Egyptian minister of Culture, Farouq Hassan, has decided to halt all cinema, concerts, festivals, and all entertainment activities due to the current war on Iraq and the turmoil that has hit the region. The minister has also requested that all Egyptian participations in international events be cancelled.
According to the Saudi based daily, Al Riyadh, head of the Egyptian actors association, Radi, has also called on world artists to come together and express their support towards war on Iraq and call for an end to the massacre of children. Radi has also announced that the International Film Festival which was to include actors from the US, France, Germany, and 18 Arab and African countries was also postponed in solidarity with the Iraqi people.
War has also paralyzed all activities of Egyptian singers and has caused a number of losses with all the cancellations of concerts and postponement of releases. All hotels and other sponsors have cancelled all scheduled performances by singers, saying that it is insensitive to hold any entertainment in such crucial times.
Earlier this month, the Egyptian democratic national party organized a march for peace consisting of over one million protestors from all over Egypt. The march, which featured a large number of actors, singers, political parties, businesses, and average citizens, was in support of Iraq and against a possible US attack.
Protestors wanted the Iraqi people to know they stand by their side and do not aid war on them or any other Arab nation. Solidarity with the Palestinian people was also expressed at the march, where actors like Egyptian comedian Adel Imam gave a speech expressing his full support for Iraq and Palestine and said that Egypt is with peace and not war. This view was shared among all those who took part in the march reflecting Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak’s stance.
A number of important figures gave speeches leading to the same idea of putting an end to suffering and allowing peace to take over. Heads of local and satellite television channels also gave speeches stressing the need for Arab leaders to make a stance and stop any possible attack on Iraq. People also called for leaders to pay more attention to the Palestinians and their daily sufferings, which for some reason have been neglected and destruction of their land and people remains. The overall message given at the march was “Yes to Peace, No to War”. –Albawaba.com
