Author of
3Gs (Metropolitan, 2026)
2 ATMs (Metropolitan, 2028)
Tamer Nafar is a musician, actor, screenwriter, and social activist. Nafar grew up in Lyd, a mixed city of Palestinians and Jews 20 minutes from Tel Aviv, home to one of the largest drug markets in the Middle East. In 2000, Tamer, alongside his brother Suhell Nafar and friend Mahmood Jrere, formed the first Palestinian hip-hop group DAM, which went on to include Maysa Daw. One of their first singles “Min Irhabi” (Who's the Terrorist) was downloaded over a million times, making DAM a household name among youth throughout the Middle East, and the band at the center of J. Reem Saloum's award-winning documentary "Slingshot HipHop"
Tamer's lyrics and activities reflect the Palestinian struggle, women’s rights, and the promotion of alternative art within a conservative society. He is also known for starring in the film "Junction 48", directed by Udi Aloni and loosely based on his life story, which he co wrote with Academy Award-nominated screenwriter screenwriter Oren Moverman and which won the Audience Award at the Berlinale International Film Festival and the Best International Narrative Feature award at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. More recently, he starred in the play “How to make a Revolution” by Einat Weizman, about nonviolence leader Issa Amro. Tamer is a flagship artist at Albi, a new initiative using culture as a vehicle for change. He is also a regular opinion contributor to Ha’aretz and his pieces have appeared in The Guardian.
Tamer Nafar
Books by Tamer
3Gs (Metropolitan Books, 2026)
From the Palestinian godfather of Arab hip hop, an inventive memoir that tells the story of his life, his father’s life, and his future daughter tracing the past and future of Palestinian creativity.
2ATMs (Metropolitan, 2028)
A graphic novel set in Tamer’s hometown of Lyd, Israel, that tells the story of a young man caught between worlds and the 2 ATMs of his life–his day job as an upstanding bank clerk and his night-gig dispensing drugs from a hole in the wall.