Concert wraps up ‘Apartheid Week’

Hip-hop and political consciousness came together Tuesday night for an outdoor concert featuring Palestinian hip-hop artists.

The Viva Palestine Outdoor Concert was held in Lynn Eusan Park, and was the winding down of Israeli Apartheid Week, an international event.

This is the sixth year of the event, which is held in various cities throughout the world and aims to educate people about apartheid in Israel aimed at Palestinians.

The concert was hosted by the Students For A Democratic Society and co-sponsored by the Student Feminist Organization.

Marketing junior and aspiring artist Kamil Khan started the show with a five-minute poem called “The United States of hypocrisy,” that tackled racism, capitalism, xenophobia and US foreign policy.

“You can still make music and revolutionize it, but the problem with mainstream (music) is the message gets lost,” Khan said.

Palestinian artist Sabreena Da Witch sang songs from her new album, “A Woman Under The Influence.”

The crowd stood up and clapped along while she sang “Where No One Is” before breaking out in an acapella version of “Beautiful.”

Her music focused on the struggles Palestinians go through in the day-to-day life in Gaza.

“I try to use my music to educate people about what’s really going on in Israel and to give people the whole story,” Sabreena Da Witch said.

Dallas rappers Krucial and Mohammed Al-Farrah took the stage last, and performed songs in English and Arabic.

The crowd quickly got on its feet and gathered around the stage to hear the duo perform “When you see me,” a song about peoples’ perceptions of Muslims.

They spoke about how Palestinians face discrimination and persecution from the Israeli government and military.

Krucial, who was born in Dallas but lived in Jordan for five years, said he faced discrimination traveling to Palestine all the time.

“They stop you, search you, do whatever they want,” Krucial said. “If you’re a non-Jew, you’re a target.”