Monday, June 18, 2007

Min irhabi? Who is the Terrorist?



The Palestinian rap group, DAM, makes a powerful statement about the current situation in Occupied Palestine. The song is performed in Arabic, with English captions. Here is the English:

'Who's the terrorist? I'm the terrorist?
How I am the terrorist when you've taken my land?
Who's the terrorist? You're the terrorist!
You've taken everything while I'm living in the homeland.

You're killing us like you killed our ancestors.
You want me to go to the Law?
What for?
You're the Witness, the Lawyer and the Judge.
If you're the Judge
I'll be sentenced to death.
You want us to be the minority?
To end up the majority in the cemetary?
In your dreams!

You're a Democracy?
Actually, it's more like the Nazis!

Your countless rape of the Arabs' soul
Finally impregnated it,
Gave birth to your child.
His name: the Suicide bomber!
And then you call him the terrorist?

You attack me but still you cry out
When I remind you it was you who attacked me.
You silence me and shout
'But you let small children throw stones!
Don't they have parents to keep them at home?'
WHAT!?
You must have forgotten you buried our parents
under the rubble of our homes.

And now while my agony is so immense
You call me the terrorist?!
Who's the terrorist?

Why terrorist?! Because my blood is not calm?
It's boiling!
Because I hold my head high for my homeland?
You've killed my loved ones
Now I'm all alone
My parents driven out
But I will remain
To shout out

I'm not against Peace.
Peace is against me.
It's going to destroy me,
Erase my culture.

You don't listen to our voices.
You silence us and degrade us.
And who are you?!
And when did you become ruler?!
Look now how many you've killed
And how many orphans you've created!
Our mothers are crying
Our fathers are in anguish,
Our land is disappearing,
And I'll tell you who you are!

You grew up spoiled,
We grew up in poverty.
Who grew up with freedom?
And who grew up in confinement?

We fight for our freedom
But you've made that a crime
And you, the terrorist
Call me the terrorist?!

Who's the terrorist? I'm the terrorist?
How I am the terrorist when you've taken my land?
Who's the terrorist? You're the terrorist!
You've taken everything while I'm living in the homeland.

So when will I stop being a terrorist?
When you hit me and I turn the other cheek.
How do you expect me to thank
the one who harmed me?!

I'll tell you what!
You tell me how you want me to be!
Down on my knees with my hands tied up,
My eyes to the ground,
Surrounded by bodies.
Homes destroyed,
Families driven out,
Our children orphaned,
Our freedom chained up,

You oppress,
You kill.
We bury,
We'll remain patient.
We'll suppress our pain.
Most importantly, you feel secure,
Just relax and leave us all the pain.
You see, our blood is like that of dogs,
NOT EVEN!
When dogs die, they receive sympathy,
So our blood is not as valuable as a dog's.

No! My blood is valuable,
And I will continue defending myself
Even if you call me a terrorist.

Min irhabi, min irhabi, min irhabi... (Who's the terrorist?)

(An old man narrates the following)
Those were my olive trees, all over here,
All of this land was full of olive trees.
... all of it.
Look! Look what they did to this tree! the poor thing...
They came and uprooted them.
A tree like this is 200 years old.
For two hundred years
We lived from its olives.
And they just come and destroy them.'

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