Arab rappers vs. national service
'National service will take me backwards, put me on the bulldozer,' sing Israeli-Arab rappers in protest song
After Israeli-Arab Knesset Members spoke out against the proposal to draft Arabs into national civil service, Arab hip-hop artists are also taking a swing bashing the initiative.
The DAM rap trio's song was commissioned by the Baladna charity group to accompany the new campaign challenging national service proposal.
Baladna's chairman, Nadim Nashaf, contacted the DAM rap group over a month ago and asked them to compose a song for the campaign.
"They are very famous group in the Arab sector, and we thought it right to turn to the hearts of Arabs in their own language and not only through political speeches," said Nashaf.
The group's three members, all residents of Lod, launched the new song on Wednesday on Arab-language radio. The song is entitled 'Wanted: An Arab who lost his memory.' In it, the group criticizes and mocks the situation in the country, saying that Israel gives them no rights yet makes demands of them.
The following is a translated version of one of the song's verses:
'National service will take me backwards
Will put me in a tank to threaten my grandfather
Will put on me on the bulldozer which destroyed my heritage
On the way I'll pick up 35 heroes of unemployment, and fall with them to 60% poverty.'
"The equation tying rights to duties is very dangerous for our society, and this is what we are seeking to protest against," a group member, Nashaf, said.
"We chose this time to express our protests through art, to reach the youths through their own language and not by giving speeches."
