The story of how a snack food got DJ Khaled in trouble with fans
Larry King’s voice looms over an eerie, menacing loop. “You still have family in Palestine,” he says. DJ Khaled, the 40-year-old Palestinian-American music producer and social media giant, responds, “Yes, I do. And I want my people to be good.” King asks Khaled if he’s angry about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “I have to be bitter about anything that’s gonna hurt my people,” Khaled says to King. It’s a soundbite from a 2014 interview between Khaled and King, used to open a diss track directed at Khaled by 25-year-old Kurdish American activist Ahmad Hussam. The loop underneath is an audio sample from Khaled’s song “I’m On One.” Hussam, who is part of a socially conscious production house called Peace House, says his intention wasn’t to claim dominance over DJ Khaled in hip-hop, or to flex his lyrical style. The music, Hussam said, was secondary. Instead, the intention was to expose Khaled’s actions as harmful to the plight of his homeland.
Peace House’s gripe: Hummus. “Before the Sabra thing, I didn’t really care about” DJ Khaled, Hussam told me over the phone from Florida, where he and Khaled both live. “He’s always talking about being grateful. I definitely am not hating on him.” The video, entitled “DJ Khaled Diss #BoycottSabra,” currently has over 500,000 views on Facebook and is condemning Khaled for his participation in “Guac the Bowl,” an event sponsored by the American hummus company, Sabra. The company, according to The New York Times, has financial ties to a manufacturer that has donated money to an elite division of Israel’s military. (In 2010, according to the Jerusalem Post, the manufacturer in question, the Strauss Group, removed its support for the Israeli army from its website.) Hussam, who is an adherent of Boycotts Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a tactic used by critics of Israel’s occupation, many of whom want to raise awareness about the occupation of Palestine, supports a total boycott of the product.
“I wish he would speak more about being Palestinian,” Hussam said, a twinge of idealism in his voice. “I wish [DJ Khaled] would say ‘Free Palestine.’” But Khaled has taken to more quirky platitudes and pieces of advice like “Be a star, be a superstar,” and “Some people can’t handle success. I can.” DJ Khaled has rose to celebrity on the social media platform Snapchat by publishing short videos of inspirational and positive messages. A crusader for the Palestinian cause he is not. And that didn’t bother Hussam—until Khaled appeared at a Sabra event.
“Now instead of being neutral, DJ Khaled is supporting the oppression of his own people,” Hussam said. In footage of the event obtained by Fusion, Khaled is seen eating the Sabra product and is heard saying “Shout out to Guac Bowl and Sabra.” For Hussam, “that’s where Khaled crossed the line.” It drove him to “raise awareness” about the company’s financial link to the Israeli army. Fusion reached out to Sabra but did not hear back by time of publication.