On both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rappers are the voice of a new generation whose weapons are lyrics and music.
In Gaza, Mohamed, or DR (short for Dynamic Rapper), leads PR, the "Palestinian Rapperz". Despite Islamic laws, Israeli incursions and internal conflicts, PR persists in performing hip-hop concerts and producing new songs. "Our reality in Gaza is about suffering," says Mohamed. "Gaza is like a big prison, and we get our message across with rap music." Since last June, PR's Web site has had thousands of visitors from all over the world.
Jew Da lives in El'Ad, an Orthodox Jewish settlement near Tel Aviv. He recently moved from America to preach in Israel, putting his religion into his rap. Jew Da found rap before religion and he tries to follow a piece of advice given to him by his Rabbi: "Take what you did before, and flip it to holiness." Not easy. During a recent video shoot with other rappers, the former hard-partier acted shy about appearing with shimmying women dancers and tattooed colleagues.
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