Master KG - Jerusalema [Feat. Nomcebo] (Official Music Video)

Ugandan police detain popstar MP Bobi Wine: sources

Yahoo – AFP, April 22, 2019

Ugandan musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, had
been scheduled to perform before being detained (AFP Photo/Isaac KASAMANI)

Kampala (AFP) - Ugandan police detained pop star-turned-MP Bobi Wine on Monday after shutting down one of his concerts and firing tear gas at his fans, the singer's wife and supporters said.

"He has been arrested in Busabala, where he was to address the media on the cancellation of his concert by the police," Wine's wife Barbie Itungo Kyagulanyi told AFP, referring to a suburb in southern Kampala.

Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga confirmed that officers "engaged him earlier and drove him away from Busabala" but would not say if he was formally arrested.

Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was scheduled to perform Monday but the much-anticipated show was cancelled by police.

His attempt to reach the venue on the shores of Lake Victoria, flanked by dozens of supporters, was blocked by police who fired tear gas and water cannon at his convoy.

Before being detained, Wine posted on Twitter that police were trying to tow the singer's car away.

"People teargassed, beaten, Many arrested. We shall overcome... Stand firm," he wrote.

Later, a post on his Twitter account signed "admin" said the singer had been "violently arrested".

Police said the concert was cancelled because inadequate safety measures were put in place.

Wine is among the most prominent critics of Uganda's longtime President Yoweri Museveni, and authorities have repeatedly blocked him from performing publically.

Young Ugandans have recently been energised by the singer-MP, who has become a thorn in the side of the government through his songs about social justice.

Rapper Akon to buy 50% of African music download service

Yahoo – AFP, July 15, 2017

Akon, whose real name is Aliaune Badara Thiam, announced in Dakar he would
 become the majority shareholder in the service, describing Musik Bi as 'the
platform of the future' (AFP Photo/John Muchucha)

Dakar (AFP) - Senegalese-American rapper Akon announced Saturday he would purchase 50 percent of African music download service Musik Bi, as the platform struggles to gain a foothold after its launch 18 months ago.

Africa's first home-grown platform for legal music downloads, Musik Bi launched in Senegal in February 2016 with a mission to promote African artists, pay them properly, and fight internet piracy.

Akon, whose real name is Aliaune Badara Thiam, announced in Dakar he would become the majority shareholder in the service, describing Musik Bi as "the platform of the future".

"It's not just a platform for Senegal but for Africa," he added, refusing to be drawn on what he had paid for the transaction.

Best known for his singles "Locked Up" and "Smack That", Akon has devoted more of his time in recent years to his Lighting Africa solar energy initiative and other charitable pursuits.

He launched his latest single "Khalice", a collaboration with Senegalese superstar Youssou Ndour, exclusively on Musik Bi.

More than 200 internationally famous musicians, along with younger rappers, jazz artists and Christian and Muslim vocalists, initially agreed to put their music on Musik Bi, where users can download it using their phone credit.

CEO Moustapha Diop, whose company Solid pioneered the project, said ongoing disputes with phone companies over their cut of takings had hindered Musik Bi's reach.

"We have the ambition of developing across Africa and being 'the' musical distribution platform in Africa," Diop told journalists.

"The profit made by the operators is problematic because it goes against the interests of the artists and the platform in general. We will keep pushing to get a reasonable deal," he added.

After mobile operators took their share, artists keep 60 percent of their income from the service, while Musik Bi take the remaining 40 percent.

The platform also hopes to broaden into a music festival, television channel and a streaming service, Akon said.

Piracy and changing consumer habits have seen record sales drop across the continent, with illegal downloads tempting African consumers looking online for music while copyright enforcement remains relatively weak.

Kidjo says 'Africa on rise' in latest Grammy win

Yahoo – AFP, 16 February 2016

Angelique Kidjo recieves the award for the Best World Music Album, Sings, onstage

 during the 58th Annual Grammy music Awards in Los Angeles on February 15, 

2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Los Angeles (AFP) - Angelique Kidjo, one of Africa's most prominent musicians, won her third Grammy on Monday and dedicated it to aspiring artists on the continent.

The Beninese-born singer won the Grammy for Best World Music Album for "Sings," a collection of her songs infused with Western classical traditions in a collaboration with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.

