GAZA CITY (Knight Ridder), Gaza Strip - The wanna-be gangsta boys arrive in baggy jeans and oversized T-shirts bearing the likeness of rapper Tupac Shakur, looking for a chance to freestyle with the night's star performers. The groupie girls in glittery tops throw their hands in the air, cheering on the breakdancers, when the hip-hop party is brought to a screeching halt:

“Stop… Prayer Time!”

Across the Gaza Strip, West Bank and even in Israel, young Arabic rappers are trying to juggle Middle East traditions with contemporary Western culture

That’s right, they hate us for everything we are, but they try to be everything we seem to be.

How is that for paradox?