Jumblat Calls for Keeping Fairuz Out of Political Controversy
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Friday called for keeping Lebanese diva Fairuz out of political controversy, after remarks voiced by her son Ziad Rahbani sparked an uproar in Lebanon and the Arab world.
“Fairuz was and will always be one of the icons of Lebanon's national heritage, after her voice carved diverse pictures and scenes in the collective memory of all the Lebanese,” Jumblat said in a statement.
“She sang for Palestine and Jerusalem in one of her greatest songs … and she sang for Damascus, which had always been glittering, like the rest of Syria's regions, before the regime's violence and the international conspiring dragged it into the whirlpool of civil war,” the Druze leader added.
In an interview with the Hizbullah-affiliated Al-Ahed News Website, the diva's son Ziad, a prominent composer, playwright and leftist political commentator, said “Fairuz admires Sayyed Hassan (Nasrallah) a lot,” in reference to Hizbullah's secretary-general.
That line alone was enough to ignite social networking websites with criticism and counterarguments. Some of the critics of Damascus and Hizbullah's intervention in Syria were outraged by the announcement while others strongly defended Fairuz and said she is free to appreciate whomever she wants.
The controversy prompted Ziad to appear in an interview on al-Mayadeen TV, during which he said whoever criticizes Fairuz and Nasrallah would be indirectly “defending Israel.”
In his statement, Jumblat stressed that Fairuz must be kept out of criticism and “at the same time must not be categorized as being part of a certain political camp or axis.”
20 December 2013, 18:12
67
The Jihadists have their favorite singer supporters: Fayrouz loves Nasrallah and Fadel Shaker loves Assir:)
20 December 2013, 18:15
59
In his statement, Jumblat stressed that Fairuz must be kept out of criticism and “at the same time must not be categorized as being part of a certain political camp or axis.”
Nobody categorized her! She and her son did.
20 December 2013, 19:21
78
he son are known for being a baath suppoer and gets support by the syrian regime. so he can just suck it
21 December 2013, 07:20
22
Ya jame3a eza 3ala fayroz khtalafna ya habibi la7fina netefe2 3ala sayed ba3ed bedna Shi 2000 seny tansir nefham sho hiyi domokratiyi.
21 December 2013, 08:10
63
If Fairuz was a pro-Saudi-Salafist Al Qaeda sympathizer, the February 14 Saudi-Wahabi coalition and their followers would be endlessly praising her.
21 December 2013, 09:13
32
So true. And the sooner everyone faces up to this fact, the better the world will be. The takfiri & their friends are a cancer on our society.
21 December 2013, 11:31
00
ٍٍSo we didn't know if the icon "Feiruz" admires Nassralla or Hizbullah,admires the personality or the policy and actions, admires the talent and the charismatic speaker or the the gangs who terrified Beirut in may 2008, admires the leader of the respectful resistance against israel or the person who sent his criminals to support a regime against his own people, by the way those mercenaries forgot that the houses they are bombing were the shelter for their families in 2006! Feiruz is our icon, just like the cedar on our flag, using her opinion this way is shameful, even by her own son.
21 December 2013, 11:49
42
What Mr. Jumblatt said here is beyond argument, the man is right. First, it was not Feirouz who made the remarks but her son, so yes, as Jumblat said, Feirouz must be kept out of this meddle. Ziad Rahbani is free to his opinion, which we all know anyway, but all the same, he is entitled to his views, no matter how controversial they may be, leaving Feirouz out of this is the best everyone can do to a person we Lebanese owe a lot.
21 December 2013, 12:21
34
You're right Aladen, it's one of those sad things people tend to do from time to time when they have a relative who is so influential.