This is the second straight year that Kidjo has won the Best World Music Album prize, after last year's "Eve" that paid tribute to African women.

A visibly happy K  by a pit orchestra.

"I want to dedicate this Grammy to all the traditional musicians in Africa, in my country, to all the young generation," Kidjo said.

"Africa is on the rise, Africa is positive, Africa is joyful," she said.

"Let's get together and be one with music, and say no to hate and violence," she said to applause.

The album merges African songwriting and rhythms with European classical instrumentation, a fusion on which Kidjo has repeatedly experimented.

Kidjo described the album as an artistic challenge as traditional African bands follow the lead of the soloist much more closely, unlike Western orchestras that generally play off refined scores.

This is the second straight year that Kidjo has

 won the Best World Music Album prize, after

 last year's "Eve" that paid tribute to African

women (AFP Photo/Frederick M. Brown)

Kidjo, who is based in New York and plans another concert at Carnegie Hall in the upcoming season, said she was open to further work with artists of other genres.

"I work with everyone who believes that music is the tool of peace. For me, music is the only form of art that connects the entire world," she told AFP after accepting the award.

'Open-minded' awards

Kidjo has long worked with Philip Glass, one of the leading living US composers.

Glass notably worked with Kidjo on music set to three poems from Yoruba mythology.

Collaborators on "Sings" include not only classical musicians but the bassist Christian McBride, who separately won his latest Grammy on Monday in the category of Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

Kidjo hailed the Grammys as being increasingly open-minded.

"What astounds me more and more is the openness of spirit by the Grammys compared with other events," she told AFP.

"They are showing musical diversity to the rest of the world," she said. "What is great at the Grammys is to have people who aren't only into commercial things."

The artist with the most nominations at Monday's Grammys is Kendrick Lamar, whose album "To Pimp a Butterfly" has been hailed for its meditative look on the state of black America.

"Sings" beat out a highly innovative Grammy nominee from Africa -- an album by Malawi's Zomba Prison Project.

The 20-track album, arranged by the US producer Ian Brennan, explored the unexpected musical talents of prisoners at a maximum-security prison.

"I am a reformed person, and music has helped me to be cool and deal with the situation of being incarcerated for life," Elias Chimenya, who is serving a life term for killing a man in a quarrel, told AFP earlier in Malawi.

The three others in contention for the World Music Grammy were all previous nominees -- sitarist Anoushka Shankar, Brazilian legend Gilberto Gil and South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Rohani's 'Yes We Can' Moment

Radio Free Europe, November 26, 2013

Iranian President Hassan Rohani's charm offensive continues at home with a musical clip that seems to have been inspired by U.S. President Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" music video.

The beautifully made black-and-white clip,  which includes segments of the Iranian president's August 3 inauguration speech mixed with music, singing, and sign language, has been released to mark the first 100 days of his presidency.

Obama's 2008 "Yes We Can" clip was created with the participation of some 30 Hollywood actors and singers.

Rohani's video was posted on his website and shared on Twitter by the unverified account of the Iranian president, which is said to be maintained by his media team.

WATCH: Rohani's 100 Days

The clip, which features a well-known singer and actor, Amir Hossein Modaress, was produced by Iranian documentary-maker Hossein Dehbashi, who also worked on Rohani's election campaign videos. Dehbashi has been quoted by Iranian media as saying that the video was created "spontaneously."

In the clip, unprecedented for an Iranian president, people of all ages play musical instruments and sing to Rohani's words in Persian, but also in the languages of Iran's minorities, including Kurdish and Arabic.

The clip also includes sound bites from prominent figures in Iran's modern history including Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and the founder of the Islamic Republic Ruhollah Khomeini.

The main takeaway of the clip seems to be unity:

Let space and opportunity be given to all Iranians who are devoted to this land. Let those who are competent serve the nation. Let their hearts be cleansed from hatred. Let reconciliation replace anger and friendship replace enmity.

Rohani said his government wants happiness to return to the Iranian people's lives and calls on God to guide him.

Dehbashi lived in the United States for several years. He was arrested in 2010, allegedly for forging a United Nations letter that accompanied his immigration application. Upon returning to Tehran, Dehbashi claimed he had been held in solitary confinement by the FBI.

