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........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)