L to R: Mahmood Jreri, Tamer Nafar, and Suhell Nafar of DAM, a Palestinian hip-hop group from Lod.

When the members of DAM, the leading Palestinian hip-hop group, travel to Europe for their frequent performances there, they fly out of Ben Gurion Airport on their Israeli passports. Group leader Tamer Nafer, 27, his brother Suhell, 23, and their friend Mahmoud Jreri, 24, were born and raised in the impoverished, drug-infested inner city of Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish town just south of Tel Aviv, where they still live. Israeli Jews refer to them as Arab-Israelis, but, like many of Israel’s 1.5 million Arab citizens, they prefer the term “1948 Palestinians.” Over the last eight years DAM, who rap in both Arabic and Hebrew, has built up a fan base around the Middle East and Europe, inspiring a wave of young Arab hip-hop artists in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan. Now, however, it looks as though DAM may be finding a niche audience among Israeli hipsters from the Jewish sector of the population as well.

Read the rest of my article about DAM for Nextbook here.