Last month, we reached out to the Israeli metal scene to ensure their safety amidst the recent Hamas attack, and to hear their perspective on the volatile situation. While sharing the views of acts including Canine, Shredhead, Arallu, and Eternal Struggle was insightful, it became clear that only one side of the story was being heard…
In an effort to shine a light on further voices, we also reached out to nearby metal scenes who were expressing a pro-Palestine stance. Although we ideally would have also heard from musicians residing in Palestine and Gaza who may had witnessed the violence closely, there is little metal artists active in Palestine. I can only imagine when you live in a country that is oppressed and struggling, your time and energy is made towards survival, rather than creating music.
Amir Yacoub
Zalaam; One-Man Black Metal Project from Palestine
A couple years ago, I was in contact with a black metal musician named Amir Yacoub of the one-man project Zalaam. He spoke about his struggles as a Palestinian living in Israel, expressing how it is “very tough to keep cool with all the discriminations of the brutal Israeli policies” as well as the need to protest against “the ethnic cleansing that’s happening in East Jerusalem,” clarifying that “Zionist settlers came in droves to mixed cities like Haifa, Lyd, and Jaffa (cities that had Arabs and Jews living in it), and the Israeli Police basically shrugged carelessly and allowed them to attack people and vandalize houses in Arab neighborhoods.” [June 7, 2021]
While his musical endeavors acted as a “relief from the vicious reality of life, including the reality about the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” more importantly, he believed there could be a solution in the future: “The only way to move forward and to make sure nobody’s right to exist is ambushed by anybody else, is for everyone to join the struggle in order to put an end to the racist policies of the state of Israel towards the Palestinians citizens inside Israel and the Palestinians inside occupied territories of the West Bank, as well as ending the blockade on the Gaza strip. Doing that, will alter the nature of the state to become a ‘true’ democratic state for all its citizens, Jews and Arabs. Nobody will control anybody, and nobody will be above the law.” [June 7, 2021]
The last I heard from Amir was October 19th, 2023.
“Conflict”
Upon initially reaching out to the following acts about their pro-Palestine stance, I was referring to the situation as a “conflict.” All who responded made certain to rebut this rhetoric.
Callous Minds: “We personally don’t view this as a conflict. That’s like saying the holocaust was a conflict. Conflict as a word weighs very little in comparison to what our reality is. It is an occupation without consent, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid. Hamas did not exist until the late 80’s and even before that, Israel was still committing all these atrocities against the Palestinians.” [October 22, 2023]
Triton: “This isn’t a conflict between Israel and Palestine; it is a genocide against the Palestinians. Israel has one of the strongest militaries in the world, whereas Palestinians does not have a military force of the sorts. It can never be called a conflict when only one party has a military and the other doesn’t.”
Metal East Records: “This is not a conflict, or a war. This is genocide and an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. With the civilian, children, and women death toll rising, all we hope for is the world to intervene and enforce a ceasefire. We’re watching genocide take place live, and due to the heavy propaganda, some are still calling it a conflict.”
Callous Minds
Progressive War Metal from Dubai, UAE
“We expected this.”
“After 75 years of illegal occupation, apartheid, and war crimes fueled by the Zionist movement, it was always bound for Hamas to retaliate. People make it seem that October 7th was the start of it all when in reality it started with the Nakba of 1948. In our view, Israel uses any Hamas resistance against the whole population of Palestine which is unjust and unfair. As we see now, Israel are carrying out mass genocide, claiming to target Hamas bases, yet they have bombed hospitals and churches, which have nothing to do with Hamas. This has been an ongoing cycle, consistently bombing the Palestinians to drive them out of Gaza.”
“We do not and will never condone any killings of innocent civilians, however Israel has been ethnically cleansing Palestinians since 1948, so it was no surprise to me that Hamas took a stand against them. Please don’t get us wrong, we stand against fascism, regardless of which side it represents.”
“The world’s social and digital media filtering control lies with Israel. They control the narrative. They continue to victimize themselves on Western media, portraying an incredibly racial and damaging image of the Palestinian population. The Palestinian population is referred to as ‘terrorists,’ which is quite frankly hypocritical. That’s just how Western media is, giving control to the Zionists, especially with America backing them. That is a ridiculous amount of power given to an oppressor.”
