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NEWS
05 September 2006

Israel:
Police confiscates CDs with “inflammatory song”

The song ‘Hawk of Lebanon’ by the Palestinian “wedding circuit” boy band Northern Band has been banned by Israeli authorities. Tapes and CDs containing the song are being confiscated at the borders and in music shops


At the height of the Israel-Hezbollah war, the five singers of Northern Band made an instant hit among Palestineans when they wrote new lyrics for an old tune and praised the Hezbollah guerrilla chief Hassan Nasrallah.

The response from has been to try and confiscate as much copies of the song as possible. Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said that “the song is considered inflammatory”. He said police officers in and around Jerusalem have searched music stores and are on the lookout for contraband. Israeli soldiers have confiscated some ‘Hawk of Lebanon’ tapes and CDs at checkpoints.

In a CNN report, the lead singer and manager Alaa Abu al-Haija said that the audience at a wedding celebration in Ramallah requested the song six times.


Sources:

Al Jazeera – 4 September 2006:

‘Palestinians sing to Nasrallah tune’

Canadian Press – 25 August 2006:

‘Song in praise of Hezbollah chief propels West Bank boy band to local stardom’

For lyrics and MP3-files, see Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia:

‘The Hawk of Lebanon’

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