An Utterly Frivolous Perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

I recently read a report about a creative retreat in Bethlehem, just outside the Israeli West Bank barrier. While the report was earnestly trying not to be prejudiced let alone incendiary and the same seemingly holds for the retreat, a slight pro-Palestenian bias was nonetheless clearly discernible throughout the report. To some degree, I can appreciate that. After all, the situation in the West Bank increasingly resembles that of South Africa during apartheid and Gaza increasingly functions as the largest prison compound in the world. But stating the obvious is not going to contribute anything to our understanding of this conflict. At the same time, that obvious state of affairs has resulted in Israel becoming the target of much opprobrium and protest in the West, which many Israelis experience as fundamentally antizionist and antisemitic.

That puts myself in an increasingly untenable position because, as a German who grew up with the history of the Shoah, I also strongly believe in Israel as a Jewish state and abhor any expression of antisemitism. As it happens, a small detail in the above mentioned report caught my attention and, after some research, forcefully reminded me of the unfairness of singling out Israel when every single country sharing a border with Israel is so much worse. That does not make Israel’s behavior towards the Palestinians any more right or righteous. I continue to strongly oppose the far right and in the long term exceedingly harmful policies of current and possibly future prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But it does help in calibrating how we express criticism of the current Israeli government and in resisting the pull of becoming yet another partisan in this conflict.

Pop Music as “Threat”

The starting point for this rather unusual perspective on Israel and its neighbors is comparably frivolous, seeing that it concerns a pop music group. The group in question is called Mashrou’ Leila, hails from Lebanon, is wildly popular all across the Middle East, and happens to be fronted by a gay singer, Hamed Sinno. I can personally attest that their music is deeply compelling, thanks to great melodies and Sinno’s soulful singing. Since I don’t speak Arabic, I must rely on others who report that the band’s lyrics may celebrate clubbing and nightlife as much as they reflect the perspective of women, gays, and transgender people. They also are full of double entendres that often reference Arab literature. In other words, the band’s name is program: It alternately translates as Night Project and as Layla Project, with the latter being the female protagonist of “the Romeo and Juliet of the East.”

Unfortunately, Mashrou’ Leila is facing a dilemma: The band has pretty much run out of locations to perform, at least in the Middle East. Let’s explore the countries, one by one:

  1. Syria is out of question since there is hardly any Syria left after almost nine years of civil war. Bashar al-Assad’s regime was already considered to be one of the most brutal in the world before the civil war, but his persistence and cruelty in that war forever marks him as one of the worst rulers in modern history. Consequently, it is exceedingly bitter irony that he may just win this war thanks to intervention by Russian forces and withdrawal of American forces.
  2. Jordan officially banned Mashrou’ Leila in due to the group’s “political and religious beliefs and endorsement of gender equality and sexual freedom.” That ban went into effect just days before Mashrou’ Leila was to perform at the Roman amphitheater in Amman, where they had played three times before. Jordan, in case you don’t remember, is an absolute monarchy, whose queen dowager Noor Al-Hussein is a familiar face in the West seeing that she was born in Washington DC and loves to be feted for her environmental engagement.
  3. Egypt officially banned Mashrou’ Leila in after a concert in Cairo, at which seven male audience members unrolled rainbow flags. Officially, homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt and neither are rainbow colored flags. In reality, seven men were arrested right after the show and subjected to a ”forensic medical examination to determine if they have had anal sex.” Another attendee was entrapped on a dating app that night and sentenced to six years of imprisonment for “debauchery” by the following Tuesday. Altogether, over the following weeks, at least 75 people were arrested and sentenced to between one and six years of prison. Meanwhile, the deputy of the Syndicate of Musical Professions, which issued the ban, called the band’s music “abnormal art.” That would be exactly the same phrase as used by Germany’s Nazis when banning art they didn’t appreciate.
  4. Lebanon has not yet officially banned Mashrou’ Leila. However, their last show at last summer’s Byblos International Festival had to be cancelled after fundamentalist Christians were literally preparing to kill every single attendee at that arts festival. It is unclear how being a mass murderer, even after maliciously distorting the meaning of song lyrics to say something offensive, is compatible with a religion whose Ten Commandments include “Though shalt not kill.” But such minor details of everyday religious practice clearly do not factor in with this particular grouping of, well, terrorists. By cancelling the show instead of arresting the terrorists, the Lebanese government has made clear that they too view a pop band as the bigger threat. In fact, fearing arrest, Sinno left Lebanon for the United States during those events and has been living in the country since.

