For everyone who knows how much effort goes into organizing a festival, the pledge of PACBI to boycott the 26th Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat must be surreal. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel believes that this festival is designed to whitewash the crimes of Israeli apartheid. How do fans and artists respond to this request?
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Religion and the taboo on female chant
Since June 2007 the people of Gaza are being confronted with strict morality rules of the Hamas, a fundamental Islamic movement, who governs the Gaza portion of the Palestinian Territories. For example, it is forbidden to participate in the New Star, a talent show broadcast on Palestinian television. This is annoying for pop singers who wants to be heard outside of Gaza. But the situation of the female singers is more than annoying. A female singer is being seen as equal to a prostitute. If they want to sing, they can do it quietly at home in front of the family but not publicly. As we already saw in Afghan Star, the documentary, it can be quite problematic for women to sing in public in Afghanistan, but it doesn’t seem to be any better in Gaza, Iran or orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem.
Continue reading Religion and the taboo on female chant