Telling the story of Palestinian resistance Madhyamam

‘In a land of ancient tales, skies so blue, Palestine, we stand with you, forever true,
From Gaza’s shores, to the West Bank’s heart We’ll keep the flame of hope burning bright.
In the face of hardship, their people stay strong, Resilient hearts, where they truly belong,
olive fields to the city streets, they strive For justice, peace, and the right to thrive….’

Kochi native Safwan Muhammad Saifuddin sings in a resounding voice with firm words, and no one will give an ear or an eye for a moment. The history of Palestine, the decades of occupation they have faced and the bias of the world nations and the media cannot help but be heard. Since October 7th, when the Israeli occupation forces rained death from the sky of Gaza and rained fire, this young man from Kochi Chullikal who is an expatriate in Qatar and his friends put together everything they have to say and release a rap song in a hip-hop culture.

The rap song released with lyrics written in English, lively music and performance became a hit within a few days. Safwan came to Qatar as an expatriate a year ago. The first experiment in hip hop culture was released two years ago by Safwan, who previously worked at Lulu Mall in Kochi, containing the stories of Malabar strugglers.

In 2021, Safwan and his team made music in a hip-hop culture called ‘Shujaipada’, which included their protest and what they had to say when the Indian Council of History Research (ICHR) cut the heroes of the Malabar struggle who made significant contributions to the history of Indian independence from the history books.

Responding to political and contemporary situations with the first venture incorporating lyrics from an old Mappilapat. The rap produced under the banner of Urban Mapila Production got a lot of attention.

The second rap released titled ‘Marichika’ was about contemporary politics and the politics of using the youth without any sense of direction. The rap song prepared in Malayalam and English was also impressive in its presentation.

After that, after the attack in Gaza, he prepared an English rap song called ‘Izzat’ in solidarity with Palestine. All the lyrics, sung and performed by Safwan himself. Friends Nasrullah and Aslam came to help with camera and editing.

Aslam, Nasrullah, Safwan

The shooting location was in Rayyan, their residence in Qatar. It is also unique that it was presented in the same frame in a single shoot. They completed all the work in four days, including shooting, editing and music mixing, and they shared their protest song on social media while the Palestine issue was burning.

Safwan says that as young people who keep a close eye on current affairs and politics, they used hip-hop culture as a medium to voice their feelings and protests to the world. There is the occupation that Palestine has been facing for more than seven decades, the resistance against the loss of their land, freedom and right to life, and the protest against the media and state leaders who justify the occupation, and the recognition of the new generation in lyrics and voices.