Islam Chipsy via Official Facebook page
CAIRO – 25 August 2017: Four musical acts from the Arab world and others internationally have pulled out of Berlin's Pop-Kultur festival that is currently running as means of protesting the festival accepting funds from Israel.
Amongst the performers that had pulled out include Egyptian musician Islam Chipsy and his band EEK, who posted on Facebook that their intentions were to “make it clear that, through our musical actions, we seek to resist violence, oppression and discrimination of any kind on the ground, which is an expression of our position and personal opinion."
Also withdrawing is Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi, who posted on her Facebook that "I pulled out because as a humanist and a hearted human being it is on my consciousness to stand for justice."
Syrian rap band Mazzaj Rap also took their stand by pulling out. On Facebook, they posed their belief that 'participation is acceptance' and thus refused to be involved in anything that was funded by Israel's government.
They stated that "considering this and to be consistent with our political commitment against any form of oppression, colonialism or discrimination we proudly declare our withdrawal from the festival."
Syrian bass developer Hello Psychaleppo also pulled out, issuing a statement on Facebook in August 14 that they would be pulling out in advance.
It isn't just Arab bands that are outraged as well. The Scottish group 'Young Fathers' also took a stand and pulled out of the festival, releasing this statement on their twitter account;
Other international acts that have withdrawn are American musician Thurston Moore, Oranssi Pazuzu a black metal band from Finland and British musician Annie Goh, according to JTA.
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