Dir Yassin

The band formed in December 1997 from the ashes of other local hardcore bands. The original line-up was Kobbi (guitar, ex-Urban Skate Fanatics), Fede (drums, ex-USF as well), Haim (bass, ex-Wackout, Shma Israel), Adi (vocals, ex, uh, about half of the local bands ever: Public Domain, Ethos, Useless ID, Shma Israel, Nekhei Naatza - and also played with Negative Impact for a while) and Federico (ex Nekhei Naatza and temporary member of USF). The name was chosen as an effort to bring the sublimed bloody facts of Zionism and Israel's history back into its collective consciousness.
After rehearsing for a couple of months, we were ready to make our first appearance, as the only hardcore band in an all Black/Metal gig in the city of Haifa, held in April 1998. That show was interesting, despite the fact that we only managed to play a couple of songs (see interview in Profane Existence for details). After playing a couple of shows with us and recording a demo, Kobbi decided to quit. Jonathan (ex-Oi Va'avoi, Angriculture, as well as a short-term USF member during their US tour) had just come back from the States and was recruited as a replacement for Kobbi. A remarkable show we played was a benefit for Al-Atrash, a family living near Hebron in the occupied territories whose house was demolished 3 times by the Israeli army. In the late summer/fall we recorded the songs for the CD-EP that was released on the new years day show we played in Tel-Aviv. This last spring we have been busy recording and organizing a small Code 13 tour. We, along with Negative Impact, played with Code 13 on their 3 shows here (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa), which went extremely well: the response was excellent, considering the D.I.Y nature of the organization and all in all, we're really glad we gave the local kids here the opportunity of checking out an amazing band such as Code 13. In September/October we toured Europe, playing 28 shows in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium and The Czech Republic. We were amazed by the infrastructure of the European DIY hardcore/ punk scene and inspired by the motivation of its activists. We had the chance to play with great bands such as Brother Inferior, Y, Seein' Red, Unhinged, 12 Aullidos, Post Regiment, Crude BE, H.O.W., Gag 33, Boycott, Betercore, Wasted, Hard To Swallow and lot of others and to meet really great people in all the places we visited. Sadly, the last dates of the tour (south Germany and Switzerland) were cancelled due to the grave illness of a band member's relative, which forced him to quit the tour and go back to Israel. During the tour, the Berlin based Thought Crime label released our first 7", called "Durchbrechender Geist". Our future plans include another 7" (on Lengua Armada records) early next year and appearances in compilations on 625 Prod. (US), Coalition (Holland) and Panx (France). Besides that, we'll support Y on their Israeli tour (in January) and start working on songs for a split LP with them. We're also planning to do another tour (probably either south or north America) next fall and maybe some shows in Greece and/or Turkey.

2000 was an inactive year for us. We only played one show (supporting the amazing Y from Germany when they came over early this year), due to the fact that band members moved to Europe. Still, we're not breaking up and are currently thinking about the possibility of recording new songs early next year (and playing some shows as well) probably somewhere in Europe. Also we're still toying with the idea of a northern European tour next summer.
Our debut 7"ep on Thought Crime did much better then we expected, selling its first pressing out in matters of months. The 2nd press (of another 1000 copies) is also about to be sold out, and we're really glad to see Thought Crime work hard promoting the 7". Our 2nd 7", which was delayed for more then a year, should be out really soon on Lengua Armada. Not so long ago 625 Prod. released an international HC compilation CD + EP called "Barbaric Thrash Detonation" featuring tons of bands, including us.
Israel unleashed some of its military power on the Palestinians in a way not seen even during the worst "Intifada" days. They're also preventing Palestinians from getting decent food supplies along with other basic means of survival. Most Palestinians are also unable to go out of their towns or even their homes. If you want to read up-to-date info about the situation here, please check out this site: indymedia.org.il And last thing, if you wrote us and didn't get a reply, we're deeply sorry but none of us was able to deal with all the mail/e-mail during summer. However, we hope that it'll be okay from now on. Again, we're very sorry and will try to answer all the mail ASAP. Please, don't ask us for contributions for compilations, as we won't have any new material for some months. And interviews may take some reeeally long time to get answered so keep it in mind - we're all studying and working and/or involved in other projects as well.

Our 2nd 7" was finally released this summer (2001) on Lengua Armada. But if you send a letter to the PO Box appearing there, chances are that it'll never arrive to us, so please write again to the e-mail address below. We're really sorry about any inconvenient it may had caused. If you are interested in getting a copy of any of our 7"'s, please write to Thomas at Thought Crime: thoughtcrime@berlin.sireco.net He's 100% honest and trustworthy and runs an excellent and cheap distro. Please don't write us asking for copies, we don't have any at the moment.

In august we recorded new tracks for a new 7" and a split 7", but we still don't know where and when they'll be released. They might also end up as a 12" or a split LP instead. Nir (ex Negative Impact) has helped with our new recordings, replacing Fede.
Also, some unused tracks recorded in 1999 are supposed to appear on an Israeli HC punk compilation CD, which will be included in an anthology book of Israeli anarchist and radical left-wing writings from 1970 to 2000. The book will probably be available from AK Press. Other than that, we are supposed to appear on an upcoming compilation 7" on Coalition records. A CD including all our stuff will be released soon on La Vida Es Un Mus from the UK. We are toying with the idea of playing about a dozen shows in Scandinavia around march next year ('02), but nothing is certain yet.

If you have any comments or questions
PLEASE E-MAIL US
(objectify@hotmail.com)

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