Photo Credit: Byblos International Festival
Lebanese rock band Mashrou’ Leila won’t appear at Byblos International Festival on August 9th. And they’re not alone.
Facing pressure from church officials who accuse the band of defaming Christianity, the band’s appearance was canceled. Byblos organizers said they nixed the appearance out of a desire to “prevent bloodshed and maintain security and stability.”
A Christian Facebook page called “The Soldiers of God” claimed the band was promoting homosexuality. The band’s lead singer — Hamed Sinno — is an openly gay man. Soon church officials joined calls to cancel Mashrou’ Leila’s appearance.
That was the start of a pile-on. Soon, the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Byblos issued a statement about the band claiming that an appearance would be “directly contrary to Christian faith and religious and human morals.”
Similar accusations in April arose after a Brazilian metal band was due to appear in a Beirut concert. Some heavily religious groups accused the band Sepultura of promoting devil worship.
Mashrou’ Leila has denied the allegations made against its members and music. The rock group says they have received death threats and other threats of violence, with zealots promising to take action. One activist on Facebook said he was prepared to stop the concert by force if necessary.
The ugly situation soon sparked another cancelation.
European rock band Within Temptation has canceled its appearance in solidarity. The group released a statement on Facebook saying that they would withdraw from their appearance in support of tolerance and free speech.
“Apart from the fact that Lebanese authorities at this moment are not able to provide artists the security to perform in peace, we have decided to cancel our show in Byblos in solidarity with Mashrou’ Leila and in support of tolerance, freedom of speech and expression.”
Members of Mashrou’ Leila were ultimately called in for questioning after a lawyer filed a complaint on religious grounds. The allegations in the complaint included sectarianism and insulting religion. Band members said they would apologize for having offended Christians, but ultimately their appearance was canceled.
No word yet if other acts are canceling in solidarity.