-- Golnaz Esfandiari

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Saudi 'no woman, no drive' mockery video goes viral

Yahoo – AFP, 28 October 2013

An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube by Alaa Wardi on
October 26, 2013, shows Hisham Fageeh, a Saudi who introduces himself as
an artist social activist, singing "No woman, no drive", an adaptation of Bob
Marley's famous song (AFP Photo/)

Riyadh (AFP) - A Saudi video mocking the kingdom's unique ban on female driving has gone viral, featuring a male performer singing "no woman, no drive", an adaptation of Bob Marley's famous song.

Nearly 3.5 million people had seen the 4:15-minute video by Monday, two days after the adaptation of the reggae legend's "no woman, no cry" had been posted on YouTube.

"Say I remember when you used to sit, in the family car, but backseat," sings Hisham Fageeh, a Saudi who introduces himself as an artist social activist, dressed in traditional white thawb cloak and checkered red headgear.

The video that sarcastically tells women not to consider getting behind the wheel was posted on the day set by female activists to launch an new campaign to defy the kingdom's ban on women driving.

At least 16 women were stopped by police while at the wheel on Saturday. They were fined and forced along with their male guardians to pledge to obey the conservative-kingdom's laws.

Fageeh goes on to mock a claim by a Saudi cleric that driving would hurt women's ovaries and bring "clinical disorder" upon their children.

"Ovaries are safe and well, so you can make lots and lots of babies," he sings.

"In this bright future, you can't forget your past, so put your car key away," the song continues.

Women who in the past have defied the ban, which is not even enshrined in law, have run into trouble with the authorities.

In 1990, 47 women who got behind the wheel in a demonstration against the driving ban were stopped by the authorities.

In 2011, police arrested a number of women who defied the ban and forced them to sign a pledge not to drive again.

Saudi women are forced to cover from head to toe and need permission from a male guardian to travel, work and marry.

The New York Arab-American Comedy Festival this month introduced Fageeh as an up-and-running stand-up comedian who performs in Arabic and English.

On his YouTube account, "HishamComedy", Saudi-based Fageeh has posted many of his earlier videos, including 16 episodes of "Isboiyat Hisham," or Hisham Weeklies, including some reflecting on the lives of Saudi students in the United States.

"A simple contribution by me and my colleagues on the occasion of the" women driving campaign, Fageeh wrote on his Twitter account, on October 26, referring to his latest release.

Related Articles:

Saudi Arabian women vow to keep up campaign against driving ban

Few Saudi women get behind the wheel after threats

Image taken from a video uploaded by Saudi activists on YouTube

on October 17, 2013 shows a fully veiled woman driving in Riyadh

ahead of a planned nationwide day of defiance of the ban on

women driving (YouTube/AFP/File)

Tunisia rapper acquitted on appeal

Google – AFP, Kaouther Larbi (AFP), 17 October 2013

Ahmed Ben Ahmed (centre), who uses the stage name Klay BBJ, attends the

trial of fellow rapper Weld El 15 in the Tunis suburb of Ben Arous on June 13,

2013 (AFP, Fethi Belaid)

Grombalia — Rapper Klay BBJ, jailed for six months for allegedly insulting Tunisian officials in his songs, was acquitted on appeal Thursday, in one of several cases which have angered rights groups.

"The court has decided to reject the accusations and to annul the sentencing of Ahmed Ben Ahmed," known as Klay BBJ, the judge announced at the end of the appeal hearing in Grombalia, south of Tunis.

The grounds for his acquittal were not immediately made public.

Ahmed Ben Ahmed (R), aka Klay BBJ, gestures

 behind the bars of a police vehicle as he leaves

 Hammamet court on September 26, 2013 (AFP,

 Fethi Belaid)

"Finally I can breathe again. This was really suffocating me. I was scared for Tunisia's youth but this verdict gives me hope," said fellow rapper Mohamed Amin Hamzaoui, one of many who travelled to Grombalia for the hearing.

"This verdict shows the importance of mobilising civil society and media and free speech activists," said Thameur Mekki, head of a support committee for rappers facing trial.

The hearing itself only started once the judge reversed a decision to keep out the public after the defence had threatened not to put in a plea.

Klay BBJ was found guilty on September 26 of insulting officials, undermining public morals and defamation in songs he sang alongside fellow rapper Weld El 15 during a concert the previous month at a sea resort south of Tunis.

