Music censorship in the Middle East

Focus on music censorship on Music Freedom Day, 3 March

Popular Pashto singer Sardar Yousafzai and 11 members of his orchestra were on their way home from a wedding performance in December in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province when a group of armed men ambushed their cars and opened fire. Five musicians were seriously injured, and the harmonium (similar to a pipe organ) player Anwar Gul died two days later at a hospital in Peshawar. The attackers remain at large.

Gul is another victim of the Taliban's campaign against musical expression in northwestern Pakistan - and of the most extreme form of censorship:

murder.

On 3 March, Music Freedom Day, musicians and broadcasters worldwide will remember Gul and other targets of music censorship. The day is organised by Freemuse, a free expression organisation dedicated to musicians.

Gul's son Naveed fears that after the death of his father no one will think of adopting music as a career in his family. He himself plays the rabab, a string instrument originally from Afghanistan, but the recent attacks on musicians have left him with no choice but to change professions. "My family is facing hard times these days. I don't know how to survive in this suffocating environment. We are helpless," Naveed told Freemuse.

According to Freemuse, music censorship has become much worse and much more of a global issue than envisaged when the group first formed nearly 10 years ago. To mark a decade of existence, Freemuse recently published case studies in "Human Rights for Musicians".

In the past few months alone, Freemuse and IFEX members have documented a number of stories of music censorship from around the world.

There's Bülent Ersoy, a transsexual singer from Turkey, who was acquitted of charges against her for having made anti-military remarks during a TV programme broadcast in February 2008, reports IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET).

She was charged with "turning the public against military service" over her remarks on a popular TV show when she publicly criticised Turkey's incursion into Northern Iraq and said if she had a son, she would not send him to war. Military service is obligatory for men over the age of 20 in Turkey, and it is a crime to speak against it.

Now, the prosecutor in the case is appealing Ersoy's acquittal, based on her sexuality. He argues that Ersoy's biological inability to have children is an insult to Turkish mothers.

In Yemen, singer and comedian Fahd al-Qarni is facing renewed charges of "insulting the President", report ARTICLE 19 and Hood, a Yemeni rights organisation. The charges date back to September 2006, when al-Qarni made cassette tapes that mixed traditional folk songs with comedy and criticism of government policies. Although al-Qarni was pardoned in September 2008, he is being charged again for the exact same crime, which ARTICLE 19 calls "a clear example of the censoring of artists who use their medium… as a tool to criticise politics."

International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) reports that Cameroonian singer-songwriter Lapiro de Mbanga was sentenced to three years in prison in September 2008, almost six months after his arrest and detention, for allegedly taking part in anti-government riots. Mbanga is known as an outspoken critic of the government, both as a songwriter and an opposition party member. WiPC fears his sentence was connected to his critical lyrics.

Now the government is accusing Mbanga of inciting employees through one of his songs to destroy a banana plantation, says Freemuse, and he faces a new trial on 20 March.

Their stories are just some of the reasons why on 3 March, Freemuse is asking radio stations, newspapers and musicians across five continents to focus on music censorship for Music Freedom Day. Play a controversial song, interview a censored musician, or dedicate your next song to freedom of musical expression.

Freemuse is offering free original radio interviews in broadcast quality, as well as high resolution video clips for use in radio and TV programmes.

Check out Freemuse's website to share ideas and get inspired at:
http://www.freemuse.org/sw31512.asp

Musicians' freedom expanded in Saudi Arabia?

There has been a quiet, yet marked increase in cultural activities in Saudi Arabia during the past couple of months. New music bands emerge, and the internet has become an important meeting place for underground musicians.

“There is a revolution taking place,” stated the American tv news reporter Nic Robertson on CNN in February 2008 when he reported from the practising room of the Saudi Arabian heavy metal band Wasted Land in Jeddah. Even though music is considered a sin by the country's religious leaders, there has been what many call ‘an explosion’ of Saudi pop, rock and rap bands within the past two-three years.

Read this article: http://www.freemuse.org/sw28130.asp

...and let us know what you think:

Is it true? Do you have additional information? Comments are very welcome!

Let's talk openly about music censorship!

In countries all over the world, violations of musician’s rights to freedom of expression are commonplace. Music censorship has been implemented by states, religions, educational systems, families, retailers and lobbying groups – and in most cases they violate international conventions of human rights.

Musicians are often pawns in political dramas, and the possibility of free expression has been aversely affected, not to mention in the Middle East, where governments fear the influence on young people of socalled 'Satanic' Heavy Metal bands, and where scholars and clerics attempt to silence music altogether because they say it is prohibited according to Islam.

One of the ideas behind the international organisation Freemuse is to create a network between musicians who have suffered or been affected by any aspect of music censorship - which is why Freemuse has entered the blogger-universe on the internet as well.

We invite musicians, researchers, journalists and others to join the network, to comment our blogs and stories, give us tips or advice, and... yes, in short: link up with us.

