“So what’s your take?”

“There should be a kids’ section on flights,” opines the young woman with big teeth and big earrings.

“100% agree,” the interviewer shoots back. “There should be a kids’ section everywhere.”

This conversation is one of hundreds, maybe even thousands, hosted by the curly-haired, casually debonair Kareem Rahma of SubwayTakes. It’s a simple but effective model, one that appeals to his large social media following. Add in a few charming quirks — microphones fashioned from (now-retired) MetroCards, occasional celebrity cameos, and the visibly moving subway car behind him — and it manages to check all the boxes: entertainment, humor, and cultural commentary. 

Of course, lately, cultural spaces have been increasingly shaped by geopolitical tensions. And SubwayTakes is only the latest casualty in the Israel-Palestine culture war.

In his most recent video, Rahma — wearing a dark suit over a dark sweater — speaks to Julian Casablancas of the rock band The Strokes. Casablancas looks like how you might imagine a washed-up rockstar: his hair is unwashed, his maroon pants are too tight, and hard-to-decipher tattoos dot both of his forearms. 

Casablancas has four “controversial takes” to defend. The first three are not particularly noteworthy; the rocker thinks people need to stop sending long audio messages (Rahma disagrees), that modern cars are awful (Rahma agrees), and that conservative and liberal political factions need to come together and form a populist party uninfluenced by corporate interests and “billionaire villains” (Rahma briefly reflects on this before agreeing). 

For his fourth take, the musician wades further into political commentary. “Well, it’s been nice having a career with you,” laughs Casablancas in introduction. Rahma encourages him to continue.

Casablancas leans in toward Rahma and lowers his voice. “American Zionists get the benefits of white-privileged people but talk like they are Black people during slavery,” he says. Rahma immediately agrees (100% agree) and then elaborates.

“I’ve never seen something so shocking where they’re like ‘I’m so oppressed,’ and I’m like, ‘you’re going to a wedding in Tel Aviv right when there are 80,000 plus dead people — including women and children — half a mile away,’” says Rahma, gesticulating passionately. “Absolutely fu*ked. And I don’t think it’s bad to say that.”

The conversation continues. Casablancas acknowledges Hamas and October 7th as “yes, bad,” but then compares the October 7th massacre to Native American rebellions and slave rebellions, arguing that such comparisons do not justify the subsequent atrocities committed by dominant powers. It’s clearly an issue they are both fired up about: they spend a minute discussing how “brainwashed” most people are on this topic.

There is a lot that can be unpacked and deconstructed about this interview. The comparisons are arguably fallacious and historically inaccurate. Clearly, neither is speaking to a clearly defined or representative group of American Zionists. And then American Zionists are conflated with people attending weddings in Tel Aviv. 

Obviously, this piece of cultural commentary doesn’t get the details right. But I think there’s something else about this interview that feels off.

Rahma is affable and energetic — a good interviewer. But he also uses his platform for advocacy. He vehemently opposes US support for Israel’s war in Gaza, going so far as to scrap a filmed interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during her presidential campaign, according to a New York Times profile: “As a Muslim and an Arab, he objected to the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.” Rahma was upset about Harris’s takes and had raised the issue of Israel-Palestine three times in calls with her staffers; when she sat down for the interview, her “take” was inane and low-stakes. “It was so complicated because I’m Muslim and there’s something going on in the world that 100 percent of Muslims care about,” Rahma was quoted as saying. 

It’s Julian Casablancas who is out of place here. He is a child of extreme wealth: the son of the businessman often credited with “inventing the supermodel” and who ran in the same circles as Donald Trump, and a Danish supermodel. He attended private school on the Upper East Side and boarding school in Switzerland. His opinion is informed by limited direct experience with the realities he’s discussing; he was set up for success. He is immune from critique. Is this really the guy invited to share his SubwayTake on Israel-Palestine as though he can speak to the realities?

Kareem Rahma has skin in the game. I don’t begrudge him his feelings as an American Muslim. But I also encourage him to sit down with the American Zionists being maligned in this conversation, not someone like Casablancas, who projects privilege without any true knowledge. I think he’ll find it’s not quite as simple as attending a wedding in Tel Aviv while ignoring the reality of war and death. 

Rahma has a real opportunity to bring awareness to the suffering of Palestinians while also engaging constructively with American Jews and Zionists. SubwayTakes, in embracing the diversity of New Yorkers, could be a model for the difficult, constructive discourse this issue demands. But it would mean inviting people whose narratives make the conversation more complex and more challenging. It would mean having a harder conversation.

If Kareem decides to not take the easy way out, I’m ready to talk when he is.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)