Lebanese Rapper Malikah Pulls Out of Music Festival over Israeli Ties

Good for you Malikah! After being informed that the Salam Orient Festival 2012 was being sponsored by the Israeli Embassy, the rapper queen decided to remove herself from the festival, along with three other artists: Boikutt, Dj Sotusura and Lena Chamamyan. The Israeli Embassy’s logo is now featured on the festival’s website.

Malikah immediately emailed event organizers, writing “I cannot participate in an event sponsored by a Colonial Occupying Force, especially when the occupied subject is us!!”

Malikah also quoted artist Lena Chamamyan, whose heartfelt message undoubtedly strikes a chord with Arabs everywhere: “My problem is not with Judaism, nor with any other culture or belief, unlike how the festival’s management hinted. My problem is about accepting the Israeli authority’s inhumane politics and tendency for atrocities and human rights violation by taking lives and building the famous “Israeli West Bank barrier”, which does not get along with my idea about breaking all walls and barriers between all human beings all over the planet, starting by politically-constructed barriers.”

It takes guts to do what they did, and I totally support these artists all the way. I wish more artists stood up for what they believed in.

Hell yeah, Arab pride!