The two young men were given 21-month jail terms in absentia at the end of August, without being summoned to court or even informed of the trial.

Klay BBJ had decided to contest the earlier ruling while Weld El 15 has been on the run.

But their lawyer, Ghazi Mrabet, told AFP that Weld El 15 would now also appeal. "We will file an appeal very quickly so he is judged by the same court," he said.

Since an Islamist-led government took power after Tunisia's 2011 revolution, trials of musicians and journalists have sparked charges from rights groups that the authorities are stifling freedom of expression.

Two other rappers face trial in November over clashes which broke out at a court in June when Weld El 15 was initially convicted.

Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf in European debut

Google – AFP, Charles Onians (AFP), 29 Sep 2013

Gaza's Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf smiles during a meeting with fans

 and journalists before a concert in The Hague, on September 29, 2013 (AFP,

Charles Onians)

The Hague (AFP) - The Gazan winner of the Arab Idol talent competition, a rare symbol of Palestinian unity, is to give his first concert outside the Arab world in The Hague on Sunday.

Mohammed Assaf, 24, became a national hero when he won the pan-Arab contest in June after transfixing millions of television viewers with his soaring renditions of Arab love ballads and patriotic Palestinian songs.

“I am happy, this is an opportunity to be in front of a non-Arab audience, and that's a good thing," Assaf told AFP in an interview. "I’d like to reach out to the world.”

Organisers said they expected the 800 tickets for the young heartthrob's concert in The Hague's town hall on Sunday night, his first outside the Middle East and north Africa, to be sold out.

“Music is a unifying message," Assaf said.

Mohammed Assaf meets with fans and

 journalists before a concert in The Hague,

 on September 29, 2013. (AFP, Charles

Onians)

"Maybe there are different audiences, or the techniques are different in the Middle East and in Europe and America, but what I know is music is something that when people first hear, they love.”

Assaf arrived in The Netherlands from his new home in Dubai and had dinner with Arab ambassadors on Saturday evening, a spokesman for the Palestinian delegation in The Netherlands, Roel Raterink, told AFP.

Organisers said Palestinians from Germany and Belgium are also expected to travel to The Netherlands for the concert, which will also be attended by most Arab ambassadors.

Israel in August took the exceptional step of allowing Assaf to move from the Gaza Strip to the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a "humanitarian gesture".

Israel has maintained a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza since 2006 which was tightened further when the Islamist movement Hamas seized control there the following year.

Assaf said he was now living in Dubai "because of the conditions in my country".

"Because of the siege, it is easier for me to go to Dubai, it makes travel easier because I have concerts in some Arab countries and in Europe, and in America over the next months.”

No Israeli diplomats will be attending. Israeli President Shimon Peres is on a visit to Amsterdam at the same time, the Israeli embassy said.

One-time wedding crooner Assaf was also to meet members of The Netherlands' Palestinian community before heading to Italy for another European concert, Raterink said.

Born to Palestinian parents in Misrata, Libya, Assaf grew up in the teeming Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza before winning the 2013 edition of Arab Idol in Beirut in June.

His victory sparked scenes of jubilation across the Palestinian territories.

The week after he won, Assaf performed in front of some 40,000 fans in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The contest in Beirut transfixed the viewing public with Assaf's story which saw him sneaking out of Gaza, nearly missing his initial audition in Cairo, and then only making it through after a fellow Gazan pulled out.

Palestinians remain divided between the Islamist Hamas movement which rules the Gaza Strip and its Fatah rival which dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

On his return to Gaza in June, Assaf called for an end to the "division" with the West Bank, and urged unity between Palestinians.

While this is his first performance in Europe as Arab Idol winner, he says he went to summer camp in France in 2003 and performed in Marseille in 2006.

“We took first prize for a cultural song. I was singing and there were guys dancing the debke, an Arab dance," he said.

Related Article:

Arab Idol favourite Mohammed Assaf carries hopes of Palestinians into final

Music to combat hopelessness

Deutsche Welle, 8 Aug 2013

The world's only pan-Arab youth orchestra met in Berlin to make music together. But the young musicians also discussed the situation in their home countries - politics, hopes and fears.

Around 60 musicians from seven different Arab nations followed Bremen-based conductor Heiner Buhlmann as he led them through Dvorak's Symphony No. 8. It was the orchestra's first major performance at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin's Konzerthaus at the beginning of August.

