The repercussions of the ban on musical concerts in Iraq for renowned Arab artists continue to unfold under the pressure exerted by influential political and religious entities. In the latest developments, the Egyptian artist Mohamed Ramadan expressed his sarcasm towards the insults directed at him by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki following Ramadan's recent concert in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Ramadan posted on his personal Instagram page a video clip of Nouri Al-Maliki insulting him, along with a laughing emoji. At the end of the video, he shared a scene from one of his series where he says in Egyptian dialect, “I am the devil that seeks refuge in God from me.”
Nouri Al-Maliki had launched a fierce attack on the artistic events hosted in Iraq recently, stating: “We have begun to see and hear these indecent concerts and this immorality, with Iraq embracing fallen artists. If they were genuinely artistic, we would have welcomed them.” He described the Arab artists who held concerts in Iraq as “fallen and vulgar,” stating they come to Iraq and are received in a frightening manner. Al-Maliki criticized Ramadan’s concert without naming him, saying: “Tens of thousands rush to see a debauched person.”
In another clip, Ramadan shared a video of an Iraqi cleric criticizing him, mentioning: “Ramadan did not come to us, and we were happy with Mohamed Ramadan in Baghdad, this one who came and revealed his chest, making people give him watches and gifts in front of everyone.” Ramadan responded with a clip from a play by the renowned Egyptian actor Adel Imam, saying, “I am poor.”
Ramadan's concert in Iraq sparked heated controversy and led to dozens of Iraqis protesting in front of the “Sindbad Land” complex in Baghdad against the hosting of musical concerts. Additionally, the Iraqi cleric Jafar Al-Ibrahimi sparked widespread outrage on social media after he attacked Ramadan following his last concert, using racist and vulgar expressions, describing him in one of his sermons as “the dirty, ugly debauchee.” Ramadan responded, saying: “How can you object to my color, which God created, from the house of God? In any case, I forgive, out of love and respect for the Iraqi people, and all respect and appreciation for all religions and sects.”
Commenting on the heated controversy in Iraq and the Arab world about the threat to cultural freedoms in the land of the Tigris and the intent to isolate it from its Arab civilizational depth, the winning parliamentary candidate in the recent Iraqi elections, Sajjad Salem, said in an interview with “Sky News Arabia”: “We are in favor of protecting public and private freedoms in Iraq and ensuring the rights of every group and segment to express themselves in any way as long as it does not violate the law, which is the criterion, as it is not permissible to prevent citizens from gathering at public and artistic events. What occurred is the imposition of religious dominance where power standards are occupied in Iraqi society, as the forces and parties claiming to be religious and holding weapons and influence resort from time to time to breach public and private freedoms.”
Regarding the positions expressed by political forces and figures urging the prohibition of musical concerts in Iraq, particularly what transpired between Al-Maliki and Ramadan, the Iraqi parliamentarian stated: “These positions reflect a totalitarian view towards society, seeking to impose a single color and single thought on Iraqi society, which is bad and unacceptable, especially since we are a society of multiple religions, sects, and intellectual directions, and protecting all of this diversity is constitutionally guaranteed. Thus, what happened is a violation of citizens' rights and contrary to the constitution and law.”
The parliamentarian calls on the Iraqi government to “stand against this blatant violation of private ownership in the amusement park where the concerts of Arab artists were held and to enforce the law and protect freedoms in the face of the targeting of pluralism in Iraqi society, the violation of democracy and human rights therein, and not to yield to the extortion of these groups and their influence.”
For his part, Iraqi researcher and writer Ali Al-Baydar stated in an interview with Sky News Arabia: “The violent reactions expressed by religious currents against the establishment of musical concerts in Baghdad come within the framework of undermining civil life in Iraq and maintaining the tight religious reality that has controlled state and society in Iraq since 2003.”
He continued: “Baghdad is one of the most important capitals that established civilization in the Arab world, and thus, the civil life and society in Iraq must prevail over attempts to stereotype it and make it a religiously strict country, through attempts to generalize extreme religious rites and manifestations, especially in the capital Baghdad, as the people of Baghdad are naturally inclined towards civil and social liberation and tolerance despite all they have endured and the tragedies they have faced.”
He explained that liberating the Baghdad community, and Iraqi society in general, from the dominance of politicized religious currents and emphasizing its civil values and cultural and artistic openness to the Arab world and beyond, as the Iraqi researcher sees, “irritates regional and local parties linked to it, which want to confine Iraq into rigid molds and keep it a hostage to a specific regional influence.”
Al-Baydar added: “Civilization will prevail, and the people of Baghdad are civil by nature despite all attempts to mold them, as Baghdad has historically been one of the urban centers with a civil and enlightening brilliance in the region and around the world, and it will remain so.”
Activists on social media in Iraq launched a campaign against the protests organized by supporters of religious parties and extremist armed factions, which objected to the musical concerts held recently in Baghdad by several Arab artists, especially from Egypt and Lebanon, under the hashtag “Baghdad is Civil.”
Users of social media platforms in Iraq expressed their shame and disavowal from this degrading and racist level in labeling Iraq’s artistic guests who have their own status and millions of fans throughout the Arab world. The Tishreen Movement expressed its rejection of attempts to ban musical concerts in Iraq in a statement that read: “In order to build a state governed by law and justice that accommodates everyone, personal freedoms must be protected as long as they do not infringe on the freedoms of others, and no party has the right to set limits or restrict freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.”