On our MySpace profile page you can become a 'Freemuse Friend' and show your support to those musicians who'se rights to freedom of expression are being violated.

On the MySpace page we've uploaded a couple of Freemuse video interviews and some music which has been produced for the yearly Music Freedom Day, with more to come – and whenever we get an opportunity we will also use this blog facility on Al Bawaba's site to keep in touch with Al Bawaba's readers, and anyone out there who share our interest in this topic of freedom of expression.

The networking element is essential to Freemuse because it can make such a difference to a musician who has been censored or imprisoned, or felt it necessary to self-censor. It can change this musician's perspective on the situation to hear how other musicians have dealt with the same kind of issues. Support, network, exchange of experiences, a sense of community – it can all make a tremendous difference.

Singer Marcel Khalife - defending creativity

Among the ten most viewed pages on www.freemuse.org at the moment is this statement the Lebanese singer and composer Marcel Khalife speaks (in Arabic language) about why artists must engage in the defence of creativity.

Members of the parliament in Bahrain recently attacked a performance Marcel Khalife and Bahraini poet Qassim Haddad as being a violation of Islamic morals and sharia laws.

Freemuse has issued a declaration in support of Marcel Khalife, reminding politicians in Bahrain of their responsibility of defending human rights and freedom of expression. The declaration was read aloud in front of an audience at a cultural manifestation in Bahrain on 18 April 2007.

The manifestation was organised by artists’ organisations and civil society in Bahrain. In the declaration Freemuse welcomes a public discussion on artistic expressions but equally points out that the cultural climate in Bahrain has taken a serious direction.

Among other things, the declaration states: ‘When a political discussion focuses on censorship – rather than dialogue and constructive criticism – the situation easily develops into confrontation. It is therefore the responsibility of the politicians and other influential communities of Bahrain to seek dialogue create space for innovation and to protect the artists’.

Marcel Khalife's statement in Arabic:
http://www.freemuse.org/sw18833.asp

Rapper Rabah Donquishoot - interview about Algeria

Recently we've uploaded a video interview with the Algerian rapper Rabah Donquishoot on http://www.freemuse.org/sw19298.asp. It was produced in Istanbul in November 2006, and the clip also includes an excerpt of his presentation at the Freemuse World Conference, and a bit of his performance there. He spoke about the way he has experienced censorship in Algeria, and shortly after coming home from the conference, he produced the song '152 mesures contre la censure' together with his group MBS ('Le Micro Brise le Silence' – 'The Microphone Breaks the Silence') and several guest stars.

We have uploaded this song to Freemuse's MySpace profile as well. It is going to be used in the promotion for the annual 'Music Freedom Day' on Monday 3 March 2008 where Freemuse invites journalists and medias to produce radio and tv shows on music and censorship issues.

Rabah Donquishoot caused quite a stir in Algeria when he posed as the Algerian president Bouteflika on one of the group's album covers in 1999, 'Rabah President', which was banned in Algeria. He left the country for the first time in 1999 to France. Since then he has been performing all around the world "to pass the message and make his music freely, far away from control".

About '152 mesures contre la censure':
www.freemuse.org/sw19298.asp

About 'Music Freedom Day' 2008:
www.freemuse.org/sw19297.asp

Singer Ruba Saqr - interview about self-censorship

Another one of the most popular interviews on www.freemuse.org at the moment is the Jordanian singer Ruba Saqr who speaks about the impact of music censorship – and in particular: artists' self-censorship – in the Middle East. She connects the music censorship issue with development problems in society in general – in Jordan as well as in the rest of the Middle East.

Music played a tremendous role in the 'youth revolution' of the 1960's in the Western world. Musicians, their song lyrics and their interviews, became the 'media' and the agents of change who 'spread the message' and turned into an international phenomena that profoundly changed the Western world and its culture.

Considering the way that many young people in the Middle East experience their situation today, why could something similar not take place in the Middle East? Is it because the music is being silenced by producers, radio stations and state security agents? Or is it because the musicians silence themselves?

In this interview, Ruba Saqr tells about her personal experiences, and about how the self-censorship situation she experiences among musicians according to her is part of the reason why young people in the Middle East have no media for networking and developing new visions for their future.

Having worked as a reporter for several years, Ruba Saqr has written several articles to different Jordanian publications about the need to support underground musicians, and the need to change perceptions of musicians, in particular Arab female musicians in her part of the world. Ruba Saqr believes that female musicians are often reduced to being performers or singers and are seldom acknowledged by producers as full-fledged musicians who can write their own lyrics and music. She has experienced that some female musicians are pushed away from the music scene by society because it is not viewed as a "respectable" vocation, especially in traditional circles.

See interview with Ruba Saqr:
http://www.freemuse.org/sw17419.asp

If you want to sign up as a member of Freemuse, or wish to place a banner, then here are some links:

Freemuse banners for your home page:
http://www.freemuse.org/sw15348.asp

On behalf of the Freemuse secretariat,

Yours,
Mik
- web editor

http://www.myspace.com/musiccensorship