So here we are. A popular music group from Lebanon apparently threatens the repressive regimes of the region to such a degree that it too must be silenced, that attendees of their shows must be locked up in jail, and that keeping the peace with religious terrorists is more important.

Not in Israel

Now, some of you might observe at this point that there still is one more country in the region I have not yet discussed. That country is of course Israel. It changed its British-influenced penal code in to decriminalize being gay. The first gay pride parade in Tel Aviv took place in . By , the parade had evolved from a political event to a street celebration and entertainment event. In , the festivities included the opening of Israel’s first LGBT center. Approximately 250,000 people attended the week-long celebration in . And approximately 30,000 international visitors attended in 2018. In short, Israel has a lively and open gay, lesbian, and transgender community. It also enjoys wide-ranging support in the population, with both city of Tel Aviv and Israel’s Ministry of Tourism supporting the yearly Gay Pride festivities.

Surely then that Mashrou’ Leila would be welcome to perform in Tel Aviv. I have no doubt that they would be and suspect that they already have a significant local fan base. But as it is, the band’s members must not even contact a person who is an Israeli citizen, resides in Israel, or works for an Israeli organization. That is because Lebanon’s criminal code of forbids any contact between Lebanese citizens and citizens of an enemy state. The Anti-Israeli Boycott Law of further specifies that Israel is just that, an enemy state. To make these laws worse, they apply globally, covering any interaction between a Lebanese citizen and somebody else. Lebanon also does not recognize a change in citizenship, including someone rescinding Lebanese citizenship. I have been unsuccessful in finding specific information on potential penalties for violating these more than sixty year-old laws. But from all discussions I did find online, they are serious and include prison time.

Not surprisingly, these laws are enforced inconsistently. This has led to Lebanese bloggers publicly questioning the reasoning behind these laws. But as Miss Lebanon found out, fame or fortune may not necessarily spare you from these laws. The Lebanese government started an official investigation into the young woman’s behavior when an Instagram picture emerged showing her with three other contestants, all smiling for the camera. The problem: One of the other three young women was Miss Israel . Miss Lebanon’s explanation that she was “photobombed” by a nefarious Miss Israel and thus could not do anything about it seems a bit of a stretch to me looking at the image. But who am I to argue with an obviously smart young Lebanese woman, who had to suffer through the indignities of being photobombed and then having her patriotism questioned.

Stop Singling Out Israel!

That brings us to the closing of this essay. I am ending with an appeal for moderation when criticizing Israeli policy towards Palestinians and the country’s displays of crushing might. It’s hard not to care for the underdog in that fight and I strongly believe that Israel must find a better way of coping with Palestinians. The status quo is not just untenable on its optics and its human rights, it also endangers the very state of Israel because it undermines international support.

But the status quo in the countries surrounding Israel is not only untenable but much worse. One neighbor is a failed state laying in rubble. Two more neighbors are oppressive dictatorships, one under the banner of monarchy and the other under the banner of the military. Pathetically, they are so threatened by a pop band they needed to ban it. One of them even locked up some fans. Finally, the fourth neighbor has the semblance of a democracy, but its government prefers to appease religious terrorists instead of defending a pop music show. It also has the most repressive laws in the region when it comes to its own people interacting with their neighbor, despite there not being a war. So if you are calling for a boycott of the West Bank, shouldn’t you be calling for a boycott of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt too? The official regimes in those countries clearly lack legitimacy and have much worse human rights records. Plus, they are so pathetic they are scared of a pop band. In other words, a boycott might just change something. How about that?