On social networks, there have been many calls for the release of Palestinian artist Sama Abdulhadi.
Considered to be the first Palestinian female DJ, the 30-year-old young woman was arrested by the police on Sunday, December 27, after an electronic music concert organized the evening before in Nabi Moussa, the presumed location of the tomb of the prophet Moses, near of Jericho.
According to Ammar Dweik, director of the Independent Palestinian Commission for Human Rights, an organization created by the Palestinian Authority, Sama Abdulhadi had nevertheless received authorization from the authorities for this concert.
"We asked today for her release because her arrest is not logical (...) she had received an authorization from the Ministry of Tourism", he declared.
"Nabi Moussa is not only a religious site but also a tourist site (...) and if electronic music was not appropriate for it, the ministry should not have given its authorization", he said, specifying that his detention had been extended on Tuesday for two weeks.
https://t.co/hQfG6ldM2v
Sama was recording a live with permission from the government and was arrested anyway.
If you could sign and share with #FreeSama that would be great.
Thank you đź–¤
- PARANOID POMPONET.
(@Paranoid_sO) December 29, 2020
Reviews after the concert
The musician's family, who have requested an explanation from the authorities, said in a statement that the bail application was rejected.
Shared on social networks, videos showing men and women dancing in Nabi Moussa sparked outrage, with Internet users believing that it was a desecration of the place, where a mosque is also located.
"What happened yesterday in Jericho is really disgusting. It is an insult to the three monotheistic religions," one of them lambasted on Twitter.
"How dare a bunch of liberal Palestinians party at the Nabi Moussa mosque?"
Palestinian security forces have arrested popular Palestinian DJ Sama Abdulhadi in Ramallah for playing at the Christmas rave party in Nebi Musa Mosque.
This comes after the event was allegedly approved by the Palestinian ministry of tourism
pic.twitter.com/ilfloi5WFK
- Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) December 28, 2020
During the concert, men entered the enclosure of the building and pushed the participants out.
At the request of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, a commission of inquiry was created "to determine what happened to Nabi Moussa".
The Al-Haq human rights organization has criticized an "arbitrary arrest" aimed at satisfying a section of Palestinian opinion, according to its director Chaawane Jabarine.
In addition, the concert took place despite the restrictions in force in the West Bank to fight against the new coronavirus, including confinement.
With AFP
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