With support from Germany's Federal Foreign Office, the Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra - made up of musicians from Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories - met for the first time in Berlin to rehearse for their performance.

Harpist Toaa Salah El-Deen can't help
but show her pride and joy

Their repertory includes classical European works and traditional pieces from the Arab world. "We play Claude Debussy's 'Dances for Harp' since the harp was originally an Egyptian instrument," said 22-year-old harpist Toaa Salah El-Deen of Cairo. "I'm so proud to be able to perform as a soloist for the first time with an orchestra. The experience is priceless."

A vision of peace

"The Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra symbolizes a vision for harmony and peaceful cooperation in the Arab world - something that's become uncertain there," said orchestra founder Fawzy El-Shamy, former director of the Cairo Music Conservatory. "That makes this vision even more important."

"Of course the musicians talk a lot about politics during rehearsal breaks because they all want to live in peace," the conductor noted.

Fostering intercultural understanding

through music

"They talk about the history and background of conflicts in the Arab world and things they've seen on television but don't completely understand. This exchange helps to cultivate peace within our own little group. And then we bring that positive energy to the stage," the optimistic El-Shamy told DW.

Escape to music

"Really bad news." That's how cellist Somar Ashkar of Damascus described the current situation in his home country. He's perplexed. "Life is becoming incredibly difficult for us. Nothing is like it used to be. But nobody knows what we can do. We just wait. But for whom? Something has to happen…the misery has to be brought to a halt. The fighting and conflicts and everything. We truly want that - peace!"

The cellist traveled with fellow Syrian musicians to Berlin via Lebanon. Once in the German capital, they plunged into music. "We used to always be happy during rehearsals, but that attitude has disappeared due to the war. Still, we're not giving up. Music helps me through it all."

Conductor Heiner Buhlmann

"My friends and I always try to make people happy with music and let them forget what's happening in Syria for a while," he added.

Unanswered questions

"Around 30 percent of the musicians in our orchestra come from Syria," explained violinist Jasmin Assom de Meledin El-Serafi, of Alexandria, Egypt. "I asked them: 'Who among you supports Bashar al-Assad, and who's against him? And what's happening there?'"

"They explained that many Syrians are in the army and have acted against countless civilians. None of them understand it," the pensive violinist said.

Music should have the power to change not only the lives of the musicians, believes 22-year-old Egyptian concertmaster Kalim Samie Salé, who has been studying in Berlin with violinist Kolja Blacher for the past four years. "There's no right or wrong in music," he told DW. "Even if we Arabs sometimes want to add a different touch to classical music, we always strike a healthy balance with our conductor Heiner Buhlmann." Salé noted that he and his colleagues often want to play more slowly, but Buhlmann spurs them on.

Music instead of politics

"I don't talk about politics much. People always have different opinions, and everyone thinks he's right," the orchestra leader said. "That makes for bad karma, so I think it's better in times like these to just concentrate on the music."

Gathering for the first time in Berli:
the Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra

To that end, the ambitious young musicians presented a work from their own cultural context: Attia Sharara's "Arab Suite" from 1978, a medley of melodies from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Libya, Syria and Lebanon. After thunderous applause, the musicians came down from the stage refreshed and rejuvenated.

"We're concerned," said musicicologist El-Shamy. "At home, I was always with my students at Tahir Square. When we return, we'll go straight to Tahir."

Concertmaster Salé, for his part, said that being young, he still has hope for the future, but "I think we need more time, much more time."

Related Article:

"2013 - A Difficult Year" – July 14, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… You Can See It In Your News

The final item is this: All around you, dear ones, is proof of what I'm telling you. You have two countries currently in turmoil at the moment, and a third one about to go. All three have been stable for a very long time. Who would have thought that Egypt would be part of this? Egypt seemed to be in balance for decades - or was it? Syria ruled itself with an iron hand and created a stability of power that was absolute. What would then cause these to erupt the way they did and at this time? If you take a look at why, and why now, you'll see the timing is all around 2013 and 2012. And it's around Human consciousness that is starting to be more transparent and saying, "We don't want what we now understand and see is continuing unbalance in our country. We see it never getting better, and now we want finality and we want resolution." That is what you're looking at.

