(Ha'aretz) Ofir Hovav - Jordanian singer Aziz Maraka, 37, performed last month in the Israeli Arab town of Kafr Yasif before an audience of 5,000 people. Right after the show there were calls from the BDS movement to boycott the singer because of his "support for the occupation." Maraka responded to the critics on Facebook: "I'm not willing to be dictated to about what to believe....I will go out and sing before any audience that's willing to hear me, and it doesn't matter at all where this audience lives. Now I can say that BDS will think twice before they touch an Arab singer....BDS people, as well as politicians and activists, have an interest in keeping me - and us, the artists - paralyzed and intimidated. I'm not willing to play into their hands." Local Arab fans commented that they appreciated that he had come to perform, and that from their point of view, the connection to the greater Arab world is more important than BDS, which leads to separation and isolation.
2020-01-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive