'In this reality, even love is political': A Palestinian artist's song of love kept apart by borders
For musician Maysa Daw, telling Palestinians' stories makes it worth staying in the volatile and divided city
"It's pretty much impossible to live here and not be political, especially as an artist."
In the video above, Palestinian musician Maysa Daw performs her song "Come With Me" — a personal love song that is unavoidably political.
I had a relationship with a guy from the West Bank, so we were separated by Israeli borders and couldn't see each other. In this reality, even love is political.- Maysa Daw, Palestinian Musician
Maysa makes music under her own name and is also a member of Palestinian hip-hop group DAM, who were the first Palestinian group to rap in Arabic — often about political issues including women's rights.
The situation here is super hard, living daily life. There's barely any places we can actually talk without ten eyes on us.- Maysa Daw
In this Sunday's episode of Interrupt This Program in Jerusalem, Maysa takes us into her artist's world in the volatile, divided city. Maysa often asks herself why she stays. "I always say, 'Ah shit, why am I doing this? Why am I doing this?'" But she sees telling the stories of Palestinians as something worth staying for. "I can't really leave this when I know that I have the power to speak and sing about it — really tell people what we are going through."
Art as political protest, as a means of survival, as an agent of change, as a display of courage and delight. Interrupt This Program explores art in cities under pressure. Watch episodes from Moscow and Lagos now, and see Interrupt This Program: Jerusalem this Sunday at 9:00PM on CBC TV.
Video edited by Benoit Salin.