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Nikmat Olalim interview taken from Reason to Believe zine issue #9 summer 2003  Well, I really hope it would be O.K. We really liked the questions (I think it's the first time we're interviewed by someone who is not a moron). Before the questions, I'd like to say how the band started (even though you did not ask, ha-ha). In late 2001 Yaniv Geller (the drummer) and Tal Levi (the bass player) from Kfar Saba wanted to start a punk band which will discuss Israeli and international issues by their political views. They were looking for a guitar player for some time until they found David Katzin from Jerusalem and later his twin-brother Giora joined as a vocalist. RTB -Tell me more about the name of your band.... "Nikmat Olalim" (meaning Toddlers' Revenge) is the name of a Jewish terrorist organization, that planted a pipe bomb in a school of an arab village near Jerusalem around the time we started the band. Obviously we do not identify with them, the idea is to bring this subject to light, the fact that terror exists in both sides, be it an organized army or a bunch of racist idiots. The Israeli media loves to talk about the terror that is supposedly infested in the arab society but they would never mention the terror or racism or militarism that is an integral part of israeli society. RTB - What is it like being in a punk band in Israel? Well, there aren't many bands right now, especially not political ones, but at the same time we have the feeling that the scene is still new and fresh and relatively young compared to other places. (Punk/HC started up here only in the early-mid nineties.) All in all we believe being in a punk band here isn't very different from any other place, but here we face our own problems and probably more of them like the draft that's been the cause for the break-up of many bands, and the fact that many people hate this place so much that they just leave to the U.S. or Europe. RTB - What are your political leanings? Are your songs of a political nature? If so, how does that go down with the youth in Israel? Has anyone ever violently opposed the message that you are trying to get across? Our songs are all political - we sing against the occupation, military and war, media brainwashing, consumerism, about animal rights, etc., etc. The most common problem for us is that people don't want us to talk between songs at shows, but we see it as an important part of the show so those people can fuck off. One time we played at this center organized by a religious "Jews for Jesus" group. A kid in the crowd was wearing a kuffiya (a traditional arab head-cover) and we noticed that the organizer of the show asked him to take it off. This kid was not an arab but obviously it still pissed us off, so Tal the bassist took the kuffiya and put it on. The organizer got really pissed and after he refused to explain on the mic what is wrong with wearing the kuffiya he turned off our amps and that was the end of our show that night. At our latest show we handed out flyers against the seperation wall and some stupid kids burnt the flyer and shouted "death to leftists" (some sort of a play on words with the classic israeli-racist slogan "death to arabs"). RTB - Have any of you refused military service? If so what penalties did you serve. We are all in the age in which you would usually get drafted here (more or less 18). We see all our classmates going off to the army now, and especially as a highschool senior here you get a lot of talks and lectures about the army. But none of us plan to join the army for obvious reasons. The easiest way out of the army and the one we chose is for psychiatric reasons. It varies all the time, but it's usually not hard to get discharged this way, seeing as the army has had experience with soldiers shooting themselves or each other (serves them right! the results of the occupation literally blowing up in their face), and also there's the fact that if you're not enthusiastic about joining the military you would already be viewed as strange if not crazy by israeli society. Sometimes they make it harder to get out this way, but if you're persistent it's possible. If that doesn't work, there's always the option of imprisonment. Some do that without trying to get discharged first, usually with the intent of making it a whole issue in the courts and the media. There are always people in jail for refusing service, and there's quite an organized movement behind them. RTB - What is it like to live in Tel Aviv?(that is where you live isn't it?) What do you think of settlers and settlements? Actually we live in Kfar-Saba and Jerusalem - two cities about 100km apart, but both rather close to the 1967 green line (the Israeli border that was established after the war back in 48 and before 1967 when israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza). Jerusalem is closer to the green line than Kfar Saba - in fact, the green line goes right through it. The Jerulemites of us actually live beyond the green line in a jewish neighborhood, so it can easily be considered a settlement. Living here while understanding the function of settelments as a means to opress and to steal land from the Palestinians obviously creates an inner conflict, but we only live here because our parents do. The assholes at the government give grants and discounts for the land here so obviously it's cheaper, and that's a main reason for people to choose to live here. We realize that there are different types of settlers - some end up there because that's where the government sends them when they first immigrate to Israel, some go there because it's cheap, and some - the real assholes - dream of "the great israel" and want to kick out the arabs and take their lands. RTB - If you were to tell Ariel Sharon a joke, what would it be? A settler employs a Palestinian worker for ten years. One day he tells his worker, "listen, I heard you arabs make excellent coffee, can I come down to your village and drink some?" The Palestinian agrees and they go down to the village. The palestinian goes into the mosque to make the coffee so he takes off his shoes (a religious custom), and the settler pees in the guy's shoes while he's in there making coffee. As they