Partying in Palestine : Another Dimension of ‘Underground’

‘Palestine Underground’ opens to footage of DJ Oddz’ daring ascent of the 8 metre wall standing between him and the venue he’s due to play at. As he clumsily drops to Israeli ground on the other side, injuring his leg, he is quick to dust himself down and address the camera : “worth it”.

The illicit nature of its introduction alone sets this documentary apart from Boiler Room’s previous explorations of the genre. Beyond introducing the viewer to a surprisingly active and experimental music scene, ‘Palestine Underground’ grants raw insight into the life of the young Palestinians re-uniting their peers under a coming-of-age new banner : the right to party.

Until recently, burgeoning Palestinian artists either side of the West Bank Barrier existed independently from each other. On the West Bank side in Ramallah, the godfather of Palestinian hip-hop Muqata’a, widely credited with establishing bass-heavy ‘sound of Ramallah’ operates alongside techno pioneers such as Sama or Oddz, doing their best to keep their house parties from being shut down. On the Israeli side there’s the nascent Jazar collective, based in Haifa, keen to rekindle a bond amongst their people having opened the city’s first Palestinian venue, Kabareet.

Now, the two groups are uniting forces to strengthen a divided Palestinian identity and inspire more artists in their community. Not least by organising Boiler Room’s first ever Palestinian event, held in Ramallah, the catalyst for Sama’s filmed set that now has over 3 million views on Youtube.

Although reporting of conflict and unrest in Gaza and the West Bank has been a near constant in our lives, few in the West can claim to have a strong grasp of the issues at stake, let alone any tangible knowledge of the struggle that their Palestinian counterparts face.

For many of its viewers, this film will have put the West Bank on the map, not as a conflict-zone, but as vibrant city full of talented young creators, keen to reach out to and inspire a global audience.

Sama’s Boiler Room now has over 3 million views on Youtube.

This is the real strength of Director Jessica Kelly’s project and is a credit to Boiler Room for commissioning the film. By connecting the nascent local scene with a vast online community of music-lovers, they’ve successfully brought renewed attention to an important issue while also redefining and humanising the individuals caught up in it.

 Youtube user ‘Great Stuff’ said it best in the comment section for Sama’s Boiler Room set : ‘Next year Ibiza is off, Palestine here we go boys!’