Tamer Nafar is the first Palestinian rapper known as the Godfather of Palestinian Hip hop' and will be celebrating his 46th birthday the day after his appearance in Totnes at 8pm on Thursday June 5 at The Barrel House Ballroom.

There will be far more that rap on the evening titled 'In the name of the father, the imam and John Lennon'

Tamar ius also an actor, screenwriter and social activist who lives in Lod near Ben Gurion Airport and. has Israeli citizenship.

Tamer's family were originally from Jaffa (Yafa) and the family were dispersed during the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 known by Palestinians as the Nakba (catastrophe).

Tamer said: "I've been rapping since 1999 and in Arabic the syllables are very musical and flowy.

"You have the Levant dialect in general.

"That's the umbrella.

"It's very different from Moroccan.

"It's very different from Egyptian or whatever but of course, Lebanon is a bit different to Syrian and Palestinian and inside of Palestine, my city is a different to other cities.

Tamar has been performing around the world since 2002.

He explained what is in store for the Totnes audience:

"It's not a performance, it's more of an intimate discussion where I talk to the crowd.

"They can ask questions, it's an eye contact thing, and I'll play videos and I'll talk between the songs and I will perform some songs as well in between, so it's going to be very intimate.

"It's a different type of show, very warm, built for a smaller crowd, small cities, and it gets very emotional, people can dance as well and they can cry at the same time, and they will laugh, it's going to be funny as well."

As a Palestinian, Tamar gave his assessment of the situation in Gaza:

"I think we live in a terrible, dark, crucial situation.

"I think what we are witnessing is one of the biggest catastrophes of modern history."

How does Tamer see the future?:

"You know, I'm a sucker for the Imagine song (by John Lennon).

"I think the whole world should be with no countries, no borders. "One world for all its citizens.

"I'm not optimistic but I'm talking to you now and there are no bombs dropping on my head like in Gaza so I'm not privileged enough to say I'm not optimistic.

"I think it's hard for me to discuss optimism when I see 100 kids die every day and the world is just not doing anything.

"Israel needs to stop.

"As long as Palestine doesn't have a strong ally like the US or Europe or the Arab countries, then no, I'm not hopeful.

Tamer then described some of his new work:

"I'm coming to celebrate a new project.

"It's my new upcoming album in Arabic and English.

'It's called In the name of the father, the imam and John Lennon and it's a very personal life story between me, my dad, music and Palestine.

"It's a fun voyage. It's full of politics, full of humour, full of sensitivities, full therapy and about treating your inner self.

Visit: facebook.com/tamer.nafar