RAMALLAH, November 6, 2012 (WAFA) - The hip hop group, DAM, and in cooperation with UN Women launched on Tuesday a music video titled “If I Could Go Back In Time” and aimed at starting debate on the issue of honor killing in Palestinian society.
The video was presented at the opening of a press conference the group held in Ramallah. It tells the story in reverse of a Palestinian girl killed by her family in what appears to be “a domestic violence” issue, according to Suhail Nafar, member of the group and co-director of the video.
“The song is not a specific incident but it describes the phenomena of honor killing in general,” he said. “It can be a true story but with fictional characters,” he added.
Tamer Nafar, the rapper, said that the idea for this song started four years ago, but work on it started two-and-a-half years ago.
“We feel that when there is a crime against a woman, it is seen as the end of the story,” he said. “No one asks the right questions, no one tries to shed the light on the human face; it is just another death. A death justified merely by the fact of being a girl.”
Alia El-Yassir, special representative of UN Women office in the occupied Palestinian territory, which supports the project, wrote in a press release that “killing in the name of honor is the most extreme form of discrimination against women. Every woman has the right to life and a future.”
According to women groups, 12 women were murdered by a male family member in the West Bank between January and August.
Soraida Hussein, general director of Women’s Technical Affairs Committee, warned that “we live in a society that is allowing its members to kill each other.”
She said the video aims at sending a message to society through an art work.
“The video is one of the most powerful tools in our effort to bring social change,” said Hussein.
The music video, directed by Jackie Salloum with assistance from Suhail Nafar, will be broadcast on the internet “to ensure the dissemination of its message and initiate debate,” said Suhail Nafar.
M.S.