“We also believe America is as guilty as the Zionists are. As a country, if you are funding this regime, you’ve got the blood of Palestine on your hands. It is blood money.”
“Israel’s ideology of collective punishment, in hope of eradicating Hamas, is outright a violation of human rights and a desecration of the value of human life. All they’re doing when they say they’re ‘defending themselves’ is only assisting their regime with an additional human rights violation. No population should be deprived of food and water. That’s just inhumane and unheard of.”
“As a Palestinian who holds a Jordanian passport and resides in the UAE, I have never visited Palestine and would love to since I do have family there, but I can’t visit. My passport would get blacklisted if I enter Israeli territory and I won’t be able to leave.” – Ahmad Haliss (guitarist)
“‘Project 1948’ talks about how the apartheid came about. It is an empowering song that cries for the freedom of Palestine and its people. We have a few more songs planned in light of the same theme. The next one hopefully releasing early next year.”
“A quote that all children of Palestine share: ‘I hope that one day I wake up to the sound of birds chirping, not bombs dropping.'”
[October 22, 2023]
Triton
Modern Metal from Dubai, UAE
“Our honest initial reaction was that we have all now became fearful of what Israel is going to do to the Palestinians. For over 70 years they have been slaughtering, displacing, and arresting innocent children, men, and women with no cause whatsoever, and they have done this long before there ever was a Hamas. Israel has attacked the West Bank numerous occasions even though Hamas isn’t in that city. We all felt very fearful for our brothers and sisters in Palestine as we know Israel would massacre the nation.”
“We need to also share that Israel has been altering mass media by paying to support Israel, or even threatening celebrities and reporters that support Palestinians. Israel has assassinated journalists in Palestine so that they can own the narrative, but thanks to the internet, almost every single claim has been disproved by trusted sources. For people who don’t know who to side with, look at the world, protests are happening in an incredibly large scale all supporting Palestine, a nation that Israel and the west have been trying to paint as the enemy for the past 70 years, and they don’t own the narrative anymore.”
“We stand with Palestine; the Zionist movement should end. There are thousands of Jewish people that are advocating for Palestine, and Israel have also been murdering or attacking them, attacking their own people. Israel must lose all their power and to stop their apartheid, stop their genocide. They must stop committing war crimes and breaching numerous international crimes.”
[October 23, 2023]
Moutasem Kabbani
Founder / Owner of Metal East Records
“I am of Palestinian descent from Jerusalem through my mother’s side. Unfortunately, neither she nor I have been able to enter our own country.”
“Hamas surprised everyone with their bold move. Instead of labelling it as an attack, I perceive it as a response to seven decades of oppression and massacres that happened and still are happening to Palestine and its people by Israel.”
“Metal East Records and all the bands under our umbrella unequivocally and proudly fly the Palestinian flag. We have in the past and will forever express our sadness, anger, and love regarding this through the music we release.”
[October 28, 2023]
Racism?
In regards to the current situation between Israel and Palestine, many view the tension to be caused by racism or anti-semitism. When asked about such and the presence of racism in UAE, fingers were pointed instead at Zionism.
Moutasem Kabbani: “There is no racism; it was never about Arab, Muslim, or Jewish people. The problem lies specifically with the Zionist.”
Callous Minds: “Between Jews, Muslims, and Arabs there is no prejudice in the UAE; everyone here has a clear cut understanding that not all Zionists are Jews and not all Jews are Zionist. Jews who are true followers of their religion are against Zionism, and this is showcased worldwide. I am happy that we don’t have issues pertaining to this because we don’t have a need to fight; the enemy is Zionism.”
“We believe there is no difference between the current Zionist regime and Hitler’s Fascist regime. It’s an irony how this entire thing played out but, it is what it is.”
A Solution?
Callous Minds: “Palestinians are some of the most resilient people on this planet; they will not stop until they get back what is rightfully theirs. For us personally, there is no solution to this yet, and whatever solution there may be in the future hopefully favors Palestinians getting their land back. If the forces of the Arab world do decide to take a stance against this, the country and its people may have some hope. However, considering the geopolitical dynamics between Israel and its neighboring states as well as Israel’s economic position in global trade, we believe it may take some time before anything can happen.”