drink their coffee, the settler asks the palestinian, "Tell me, do you think there'll ever be peace?" So the palestinan answers, "Man, how do you think there can be peace, you pee in my shoes, and I pee in your coffee..." (Sorry, that's the best we could think of, but that was a good question!) RTB - How do you think that being in a punk band can help the situation in the occupied territories? We hope to raise awareness within our crowd. Here you're usually not, like many bands in the world, "preaching to the converted" (although in some cases here we also do). If people don't become convinced of the messages we try to express, at least we can piss them off a bit and hopefully raise a few questions. The most amazing expereince for us can be playing somewhere in the territories, but there's really a small chance that it will ever happen, because most of society there is very traditional and plus most of them don't really care for alternative or even rock music. But we believe that it could be possible some day. RTB - What common preconceptions do Israelis have about Palestinians and vice versa from the mainstream media and how would you challenge them? Many Israelis believe that all palestinians have ties with terror organizations, that they hate all jews and want to kill us all. As for palestinians, for many of them the only encounters they have with jews is when soldiers or settlers attack them, destroy their homes, stop them at checkpoints, etc. For many palestinians the words israeli/jew, settler, and soldier have the same meaning and for both israelis and palestinians it's hard to belive that there are people on the other side that don't hate them. (This is a wide generelization, of course.) Obviously the best way to challenge these views is to meet with the other side and hear each other out, Like we are doing at the camp in Mas'ha. We may not agree with each other but we can definately respect each other and learn to live together. The problem is that those who are afraid or hate the other side won't come to these kinds of gatherings, but at least now we who did meet palestinians can talk to people here in israel and tell them how there are palestinians who just want their jobs and lands and freedom back, and now we can actually base this on our own experiences. RTB - I met you at the Masha peacecamp, what are the main things that you feel you have contributed towards and the main things you have gained from going there? We have no illusions: we don't think that the wall can be stopped. What we did do and gain from the camp is getting to meet with the other side, create bonds and friendships, and like they say, "be the change that you strive for". After all, real peace can only be done by people, not by governments, and we believe that it is being created at the Mas'ha camp. RTB - What is the general opinion of the wall in Israel? People see it as a positive thing, they belive it will create seperation between israel and palesine, that it's a good solution that will prevent bombings in israel, keep the palestinians out, etc. Very few consider the palestinian side, and most people belive that the wall is being built on the green line. Meanwhile, the press dwells in issues like who will be the next israeli puppet in the Palestinian Authority or this new "road map" to nowhere, and the wall is being built as fast as possible and with all opposition completely silenced. I doubt if most people even know that the wall is to be completed within a month or so. RTB - What would you say to someone who is thinking about going to Masha, but scared of going to Palestine? (Israelis and internationals) If they want to come to Mas'ha, we would explain what really goes on there - it's really not scary at all, it's more relaxed than life in israel. most of the people there really welcome us. we would tell an israeli that if there's anything to be scared of in the territories it's the israeli army, that fortunately hasn't done anything in Mas'ha yet. As for internationals, we think that the work they do here is very scary. But for the same reasons that it's scary here (the brutality of the israeli army), it is important to be here and help the local population. Internationals realise this of course, but this is a real chance to really actively do something about what goes on in the world today, you know, instead of waiting for someone else to throw their body on the churning gears... RTB - What is the DIY scene like in Israel? Currently there is one real DIY center for the punks, located in Jaffa, with a rehearsal space and a recording studio (where we rehearse and recorded), silk screening workshop, and more. There have been some squatting attempts in the last few years, unfortunately none held out for very long, but we'd like to belive that we here learn from our mistakes and the future is bright. Most shows here, and the best ones, are completely DIY which means that they are held in youth centers or bomb shelters (which would be the equivalent to a basement show, there are shelters in nearly every apartment building) and not in clubs. RTB - Is it easy to tour? Well, touring is a funny word to use in a country where driving through the whole thing would take about six hours. But there are areas that don't have shows in them at all so the kids there are forced to go to the big cities if they want to see a show. One of our best shows was in the south of Israel where many kids who don't usually get a chance to see us did and we had a great time. The problem in israel is that there aren't real venues to hold shows in except maybe one club in Tel Aviv. But that motivates kids to put up shows by themselves in youth centers and such like we said, and that's definately a good thing. RTB - Have you heard of the IDF Pizza or the IDF burger and chips and do you know anyone that's ordered one? We've only heard of it and found out what it is through your question, but we think it's really ridiculous, we had a good laugh looking at that website. RTB - Anything else to add? Funny/sad stories anything really..... Nah, I think we put all our stories inside the intereview. Just wanted to thank you for the interest, and say that we have a debut CD coming out, and a website http://www.gutzy.com/olalim (not active yet). |