Tunisian regime sanctions pro-Palestinian singer Emel Mathlouthi

Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi has announced the cancellation by the authorities of the concert she was to give at the International Festival of Hammamet.

The “reason” for this censorship? She doesn’t stand up for a second. According to the authorities and some local media, Emel Mathlouthi would have been wrong to perform in Israel, during a recent tour, and thus contribute to the “normalization” of his country with the apartheid regime.

What is wrong ! A long-standing supporter of the cause of the Palestinian people, Mathlouthi has on the contrary only performed in the Palestinian territories occupied, even annexed, by the apartheid regime: namely East Jerusalem, Ramallah and elsewhere in the West Bank.

“I’m sorry to announce that our long-awaited concert in Hammamet has been canceled without any official reason.“wrote the singer on Instagram.

“We believe our last tour of beautiful Palestine caused unwarranted controversy accusing me of normalization“. “We would like to point out that these concerts were organized by Palestinians for a Palestinian audience. They do not contravene the guidelinesfrom the pro-Palestinian international movement BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

According to an AFP correspondent present at the Ramallah concert, Emel Mathlouthi sang the Palestinian ballad at the end of the performance Wein in Ramallah and waved a Palestinian flag. “This is clearly a personal attack on me“, supported the artist. “Everyone has been very supportive of me here because the Palestinians don’t want to be isolated, they want to see artists like me who come from other Arab countries and who speak Arabicadded the singer.

EuroPalestine