Separate our loved ones/ And slaughter our children
Take our blood for granted/ Demonise our revolutionaries…
Appoint our rulers…And watch our pain… And belittle our agony
But who would you be without us?
You will not be without us.
In the music video for the song titled Dounana (Without us), these lines appear post a regular lunch conversation with friends at the dining table which is interrupted by rapid rounds of gunshots. The screen goes black and Siba Alkhiami, who goes by the moniker Siba, a Syrian artiste based in Germany appears crooning the above lines. Carrying grief, anger and a scarf on her head, she raps about the Western world deliberately attempting to erase Arab culture, claim its land, uproot those who rightfully belong, and inflict intense pain.
Produced by Germany-based producer, composer and rapper Monkyman aka Felix Spitta, the song went viral globally in the last week, even though the two artists released it in 2024. Siba had put out a post two weeks ago about remembering the anniversary of her song, which released a year-and-a-half ago, when the world of Instagram algorithm picked it up and placed it on numerous feeds. “It went viral overnight.. I was very shocked. I was thankful that the song reached so far and beyond and even reached people who hated it because maybe they are exactly the people who should listen to it…,” said Siba in a conversation with The New Arab, a London-based news outlet.
Siba wrote the song almost two years ago. “We had been witnessing a genocide unfold on our screens,” she states, adding, “We were starting to lose hope in humanity, we were being brutalised, silenced, oppressed when trying to speak about the truth. What comes after this is anger and anger was as big as the injustice was,” Siba told Scene Noise, an Egyptian culture platform. She added that she was grappling with these emotions when she wrote the poem.
While Siba said that Dounana is about colonialism and post-colonialism structures and “the mass of destruction they bring to cultures, eco and socio-systems of indigenous people all over the world,” she added that the poem was also a result of “German media failing to stay fair and report with integrity; pushing the propaganda agenda of a government that is not even theirs”.
In the end of the song, she asks for a global south unity to prevail. We will keep standing still, she raps, as the song closes back at the dining table, with Siba and her group of friends trying to create a sense of normalcy again.
Suanshu Khurana is an award-winning journalist and music critic currently serving as a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is best known for her nuanced writing on Indian culture, with a specific focus on classical music, cinema, and the arts.
Expertise & Focus Areas Khurana specializes in the intersection of culture and society. Her beat involves deep-dive reporting on:
Indian Classical Music: She is regarded as a definitive voice in documenting the lineages (Gharanas) and evolution of Hindustani classical music.
Cinema & Theatre: Her critiques extend beyond reviews to analyze the socio-political narratives within Indian cinema and theater.
Cultural Heritage: She frequently profiles legendary artists and unearths stories about India’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Professional Experience At The Indian Express, Khurana is responsible for curating and writing features for the Arts and Culture pages. Her work is characterized by long-form journalism that offers intimate portraits of artists and rigorous analysis of cultural trends. She has been instrumental in bringing the stories of both stalwarts and upcoming artistes to the forefront of mainstream media.
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