Alan A.
Harry's place
26 July 10
Syria, of course, is a dictatorship where dissidents are arrested and tortured, where no freedom of speech or assembly exists, where Kurds are massacred. The regime killed an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 civilians in its own city of Hama in 1982. Syria supports terrorist groups attacking in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and for many years Turkey. Syria has imposed an imperialist yoke on Lebanon, a country that never threatened it. Its media feature the most vicious anti-Western and antisemitic propaganda. B. Rubin The Truth About Syria
Albarn proudly boasts:
Gorillaz have become the first ever big British band to play in Damascus in Syria.
Damon Albarn, Bashy, Kano and former Clash members Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, were among those who performed a one-off show in the Syrian capital on Sunday.
Damon told Newsbeat it was something he’d wanted to do for some time: “I’m surprised that no one has ever come here before.
“For us it’s just a wonderful experience”
The tour has an important political message:
Damon told Newsbeat why he chose pollution as a theme: “I think the world is becoming like a plastic beach. It’s not a prediction, it’s something that exists now.
“We’ve got to accept that it’s got to be cool to recycle.”
Here is the Wikipedia page summarising the human rights situation in Syria:
The human rights record of the Syrian Arab Republic has been found lacking by a number of different sources.
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I think "Gorillaz" look at this situation from a different point of view; bringing a wealth of music and foreign imagery and art, to people who have little access to anything outside their isolated, cultural environment. I'd bet they even think the same while performing to “Western” audiences, as well: Music as a bridge, as a connection, as a way of generating a dialogue amongst cultures and addressing worldwide conflict with something other than force, weaponry and religious or political ideology. The members of “Gorillaz” are artists; why should they be forced to utilize the same “language” as military leaders and politicians? Why do military leaders and politicians feel they can manipulate the masses into only communicating between each other “through” them and by their terms, alone?
ReplyDeleteMusic is one of the most primal expressions of our humanity and can connect people in ways that religion and politics has repeatedly failed to do. This “Gorillaz” performance was a chance for the people of Syria to see actual Syrians--local musicians--having a different role in the global "conversation" than just being a perpetual player in religious clashes of The Middle East. A shift in self-perception and recognizing our shared humanity, as expressed through art and music, is a strong move in the direction of relating to those long considered enemies. It’s unlikely that a musician who has publicly declared his support for “Pacifist” responses to conflict, rather than physical and military aggression, would somehow single-out and boycott The Israeli People; the group’s choice to play in Syria was more likely an attempt to include Syrians in the international population and arts community and as a catalyst for change or intercultural communication, a way of saying “we’re all people and in this together—and you’re ‘people’ and—with all the joys, tribulations and responsibilities that come with it---part of this, too”.