British-Palestinian helps promote London Olympics
UK Foreign Office bid to promote 2012 London Olympics by featuring citizens' clips on their official site, includes one by Shadia Mansour, a Brit with Palestinian roots who sings about checkpoints and occupation
Shadia Mansour, a British rap singer of Palestinian origin found a special outlet to describe the situation in "Palestine."
Within the framework of a project to promote the Olympics, which will be held in London in August 2012, the British Foreign Office is asking its citizens to upload short video clips on its official site where they describe Britain "through their eyes".
'Now I feel very Palestinian,' Shadia Mansour
In Mansour's clip, which has been published on the website, she expresses how proud she is of the fact that she can "walk around comfortably in Britain" and that she has the right to choose her own path.
She describes her childhood in Britain and the values and Arab music she grew up on while at the same time, videos of the separation fence, Arabs squeezed together at a checkpoint and Israeli soldiers checking their ID cards as well as images of an Arab mother carrying her baby and children waiting at the checkpoint are shown as she speaks.
The words of the song playing in the background describe how Mansour identifies with the Palestinian people's "pain" and the forgotten children who had no one to care for them "during the cruel operation" -she is most likely referring to 1948 as images from that time also appear in the clip.
"Growing up, living in Britain, I used to feel very British. Now I feel very Palestinian," she declares in the clip and adds "going to Palestine really made me appreciate the privileges we have here, you do actually have a chance here to have your voice heard."
Mansour's voice is heard throughout the world – in the US she performed in New York, Chicago, Milwaukie, San Francisco and Los Angeles, she also went on tour in Holland. In songs she uploaded to Youtube she calls on the Arab nation to unite.
Don't touch her kaffiyeh
Another song focuses on her love of the kaffiyeh. She sings: "The kaffiyeh is Arab and that's how it will stay. Our culture they want, our integrity they want, half our country they want, half our home."She was also very clear about what people who tried to take her Kaffiyeh can do. In an intro to the song at one performance she said: "You can take my falafel and hummus, but don't f***ing touch my kaffiyeh."
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