Mahmoud and his friends are also angry at Arab leaders who they say are betraying their people.
RAP SONG (Translation): In Palestine I see the martyrs. Our leaders hold conferences. Deceit and conspiracies! They're selling us out, pretending to act, but they're doing nothing. They're only good at talking. Loitering on the White House steps, leaving their people in ignorance and humiliation. We now know it's our destiny to remain enslaved. Enslaved. Enslaved. Enslaved...
MAHOUD SHALABY: I don't have any leader to take me and tell me to do this and do this. All of the leaders they have sell us, you know, they sell their own souls so they live empty and just live, you know, drink eat sleep, like an animal. I feel like this, excuse me, but I see it like this, you know.
As a little boy, Mahmoud used to lead the Islamic call to prayer. His mother Hajar is happy that her son is still using his talents.
HAJAR (Translation): When he first started to sing you could say I was supportive. I was proud of him.
Mahmoud has taken his message around the world. Last year MWR toured Europe with an Israeli contemporary dance group. Tonight they've been invited to perform with them again, at a concert in Tel Aviv.
MAHOUD SHALABY: We have a new generation, we have a new rap, you know, new rap and pure rap only in Arabic, no English, no, no, any language, only Arabic, you know. So we want our hope to get our voice out of here, you know, to hear us all. Liberty for all, freedom for all.
Frustrated with the old ways, Palestinian youth have found a voice in rap. Their message may be defiant, but many Israelis are keen to listen.
LIRON TEENY: I know some kids that listen to MWR and now they've got a whole different way of thinking about the conflict. And I think that the generation that loves hip-hop and listen to Israeli hip-hop and to the Arabic hip-hop as well, understand that it's time for peace, it's time for talks.