Banda holandesa Within Temptation cancela concierto en Líbano en solidaridad con artistas locales

by Monica10 agosto 5, 2019

written by Monica10 agosto 5, 2019

La banda holandesa Within Temptation canceló su concierto en un importante festival de música en Líbano para apoyar al mayor grupo independiente del país, cuyo propio show fue retirado después de recibir presión de la iglesia y amenazas de muerte.

Los organizadores del Festival Internacional de Biblos dijeron que debieron cancelar la presentación de Mashrou’ Leila por temor a un «baño de sangre». Líderes eclesiásticos acusaron a la banda de blasfemia y algunos grupos cristianos críticos prometieran detener el concierto a la fuerza.

Los activistas han considerado esto como parte de los crecientes ataques contra la libertad de prensa y las comunidades marginales de Líbano.

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To celebrate 10 years since the inception of Mashrou Leila, the Byblos International Festival invited the band to perform on the 9th of August. We were then quickly surprised by a defamatory campaign, which relied exclusively on fabrications that couldn’t be further from the truth, to crush freedom of expression. The band has been on a world tour, playing shows, and giving lectures at the world’s most prestigious academic institutions, and was enthused to have the opportunity to return to our home country, and be reunited with an audience that has supported us for a decade, and has sung our lyrics back to us at each of our concerts. This is why it’s odd that there’s been a backlash to one of those songs now, knowing that it doesn’t actually try to offend anyone, or their value system(s). The band has played these songs all around the world, and all over Lebanon, in Baalbek, in Byblos before, and in other festivals. Its very sad that some of the lyrics from our songs have been cherry-picked, taken out of context, and twisted into a meaning very far from what the songs are actually about. The easiest way to pervert a work is to take words out of context, and decide to give them a motivated reading, without actually looking at the bigger picture, and what the work is actually trying to accomplish. This is exactly what’s happening here. We are four men from Lebanon, from different religions, and diverse backgrounds, united at the architecture department of the American University of Beirut by our love of music. Our goal is, and has always been, to grow as artists, and use the spaces given to us to try to shed light on the problems in the world around us, while trying to make our people proud. No more; no less. We are not on some sort of mission to arbitrarily blaspheme and disrespect people’s religious symbols. Mashrou Leila

A post shared by Mashrou Leila | مشروع ليلى (@mashrouleila) on Jul 22, 2019 at 8:34am PDT

«Las autoridades libanesas en este momento no pueden proveer a los artistas la seguridad para tocar en paz», dijo Within Temptation, que tenía previsto dar un show en la antigua ciudad el miércoles, en una publicación de Facebook.

La medida también fue «en solidaridad con Mashrou’ Leila y en apoyo a la tolerancia, la libertad de discurso y expresión», afirmó. «Duele tomar esta decisión. Nuestro último show en Líbano está aún muy vívido en nuestras mentes y corazones», añadió.

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Give it up for #ManCrushMonday! Since we can only give you two options, we're gonna make a game out of it. The winner of this week, will face a new band member next week. So today, let's give it up for Jeroen & Mike! Ready, set, go! Photo's by @emeraldpicsbyoh

A post shared by Within Temptation (@wtofficial) on Aug 5, 2019 at 2:18am PDT

FUENTE: EL UNIVERSO

Banda holandesa Within Temptation cancela concierto en Líbano en solidaridad con artistas locales

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