Pop group banned from Jordan
Mashrou’ Leila, set to play Pride Toronto in the summer, vows to fight discrimination
Growing up, Lebanese pop singer Hamed Sinno counted Jordan’s historic capital Amman as his second home, the place where his mother was born and where he would relish family visits.
Now, he’s banned from the Middle Eastern country because of his band’s progressive lyrics.
A Friday concert by Sinno’s acclaimed art-pop outfit Mashrou’ Leila at Amman’s Roman amphitheatre has been cancelled and Sinno says the group has been “unofficially” informed they’re no longer welcome in Jordan (which is, coincidentally, considered one of the most liberal countries in the Arab world).
Amman district governor Khalid Abu Zeid says the band’s music “contradicts” the beliefs of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Sinno, who is gay, argues the group has been barred due to their “political and religious beliefs and endorsement of gender equality and sexual freedom.” And he won’t be silenced. “We’re putting on a fight, to be honest,” he said from Beirut Wednesday. “It’s not about us playing a concert in Jordan or being allowed back into Jordan. Really, it’s an issue of this monocultural approach to everything, this complete resentment for pluralism, for voices of dissent, for music, essentially.
“We’re a band. And suddenly . . . we’re thrown into this situation where the oppression is so ridiculous that a pop band becomes the subject of a very large political debate.”
Indeed, the story has picked up steam around the world — Sinno wearily acknowledges the amount of interest with a sigh — and incited an outcry among the band’s committed fans in the Middle East and beyond.
The members of Mashrou’ Leila, who performed a packed show at Lee’s Palace last year and will perform at Pride Toronto on July 2, met as students at the American University of Beirut and bonded over their shared interest in politics and blearyeyed late-night jams.
Singing in Arabic, Sinno has trilled about same-sex relationships, overaggressive airport security, family, gender equality, social justice, religious and political freedom.
And yet, Mashrou’ Leila is far more pop than polemic; last year’s strident synth-pop album Ibn El Leil, for instance, seemed as geared toward shifting listeners’ feet as their political views.
So Sinno is as puzzled as he is frustrated by the outcry.
“It’s completely ridiculous. This whole thing is quite comical,” said the 28-year-old. “It does seem like an extremely ridiculous, ridiculous thing.”
Mashrou’ Leila has played this specific venue three times before and they’ve done at least six shows in Jordan without incident.
The band’s latest record — which translates to “Son of the Night” — features a cover image of a winged man in a wolf mask, a detail that has raised suspicion.
“Politicians and clergymen have been saying that we endorse Satanism and Satanic rituals,” Sinno said, a slight smile apparent in his voice, “when we don’t even really believe in the existence of Satan.”
Sinno says he’s still hopeful Jordan’s government will reverse its decision. In fact, he’s feeling hopeful in general, saying that the widespread outcry over this ordeal has left him feeling “very optimistic.”
And certainly the significance of the band’s upcoming Pride Toronto performance — contained within an evening of Middle Eastern entertainment from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called “Yalla Barra” — isn’t lost on him.
“To be honest, I’m quite happy about it. I’ve never even attended a Pride parade before. It really does mean the world to me that there’s some sort of solidarity that can be forged amongst queer musicians across the world.
“To perform at Toronto’s Pride is really heartwarming for me. It’s a very, very big deal for us.”