The 12 year-old Palestinian viral video rapper is mentored by a Cork producer
![MC Abdul - Palestine [FREEVERSE]](https://nialler9.com/wp-content/cache/flying-press/GVAl_BWa2kU-hqdefault.jpg)
The Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation is facing an increased warfare that has left 213 Palestinian dead in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip including 61 children, 11 of which were already receiving trauma counselling from the Norwegian Refugee Council.
As Israel vows to escalate its response in the face of the international community urging a ceasefire, one of those Palestinian children, a 12-year-old boy, has posted a video online where he raps about his situation in Gaza.
MC Abdul, or MCA Rap has been mentored by the Cork beatmaker GMC Beats who helped him put the video and song together with an instrumental beat of Eminem’s ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’ used for the backing.
The video on Instagram has received 4 million views, and in a piece in the Irish Examiner, GMC says he is worried for Abdul and his family.
“They sent me recordings of what they’ve had to listen to at night, and I’m still shook after hearing those explosions,” says the producer and teacher, based at the Kabin Studio in Hollyhill.
“What’s going on is really shameful. Abdul has been telling us how his young sister and brother are crying at night. Their mother has to tell them it’s fireworks. I send them a text in the morning to check that they’re ok, and when he replies, I’m like, ‘Thank God!’.”
McCarthy hopes the new track will help focus attention on what’s happening in Gaza, and encourage people to speak out about it.
“That’s all we can do. It’s just to get the word out. And it’s probably good for people to hear a child talk about the situation, as in wars, you usually hear the men and other adults,” says McCarthy. He points out that Abdul has already experienced four periods of warfare by the age of 12.
