The management of the Hammamet International Festival announced the cancellation of the concert, which was expected to be performed at the Hammamet City Theater on the ninth of this month by the Tunisian artist residing in the United States of America, Amal Mathlouthi, and a number of media outlets and followers interpreted this decision as a reaction to the criticism that the artist was subjected to recently because of her visit to Israel, where many accused her of normalization with the occupation.
Mathlouthi – who is famous for being one of the most prominent voices of the 2011 Jasmine Revolution – said that she was surprised by the cancellation of her concert at the International Hammamet Festival, and said that the news reached her through the public, and denounced "the method used with her," as well as denouncing her accusation of normalization and considered it "false."
The Tunisian artist denied any direct interaction with any Israeli party during her visit to the cities of Ramallah and Jerusalem, and justified the visit by the Palestinians' desire to open up to Arab culture instead of remaining under the siege and pressure of the surrounding Israeli climate.
The Tunisian media entered the crisis line amid a state of controversy between supporters and opponents of the decision, and the position of social media pioneers in Tunisia was more violent. Opinion writers have contributed to the commentary on this behavior, which has led an artist of Mathlouthi's size and talents to an awkward and ambiguous situation at an international festival held in her country.
Writer Ghassan Ben Khalifa, a member of the Tunisian campaign to boycott and oppose normalization with the Zionist entity, countered hopes with an article on the Tunisian website "Inhayaz", saying, "No one disputes the right of Palestinians under occupation to communicate with Arab artists and access Arab culture. Presenting the topic in this way is wrong, so as not to say a fallacy in it. This issue, like any other, is supposed to be placed in the context of the priorities and means of struggle and resistance required by the Palestinian/Arab conflict with the Zionist entity."
"In other words, the discussion should focus on answering the following two questions: Which is more beneficial for the cause and for strengthening the steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinians: allowing or rejecting these visits? Do these visits actually allow for the lifting of the isolation of Palestinians or do they strengthen it?"
The Palestinian journalist Yousef Al-Shayeb, who covered the concert of Mathlouthi in Ramallah, has praised the "militant position" of the singer in the newspaper "Al-Ayyam", saying, "As she sang for Palestine and the revolution, the audience was on a date with songs for freedom, in which there is incitement that makes her a real fighter for human dignity everywhere, including a song written by a Tunisian rap artist during the rule of "dictatorship and police", and it was stated in its introduction: "Don't let dignity fall. Speak up, discuss the saying: Liberta", which is the title of the song that means "freedom", within a combination of songs from her first album, "The Song of the Revolution", and the latest entitled "Diary of Tunisia", and other songs for Palestine, about her and from her.
Justifications and arguments
Najib Kesraoui, director of the 57th edition of the Hammamet International Festival, said that the festival's management has arguments and proofs that make it capable of taking the decision to cancel the concert of Amal Mathlouthi, adding in a statement to the Tunis Africa News Agency (TAP) that the festival body followed the subject of the concert of Mathlouthi in the occupied territories and its merits and "we do not accept the continuation of programming the concert of this artist on the knees of the International Hammamet Festival."
He stressed that the decision to cancel "will not have legal or financial consequences", pointing out that the festival management will not pay Mathlouthi for the concert, considering that the administration "has arguments that qualify it to defend the festival and the institution organizing it."
Mathlouthi, who is known for her freedom songs, made a series of statements to local media stressing that the decision to cancel the concert comes against the backdrop of accusations of "cultural normalization" with Israel, which is "unjustified."
In her statement to the local private radio station Mosaique FM, she denied the rumors about her singing in the city of Haifa, adding, "It was an idea, and it was canceled, after I withdrew with conviction." "Palestinians contacted me to participate in the concert, Palestinian voices with Arab voices, and the organization is Palestinian, what is the problem with that? I entered Palestine through a Palestinian stamp and I did not deal in any way with any Israelis."
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Visit and secret concert
The Tunisian singer, who holds American citizenship and lives in New York, United States, surprised her audience with a visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, as part of a concert tour that included 3 concerts, in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah, within the framework of the activities of the Layali al-Tarab festival in Jerusalem of the Arabs, organized by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in partnership with the Yabous Cultural Center.
Mathlouthi said that another concert was scheduled to take place in Haifa but canceled it, but an announcement asking the public to keep the concert secret drew a lot of criticism, especially from the Tunisian campaign to boycott and oppose normalization with the Zionist entity.
Mathlouthi's statements came in justifying the entry into Israel, stressing that her attempts to cancel the concert were only subject to public pressure, as she said in justifying the visit, "The prisoner's visit cannot be normalization with the jailer," and that "participation in the ceremony does not mean normalization, but rather a kind of resistance."
Born in Tunisia in 1982, Amal Mathlouthi began her artistic career in 2008, singing, composing and composing songs, and was invited to sing at the ceremony of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 2015.