Music is supposed to assemble people and make them transcend their trivial and more serious problems.
Music helps in building bridges of humanity among individuals.
Bridges, and not walls or holes to be buried in, are badly needed in the VERY troubled Middle East as well as other doomed parts of our world.
When we have been named “UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Middle East” (https://shorturl.at/zCELY), the needs of ALL the children and youth living in the Middle East matter, from Lebanon, to Palestine, to Israel, Syria, Irak, Yemen, Iran Saudi Arabia, etc. You simply rise above the own issue of a community or country to use your fame to speak for all children of this region of the world.
When you are a famous international singer like Ms. Nancy Ajram giving a concert in Cyprus (the only peaceful place in the Middle East), you do not ask your fans for their IDs before a quick chat with them or a fast photograph shot with them. Fans of stars are by definition international. They can come to your concert from any part of the world, even from a nearby “enemy” nation bombarding your country and fighting one of its most powerful groups.
Bearing the above in mind, Bambi was shocked to read in L’Orient Today (https://shorturl.at/chmV7) that “a Lebanese lawyer filed the complaint after Ajram posed for a photo with an Israeli blogger during a concert in Cyprus“. The complaint talks about how “Lebanon adopted a law in 1955 prohibiting contacts with Israelis or individuals residing in Israel, as well as economic relations with Israeli companies. It also prohibits any kind of transaction, whether commercial, financial, or otherwise with the Israeli state, with violations punishable by three to ten years of forced labour“. Is there anything more stupid than a boycott law that tells you with whom to interact or not as a free human being? This is insulting to the free minds of the Lebanese people. The latter are among the most opened minded folks. They adjust to all cultures, to the best of their capacity, and are literally friends of the world.
The L’Orient Today article (https://shorturl.at/chmV7) also informed Bambi of the following rather cute details: “Israeli blogger Itzik Balas posted photos of himself with the Lebanese singer on his Instagram account, followed by 200,000 subscribers. “I was excited to meet the world-famous megastar of the Arab world, the Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram,” he wrote in English in the caption of the photos, adding in Arabic, “habibt al alb” meaning beloved“.
May only love have the final word in the Middle East. Not the stupid boycotts, not the weapons or drones, not the massive killings of innocent people, and not the kidnapping of other innocent people in the name of Gods, religions, lands, revenge, or whatever else.