It's ugly to look at this, for there is death, suffering, sorrow and turmoil. There is frustration, and the resolution of it all may take longer than you want it to. But someday you will look back and see the results clearly. Mass Human consciousness is starting to change and demand what it expects in the way of integrity. Governments often want the old ways of power, but their people want schools, hospitals, safe streets and parks, and peace with their neighbors.

So expect more of this, especially this year. The more turmoil you see, the more the puzzle is being worked with. So we close this message the way we started it. I know who you are, magnificent one. I sit at your feet in awe. Do not miss this point! Old souls have been here through all of the transitions of humanity. Do you understand that? Four times you came close to this shift you are today experiencing and four times you missed it. Four times you died in the process of trying. This time you didn't.

Do not miss this: There is something within your Akash, a "remembrance button", that is being pushed and plays an emotion that says, "We've felt this before and it didn't turn out well." Don't let this energy define you. It's the button of duality and fear that says things are always the way they are and they will repeat themselves because that's just the way life works. No it isn't! You are magnificent and you have the ability at this point to finally begin to see it, and to cast all the fears and the voices in the back seat of life and tell them you are in charge now and you are the one driving the car of your reality. That's the message of the day. ….”

Arab Idol favourite Mohammed Assaf carries hopes of Palestinians into final

Gaza refugee becomes symbol of national pride as millions across Arab world prepare to watch last leg of TV talent show

guardian.co.uk, Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem,  Friday 21 June 2013

Link to video: Arab Idol finalists perform for a Middle Eastern audience of millions

Thousands of Palestinians are expected to crowd into cafes, hotels and open-air venues on Friday evening to watch three finalists compete for the title of Arab Idol, in the fervent hope that a 23-year-old from a Gaza refugee camp is declared the winner on Saturday.

Mohammed Assaf, who is thought to be the favourite to win the TV talent show, has enthralled viewers from Gaza, the West Bank and the entire Palestinian diaspora with his rendition of traditional songs – some lamenting the loss of his homeland – and his self-effacing charm. For many in Palestine, enduring a grinding existence under occupation, Assaf has come to symbolise hope and national aspiration.

The series has attracted millions across the Arab world. In Gaza and the West Bank, posters of Assaf are plastered across walls and billboards, and T-shirts bearing his face and the number three – assigned to him in the SMS voting system – are a common sight.

Public figures, including President Mahmoud Abbas, have urged Palestinians to vote enmasse by text message for the local boy. According to Reuters, Abbas has instructed Palestinian embassies to urge expatriates to vote for Assaf, calling the singer "the pride of the Palestinian and Arab nation". Two mobile phone companies have offered cut-price texts for viewers.

Palestinians smoke nargila under a poster depicting singer Mohammed Assaf \
on a wall of a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Photograph:
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/REUTERS

The acclaim is not quite universal, however. Some conservative Islamic groups, including Hamas, disapprove of the western-style Arab Idol. "There has been no direct criticism, but we hear that some sheikhs at Friday prayers don't like this," his older brother, Shadi, a taxi driver, told the Guardian last month. "There are always some enemies of success."

Assaf, who has six siblings, was born in Libya, but his parents returned to Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza when he was four. He performed at weddings and family parties as a child. In some of his television appearances for Arab Idol he has sung wearing the traditional Palestinian scarf –the keffiyeh.

Friday night's show, broadcast live from Beirut, will see the three finalists perform for the last time, with results announced on Saturday night. Competing against Assaf are Ahmed Jamal from Egypt, and Farah Youssef, a female singer from Syria.

Last year's winner was given a lucrative recording contract and a car.

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Tunisia rapper jailed for two years

Google – AFP, Kaouther Larbi (AFP), 13 June 2013

Tunisian rapper Ala Yaacoubi, better know by his rap name

"Weld El 15", arrives for his trial on June 13, 2013 (AFP, Fethi Belaid)

BEN AROUS, Tunisia — A Tunisian rapper was handed a two-year jail sentence on Thursday for insulting the police in a song, with the court ruling sparking clashes between his supporters and police.

Ala Yaacoub, 25, better known by his rap name "Weld El 15", was retried at the same court in a Tunis suburb that had convicted him in absentia in March, after he handed himself him in to face justice.

As the judge read out the verdict, shouts of protest erupted in the courtroom from his supporters who were swiftly expelled by police.

