C’hurst rap video’s got Israel’s back

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Since Ari Lesser’s video “Hamas” was posted to YouTube on Sept. 8, more than 90,000 have viewed it.

Events that happened in Israel over the summer inspired a musical collaboration between Scot Jay, a Cedarhurst native who produces films and videos, and Lesser, a rap artist from Cleveland.

When Lesser created another music video, “Boycott Israel,” a year ago, also posted on YouTube, it caught Jay’s attention. Currently at about 290,000 views, that video suggests to anyone favoring a boycott of Israel that there are several other countries that also merit the same treatment.

Lesser, 27, who spent time in Israel as a student, happened to be near the Five Towns when Jay contacted him to do the video. They decided to shoot “Hamas” at a pro-Israel rally in Union Square last month. “I said, ‘Let’s get a camera and bang something out’,” Jay said.

“I hope to accomplish a lot of things through my music,” he said. “By writing, I learn a lot. My music is based on the Torah and Jewish teachings and traditions.”

Avi Posnick, a spokesman for Stand With Us, said his group discovered Lesser when he did the boycotting video. “We invited him to perform at our annual Festival of Lights event last year,” he said.

Posnick said that he believes the video’s message is that Hamas is an obstacle to peace with the people of Gaza, something that “hurts both Palestinians and Israelis,” he said.

“Hamas’s charter calls for the murder of Jews and the destruction of the state of Israel.”

“I hope to be teaching things that I’ve learned to other people,” Lesser said.

“My music is educational to me, with accurate information in it.”

Jay said that so far, the video has received mostly positive reaction from viewers.

“I think this video shows the way the world is,” he said. “Ari, through music, is trying to teach the world.”