IN PICTURES: Rapping to escape, rapping about dreams

Taysir Odeh from Nablus and Tarek Elven from Spain, both based in Ramallah, and THE ALiF crew from the Shuafat Refugee Camp in East Jerusalem, are among the names which reflect a growing and thoughtful hip-hop scene in the West Bank.

“We don’t like to throw stones or shoot rockets - we like to make music! Our music is about escaping … escaping from a shitty life. We’re rapping about our wishes … like, about going to the beach because we can’t!" said Muhammad Mughrabi from THE ALiF crew.

After meeting hip-hoppers in Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah and Jerusalem, their message is quite similar: politics are not the first priority in their lyrics. Their focus is rather on fighting stereotypes about Palestinians - to emancipate themselves from being poor Palestinian victims and become a confident youth.

“People here enjoy spending time with their families, going to work ... it’s not always about soldiers, demonstrations, bullets in the air...” said Tarek Eleven.

Muhammad from THE ALiF adds: “People have asked me if we have internet over here ... come on! We’re just regular people. We try to improve the way people from outside or inside look at us. There is more than Hamas and Fatah!"