Band protests Christian pressure to remove ‘blasphemous’ group from festival
Written by Sunny Unachi on 5th August 2019
In a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday, they said: “We have decided to cancel our show in Byblos in solidarity with Mashrou’ Leila and in support of tolerance, freedom of speech and expression.”
Within Temptation was due to perform at the festival on Wednesday
The popular Middle Eastern band, Mashrou’ Leila, were banned from performing at Byblos music festival on 9th August, after Christian critics of the band labelled their lyrics as “blasphemous” and threatened to attack the concert on social media.
Members of the organising committee said they decided to pull the band from the program “to prevent bloodshed and preserve security”.
Within Temptation criticised the Lebanese government for their failure to provide adequate security to enable entertainers to “perform in peace”.
