Israeli-American rapper Kosha Dillz on being attacked at a Khamenei vigil in New York, the power of showing up, and why the real fight against antisemitism happens offline.

Rami Matan Even-Esh didn’t go to Washington Square Park on March 5 looking for a fight. But when the Israeli-American rapper known as Kosha Dillz saw a vigil being held for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — complete with a photo display — he made a decision that would leave him bloodied, in handcuffs, and on the front page.

“I was attacked due to touching a sign of a known terrorist,” he told me. “It was a wild experience. One day it’s a positive thing.” He required 10 stitches after the crowd turned on him. The NYPD charged him with disrupting a public gathering.

Courtesy: Kosha Dillz

But even from that vantage point — bruised, bandaged, and charged — Even-Esh is clear about one thing: he is not looking for sympathy.

“I’m definitely not a victim. The Iranian people are the victims. The world doesn’t know what is happening to them.”

From the Bronx to Billboard

Even-Esh — who goes by the stage name Kosha Dillz, a name he describes simply as “a street version of Jewish pride” — has been one of hip-hop’s most distinctly Jewish voices for over two decades. He got his start in the late 1990s, rapping in New York’s underground scene, fueled in part by his friendship with an Iranian-American rapper and soccer player who shared his love for the art form.

Courtesy :Kosha Dillz

“That’s how everyone gets in,” he says with characteristic bluntness. A 2009 win at the legendary Hot 97 rap battle became a turning point, launching a career that would produce Billboard-charting albums and cement his reputation as one of the most outspoken Jewish artists in American music.

Today, he wears multiple creative hats — rapper, filmmaker, and comedian — with upcoming stand-up appearances at the New York Comedy Club (March 11), NYC Seltzer Fest (March 15), and Free Times Cafe in Toronto (March 21). His documentary film, Bring the Family Home (bringthefamilyhome.film), is his newest and perhaps most personal project yet.

October 7 Changed Everything

On October 7, 2023, as news of Hamas’s massacre in Israel broke across the world, Even-Esh was already in the studio. Within hours, he had written and recorded “Bring the Family Home” — a song denouncing antisemitism and calling for the return of the hostages. The music video was released five days later.

“I made ‘Bring the Family Home’ — the song — and the rest was history,” he says. That track opened a creative floodgate: songs like “Cease Fire” and “Watermelon Avatiach” followed in rapid succession, making Even-Esh one of the most prolific Jewish voices responding to the post-October 7 moment in real time.

The Washington Square Park incident, Even-Esh says, taught him something about the limits of going it alone.

“I’m always trying to do the right thing and engage with people. I think this time I realized why it is important to not be a ‘solo diner’ all the time. Roll with a crew. We are stronger together. Safer together. Even if it’s one person.”

He describes the protest scene itself as something surreal — almost theatrical. “It looked like a scene from ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ where everyone dresses up as someone else. On one side, there are those who are Iranian. On the other side, no one is Iranian.”

He is not unsympathetic to the confused participants. “The people who attacked me sadly don’t really know what they are fighting either. It is somewhat of a video game. You go to a protest. You go to jail. You talk to cops, and at the same time at the protest, you ask them for help when setting up your vigil.”

Fighting Antisemitism — But Not on Your Phone

When it comes to the rise of antisemitism on social media, Even-Esh offers a perspective that cuts against the grain of much activist discourse.

“It exists and it sucks,” he says flatly. “But also, I think we really seek it out in our ‘interests.’ If you don’t click on things it doesn’t exist.”

He points to viral moments — including the controversial “Israel has been eliminated” announcement from the World Baseball Classic — as deliberate engagement-bait. “It is a hack to get more views. Hip-hop publications are posting about Israel because it’s a hack to get other people to come and look at their other media.”

His prescription is blunt: “Every day, one person is radicalized on the internet. Every day one more person brings a real sword to the Harry Potter convention. We need to be consistently training in self-defense for those times, and less on social media. The way to fight extremism is not by doom-scrolling. I sincerely mean that, but it’s easier said than done.”

A Film That Predicted the Moment

Even-Esh’s 83-minute documentary Bring the Family Home is both deeply personal and strikingly prophetic. The film explores campus antisemitism and what Even-Esh calls being “hostage to the hostage crisis” — the psychological grip of doom-scrolling through the unfolding tragedy in Israel.

Courtesy :Kickstarter

“It documents my own film cancellation within the film,” he explains. “It has pretty much predicted all of what is now — right now — and how people speak over others for validation and emotional hierarchy.”

The project launched via Kickstarter and will feature interviews conducted across America. For Even-Esh, the film is the culmination of everything he has been trying to say — in rap, in comedy, in the middle of a Washington Square Park confrontation.

More information on Kosha Dillz, his tour dates, and upcoming projects can be found at www.koshadillzworld.com.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)