AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Abstract

The Palestinian Israeli rap group Dam emerged on the scene in the early 2000s. Throughout their career, their music has gained popularity among Arab speaking listeners. When I first came across their music while studying at the Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, I got interested in looking further into the phenomena of Palestinian Israeli rap music. The main aim with this thesis has been to discover what the major themes of the lyrics of Dam are through a discourse analysis. My assumption was that, given their background as Arab minority in Israel, the genre rap is a suitable tool for conveying their music. This thesis look at the lyrics of Dam in the light of the discrimination Arabs have been facing since the establishment of the Israeli state, and shows that Dam are taking up the line from earlier conscious rappers, who grew out of poor, urban black American societies. They do this by making rap a tool for socio-political critique fitted to the Palestinian Israeli situation. I show how Dam are identifying the Palestinian cause, and that they identify as Palestinians, rather than Israelis. Dam are using their music as a tool for giving the world a picture of the situation for Palestinian Israelis, which is one of discrimination and inequality, and as a tool for encouraging change, and the liberation of Palestine.