Several people were beaten outside the building, including Emine M'tiraoui, a journalist with the news blog Nawaat, and at least three people arrested.

There was evidence of tear gas outside the court house, but it was not clear who had fired it, with the police and friends of the singer blaming each other.

"Weld El 15" (L), arrives for his trial alongside
 Tunisian rapper Emino (R), on June 13, 2013
(AFP, Fethi Belaid)

"The sentence is very tough for an artist who decided of his own accord to face justice," said Yaacoub's lawyer Ghazi Mrabet.

"It is particularly unfair that no text exists for suppressing a work of art."

Yaacoub, who had been in hiding, was given a two-year jail sentence in March after posting a rap video called "The Police are Dogs" on the Internet.

He later turned himself in and was hoping for a more lenient sentence.

The lawyer said he faced half a dozen charges, including conspiracy to commit violence against public officials and insulting the police.

Sitting in a cafe with friends before the trial opened on Thursday, Yaacoub had said he was afraid and criticised the authorities for not respecting freedom of speech.

"I am afraid because in a country like Tunisia the law is not applied; you can expect anything," he told AFP.

"In the song, I used the same terms that the police used to speak about the youth. The police have to respect citizens if they want to be respected," Yaacoub added.

In the video the singer is heard saying: "Police, magistrates, I'm here to tell you one thing, you dogs; I'll kill police instead of sheep; Give me a gun I'll shoot them."

Ahead of the trial in March, in which four others were handed prison sentences but later released, the interior ministry said the song's lyrics were "unethical, abusive and threatening" towards pubic officials.

Members of the Tunisian opposition were quick to condemn Thursday's court ruling, comparing it to the two-year suspended jail sentences given to 20 Islamists involved in an attack on the US embassy last year, which have been strongly criticised as excessively lenient.

"Weld 15 got two years and there were suspended sentences for the attack on the US embassy, I feel bad for our youth at this critical time," MP Karima Souid wrote on Twitter.

The secular opposition frequently accuses the government led by Islamist party Ennahda of manipulating the judiciary to muzzle free speech and of seeking to impose Islamic values on Tunisian society.

Several cases relating to the freedom of expression have sparked outrage in the North African country since Ennahda's rise to power after the January 2011 revolution.

On Wednesday, three European members of the radical women's protest group Femen were jailed for four months for staging a topless demonstration in Tunis in support of a detained Tunisian activist.

The judge found them guilty of public indecency, but their supporters say they were performing a legitimate protest and that women's rights were under attack. Amnesty has called for their release, saying "imprisoning people for expression is inherently disproportionate."

In April 2012, two youths were sentenced to seven and a half years for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed on Facebook. One of them managed to escape and was granted political asylum in France.

Related Article:

EU surprised by 'severity' of Tunisia topless sentence

King Abdullah and the Quest For Reform in Saudi Arabia

Jakarta Globe, Sumanto Al Qurtuby, February 21, 2013

'King Abdullah's remarkable policies might provide one reason
 why the political unrest that has rocked the Arab region has
only lightly touched Saudi Arabia' 

      

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The “dark side” of Saudi Arabia is widely known: “exporter” of global terrorism, source of Islamic fanaticism and militancy linked to Wahhabi teachings, lack of protection for religious minorities, anti-Shiite campaigns, zero women empowerment, undemocratic rule, etcetera. But this is not the only story of the world’s largest producer of crude oil and its 26 million people. Since King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz (b. 1924) assumed power following the death of his half-brother King Fahd in 2005, Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and home to two of the Muslim world’s holiest places (Mecca and Medina), has undergone major change and progress in terms of domestic and global affairs.

Over the past seven years, King Abdullah, the tenth son of the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz, has transformed his palace with a wide range of vital reform initiatives ranging from policies on education and women to interfaith gatherings and peacebuilding. Rob Sobhani, author of “King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: A Leader of Consequence,” wrote in Forbes magazine that the king’s domestic policies, coupled with his active involvement in religious peacemaking and interfaith meetings, has contributed to the creation of a “new climate of dialogue and openness, challenged the obscurantist clerical establishment, created openings for women, and liberalized the economy.”

Among numerous policy shifts made by the monarch, at least four issues deserve special mention: education, religious affairs, interfaith engagement and women’s emancipation.

