Divided into nine sessions, this was the first such conference to take place in the Middle East and the more than 60 participants were addressed by two key note speakers: Artist Mai Ghossoub and Lebanese singer, Marcel Khalife.

In 1999 Marcel Khalife was accused in Beirut of blasphemy for singing a song ‘Oh my father. I am Yusuf’, based on a poem by Mahmoud Darwish.
“We must eliminate censorship, Khalife said. The censorship officer is, in reality, a security officer.”

The problem today is the nature of censorship. The security men bow before the religious leaders. We must change the law; we cannot accept the authority of religious leaders. There is something very shameful about the alliance between religious leaders and policemen, Khalife said.


Conservative interpretations of music in Islam

In one of the sessions Swedish researcher, Jonas Otterbeck outlined the historical development in Islam and the sources on which the ban on music is based.

Shaikh Ibrahim Ramadan Al-Mardini from the Beirut Studies and Documentation Centre in Lebanon told the conference, “There is no ban on music in the Qur’an, and those talking about which music is haram  and which music is halal have very weak evidence.

The session was introduced by clips from the film ‘Rock star and the Mullah’ featuring Salman Ahmed in which he tried to persuade traditional clerics in Pakistan’s North West Frontier refugee camps that his music was not sinful

He pointed out that most of Islamic tradition in the Indian subcontinent came through the Sufis who loved music and dance.


Censor speaks out

In a session former film critic and censor Ali Abou Shadi, Egypt, told the story from within – how censors perform their daily work. Mr Shadi said, that censors are under heavy pressure from political and religious leaders to go beyond the limits of already existing censorship laws.

The conference included strong and personal testimonies by musicians, concert organisers and media people who have been censored in Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain and Morocco

Some of the testimonies will not be publicised as this may provoke further risks of security for the involved.


Musicians in times of conflicts

In a session dealing with the role of artists in times of conflict the Palestinian musician Ahmad al-Khatib told how he, in September 2002, when the Israelis invaded the West Bank and destroyed much of Palestine’s infrastructure, was forced into exile. Al-Khatib believes that the artist in times of conflict has a bigger responsibility than the highest politician.

Salman Ahmad, the Pakistani rock musician, told the conference how his band, Junoon ended up in the middle of power politics, when the band was touring India. The tour coincided with first India, then Pakistan testing nuclear weapons.

Interviewed by the Indian press, he said he wanted peace. On his return to Pakistan he was disgusted to find himself being accused of treason. After the incident, Junoon was banned for a long period in public media and at venues


Women suffer more

One session focussed particularly on Women artists as they are particularly suppressed in several countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. The session dealt with case stories as well as a more philosophical perspective on cultural suppression of women.

Joelle Khoury, jazz pianist and composer said that “If a man has sexual desires it is healthy. If a woman does it is vulgar. A married man who works is a good man. A married woman who works is a bad woman. ‘Woman is the nigger of the world’, Joelle Khoury said.

Zahar Taha, an exiled journalist of Iraqi origin working in Lebanon contributed to the discussion, saying that despite modern technology in Iraq today and so-called democracy there are no women singing in Iraq. Women have no voice, she said.

Mahsa Vahdat, Iranian singer, discussed the obstacles facing professional Iranian musicians in general and women musicians in particular and outlined the main obstacles for musicians being. the state’s control of public spaces.


Media dominance

Pierre Abi-Saab, Editor of cultural pages of Al-Hayat, in a speech on media and market dominance targeted the hypocrisy and corruption of Arab regimes

Today, he said, we see a conflict between the people and corrupt regimes trying to oppress people. We need to open windows to express ourselves. We say we are doing it to protect ourselves from fundamentalists but our governments are oppressing us.

“True censorships today is indirect censorship”, said Abi-Saab, “it’s all based on corruption”.


Heavy metal – a threat from hell?

The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Layla al-Zubaidi introduced a session dealing with heavy rock music. In Egypt in 1997, she said, students were arrested by the Interior Ministry and accused of being worshippers of the devil and being financed by a foreign state. Muslim and Christian authorities both complained about the music, even turning their anger on the government. Musicians in Syria were similarly accused.
Reda Zine of ‘Boulevard des Musiciens’, a young group from Casablanca told how they were accused of being advocates of the devil. In March, 2004, 14 supposed "devil worshippers" received jail sentences ranging from three months to one year for "undermining the Muslim faith" and "possessing objects contrary to good morals".  We were victims of a wave of phobia against the West in Morocco after 9/11. There was a new discourse; people were becoming strict about our relationship with the West, Reda Zine said.
Moe Hamzeh, Lebanese music producer and musician, discussed the censorship in Lebanon of Heavy Metal. Hamzeh and his band, the Kordz, once were called to the office responsible for fighting terrorism and crime. “It was like in a movie”, Hamzeh told. I was in charge. They asked, ‘Do you adore Satan? Do you play 'Hotel California', ‘The people coming to your club are they devil-worshippers? What do you mean by the strange way you dress, your loose t-shirts and earrings? They asked us about our posters of Dali’s paintings. They did not beat us but there were six hours of investigation.

The two day conference included musical performances and a Middle East premiere screening of the film “Passion” by Syrian filmmaker Mohamed Malas, who later won the jury price for the film at the Marrakech Film Festival.

The event concluded with a public concert by exiled Palestinian oud player Ahmad al-Khatib accompanied by percussionist Nasser Salameh, who played in front of a “full house” at Beirut’s Al-Madina Theatre.