ZE: Since the time of the filming, have the different rap artists been able to see each other more? What is their relationship with each other now?
JS: They met that one time that you see in the movie, but since then we met up once at Sundance and were able to get DAM and Abeer and Mohammed El Farra from PR together. The reason we got Mohammad out is because we got him permission to visit his sister in Egypt. He went to Egypt just when Hamas took power (in Gaza) and the borders were closed. He was locked out of Gaza for seven months and hasn’t been home or seen his family since. He was living in Cairo when we found out that we got into Sundance and we worked really hard [to get him entry to the US]. We had to get Sundance behind us and got Robert Redford to write letters to the US embassy in Egypt to give him permission to come. So we finally were able to get him, and that was the second time he was able to see DAM. Now he lives here in the States and sees DAM when they come and Abeer when we have shows.
But other guys in PR are still stuck in Gaza. One of them, Ayman Meghames, in the horrible invasion that just happened in December, the Israelis hit his house with five rockets and killed his father and destroyed their house. So it’s been tough for them, they want to get out so bad. We finally got a DVD to them. When I was touring Palestine last summer we tried to get the German consulate to try to bring them from Gaza to Ramallah for the show. We had a big show—the biggest one in Palestine. Over a thousand people came, and we showed the film and all the rappers performed afterwards. And just like in the film, they waited until the last minute to see if they can get out, and they didn’t. This happens to them repeatedly, where they think they’re going to get out and they don’t.
ZE: You did a tour of the Middle East, and among the places you went were the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. What was that experience like, showing the film there?
JS: It was really hard actually, showing in the camps there. Walking through Shatila, I felt like I was walking through Gaza—the camps are run down like that. I felt that it was different than showing in a place like Syria, where I went to the Palestinian camps too, but there was a very different feel between Syria and Lebanon. In Lebanon, because I think of all the wars and all the deaths, the Palestinians are treated so horribly that they were more jaded. When they saw the film, they didn’t like that the word Israel was on the map. They didn’t like that I wrote “Lyd, Israel.” They said, “Why didn’t you write Palestine?” And I said, “Well it’s Israel now; that’s the issue.”
They also didn’t like that they spoke Hebrew in the film. Because when we showed it in Palestine, we showed it in refugee camps. We showed it in 13 different places in the West Bank and in 48, and whenever they would speak Hebrew, there was no tension. The Palestinians would say, “Well of course they speak Hebrew, they’re 48ers.” But in Lebanon, when we showed it in Shatila camp it was projected outside, so the sound from the film was going through the camp, and there are scenes where Hebrew is being spoken, and I felt so much tension. There were a few people that were upset that they were speaking Hebrew. It wasn’t so much that they were speaking Hebrew, but why did I have to put it in the film.
But it won for “Best Film” and “Best Director” in Lebanon. It was also just shown in Egypt and it won “Best Film,” “Best Documentary,” and “Most Anticipated Film.” In Syria, the audience voted it “Best Film.” I was very impressed that Syrians of all age groups voted for it. I had many Palestinians that lived there too that came up to me, ones who were living in the camps, saying that this was the first time they got to see Akaa and Lyd. They felt that they got to tour Palestine.
There was one thing that I found really interesting: I heard from the Arabs from all these different countries—in Dubai, Lebanon, and in Syria—they said, “We are so surprised, this is the first time that we see Palestinians happy. They are really living there, they’re going to shows, partying.” And I said, “Of course!”
The only exposure that they see of Palestine is from Al Jazeera when there is a sad story; they just see the camps and the destruction, so they were excited to see this side of Palestine. That was the most common thing said among Arabs in the Arab world was: I have never thought I would see Palestine so happy.
ZE: And in Palestine what was that experience like, showing it there?
JS: Oh, it was great. We showed in places where we filmed: Dheishe [refugee camp], the refugee camp in Jenin, which was a lot of fun because it was the first time that DAM had performed there, and the kids were so excited. When DAM was done, the kids were screaming, “Wahid, tnane, tlate, DAM hayate! Wahid, tnane, tlate, DAM hayate” (One, two, three, DAM is my life! One, two, three, DAM is my life!”). It was so cute. I think for the 48ers it’s important for them to feel that love, because for so long they felt that they were looked down on, as they say in the film, because they hold an Israeli ID and because they live inside Israel. They think that everybody hates them, but really it’s not true; they have just been disconnected.
I am happy that the film is doing well in the US, and that it won in Spain and in France, and I am happy that you see how hip hop is so global. Because it is hip hop, it goes to all sorts of music festivals, because it is music and reaches out to all types of audiences. Touring with the film, it’s interesting to see that it appeals to such a variety of people with completely different backgrounds. That shows how powerful hip hop is.
For screening dates, DVD orders, and more information about Slingshot Hip Hop: www.slingshothiphop.com.
Jackie Reem Salloum is a New York-based artist and filmmaker. Drawing on her Palestinian and Syrian roots, her pop-infused work focuses on challenging the stereotypes of Arabs in the media. She has directed several shorts exploring this issue, including Planet of the Arabs, which received the International Editing Award at the 2005 CinemaTexas Film Festival and was an official selection in that year’s Sundance Film Festival. After receiving her MFA from New York University, Salloum began directing this documentary. Salloum’s work is also the basis of a youth education program on Palestine, and she frequently speaks at universities and conferences internationally.
Zein El-Amine is a poet and writer living in Washington DC. He is also a long-time community activist and a founding member of Left Turn magazine. He is presently working on finishing his MFA at the University of Maryland where he teaches creative writing as part of his job as Assistant Director of the Writers’ House. Zein helped Jackie Salloum fine tune song translations in the lead up to its showing at the Sundance Film Festival.