In education, the ruler has applied a vast government scholarship program that enables this vibrant and rapidly developing country to send its students — of both sexes — to Western universities, particularly in Western Europe, North America and Australia, for undergraduate and graduate studies in various fields and disciplines. The program, which offered funds for tuition and living expenses for up to four years, resulted in more than 70,000 students pursuing a degree in some 25 countries. In the United States alone there are more than 22,000 Saudi students. In the future, graduates of these Western schools will certainly boost further reformation in both religious and political domains for this Islamic monarchy.

Moreover, in religious education, the ruler has allowed Muslim minorities such as Shiites, who make up roughly 3 percent of the nation’s total population, and followers of non-Wahhabi schools of law ( mazhab) to use their own religious texts in schools. The king also revised national curricula by inserting non-Wahhabi materials aiming at understanding other religions and non-Wahhabi teachings. He also permitted Shiites to celebrate publicly their religious holidays. To smoothen his educational reforms, this visionary king replaced the existing minister of education with reform-minded scholar Faisal bin Abdullah. He also assigned Nora binti Abdullah al-Fayez, a US-trained academic, as deputy education minister to lead and oversee a new division in the ministry for female students.

But the king’s restoration in religious affairs continues. Realizing there were many undemocratic judicial decisions made by judges, the sovereign initiated a review of verdicts and provided more professional training for Shariah judges. The king has repeatedly said that those who rule must be just and honest. He also issued a decree stating that only Islamic scholars allied to the Senior Council of Ulema would be permitted to issue a fatwa (a non-binding opinion by a Muslim jurist or mufti). The order also instructed the Grand Mufti to classify eligible reform-minded scholars to be included in the council.

Religious engagement is another part of King Abdullah’s great legacy. Long before he ascended the throne, the king had initiated a series of intra-religious meetings with non-Wahhabi leaders in the country, including the celebrated Shiite scholar Hasan al-Saffar. The king also engaged with non-Muslim leaders. In 2007, the king had a historic meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in the Apostolic Palace, making him the first Saudi monarch to visit the leader of the Roman-Catholic Church.

After subsequent visits to, and encounters with, non-Muslim religious leaders, the monarch called for a “brotherly and sincere dialogue between believers of all religions.” He then appealed to Muslim clerics and Wahhabi leaders to engage with Jewish and Christian leaders. As an outcome of the king’s initiatives, a huge interfaith meeting took place in Madrid in 2008. Not only that, the king also established a King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (based in Vienna) — a collaboration between Saudi Arabia, Spain and Austria.

Lastly, concerning women issues, King Abdullah again made history. Recently he issued a decree that allowed women to be members of the empire’s previously all-male Shura Council, an appointed advisory body whose main task is to compose drafts of laws and counsel for the king. The king amended the law on the Shura Council to make sure that women would make up no less than 20 percent of the 150-member council. The emperor then appointed 30 women, who “are highly qualified and experienced in various fields” according to Saudi journalist Maha Akeel. University graduates, human rights activists and two princesses joined the council.

The decree has indeed marked a critical breakthrough in the nation that applies a rigid version of Shariah law and imposes stringent restrictions on females. It is worth noting that this is not the first time for the king that made an important decision to empower women. In 2011, he granted women the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections.

In a response to this “controversial” policy, a group of Wahhabi hard-liners and conservative clerics protested on the streets outside the royal palace in Riyadh. They saw the decree as a dangerous change for the country and a violation of Islamic Shariah. Yet despite the overwhelming protests from “old-fashioned” Wahhabis, King Abdullah continues to apply the decree because, as he affirms, “we refuse to marginalize women’s role in Saudi society.”

King Abdullah’s remarkable efforts and policies sketched above might provide one important reason why the political unrest that has rocked the Arab and North African region since late 2010 has only lightly touched Saudi Arabia. This may be more important that the “bribery” of the people into obedience and loyalty by means of massive fiscal stimulus and welfare benefits, as many analysts have assumed.

Indeed, the massive changes in Saudi Arabia offer an important example for Indonesia, as many of the Saudi-influenced clerics and Muslim leaders who reside here, unfortunately, have so far failed to take notice.

Sumanto Al Qurtuby is a research fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He can be contacted at squrtuby@gmail.com.