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Israel's Intifada is 'Killing the Trance Scene'

Author: Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
Monday, January 26, 2004
Traumatised Israeli soldiers who helped develop the worldwide psychedelic trance scene are starting to abandon the genre, according to a feature in this week's Guardian.

Local party promoter Tomer told the paper three years of fighting has devastated morale amongst young Israelis, with many taking drugs and embracing the aggressiveness of hip hop.

"Most of us are spliffers (cannabis smokers), Tel Aviv is Pot City," he claimed.

"Coke has become very big in the past year, ecstasy has gone down, there's lots of MDMA and some acid but the trance scene is dying," he said.

"Young Jewish and young Arab Israelis are starting to listen to the same music, which is hip hop, because it's about giving a voice to people who haven't got one."

The promoter's stance was markedly different from that of British psy-trance star Simon Posford (aka Hallucinogen) who DJed in Israel on New Years Eve.

"With all the warnings in Israel, it is still a great place to play," he told Australia's 3D World (in November 2003).

"I would say that dance parties are a form of release and self-expression with all the negative things going on in the Middle East," he suggested.
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