{"id":2179,"date":"2020-02-04T21:20:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T01:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=2179"},"modified":"2020-02-04T21:53:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T01:53:15","slug":"when-will-the-middle-east-learn-to-be-tolerant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2020\/02\/04\/when-will-the-middle-east-learn-to-be-tolerant\/","title":{"rendered":"When will the Middle East learn to be tolerant?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/LeilaFinal.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2180\" width=\"553\" height=\"147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/LeilaFinal.jpg 565w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/LeilaFinal-300x80.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 553px) 85vw, 553px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Once again, censorship had its last word. This time, the story happened in Qatar, as described in the following article entitled \u201cU.S. university in Qatar cancels Lebanese band talk after anti-gay backlash\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/pmn\/entertainment-pmn\/u-s-university-in-qatar-cancels-lebanese-band-talk-after-anti-gay-backlash\">https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/pmn\/entertainment-pmn\/u-s-university-in-qatar-cancels-lebanese-band-talk-after-anti-gay-backlash<\/a>). Before that, the same saga happened sadly in Lebanon (which is perhaps one of the most open-minded countries in the region) and earlier in Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The target of this\nintolerance is a talented Lebanese rock band called \u201cMashrou\u2019 Leila\u201d. Why?\nBecause one of its members is openly gay. Yes, we are in 2020 and this is the\nreason, imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This band has earned international success and acclaim for its music and lyrics, that tackle sectarianism, gender equality, and homophobia, among other issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"387\" height=\"280\" src=\"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Band.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Band.jpg 387w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Band-300x217.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 387px) 85vw, 387px\" \/><figcaption>The Mashrou\u2019 Leila Lebanese band. <br>Picture taken from the <em>Los Angeles Times<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, where are our\nown activists here to denounce such social injustice abroad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyhow, this band was supposed to give a talk at the Qatar\ncampus of Northwestern University on media revolution in the Middle East. The event\nwas cancelled for security concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Northwestern University and this band mutually agreed to move the event to its U.S. campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To conclude this post, here is a short video showing their music, sub-titled in English. Enjoy ?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Mashrou&#039; Leila - 3 minutes (  Official Music Video ) | \u0645\u0634\u0631\u0648\u0639 \u0644\u064a\u0644\u0649 - \u0663 \u062f\u0642\u0627\u0626\u0642\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S5Tag1BwhqY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once again, censorship had its last word. This time, the story happened in Qatar, as described in the following article entitled \u201cU.S. university in Qatar cancels Lebanese band talk after anti-gay backlash\u201d (https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/pmn\/entertainment-pmn\/u-s-university-in-qatar-cancels-lebanese-band-talk-after-anti-gay-backlash). Before that, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2179"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2190,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179\/revisions\/2190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}