Boney M asked to cut 'By the Rivers of Babylon' out of West Bank gig
The disco group headlined a festival of several international and Palestinian artists and bands in Ramallah.
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press Tags: Israel news Ramallah West Bank Middle East peaceThe lead singer of the iconic 1970s disco group Boney M said Thursday the band was asked to skip one of its biggest hits in a West Bank concert this week.
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Disco stars Boney M. |
| Photo by: Maria Laura Antonelli / Rex Features |
The disco group headlined a festival of several international and Palestinian artists and bands. The Palestine International Festival kicked off with British-Palestinian singer Shadia Mansour in Bethlehem on Monday.
Boney M., known for "Rasputin," "By the Rivers of Babylon," "Ma Baker" and "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" gained worldwide fame for its music in the late '70s disco era.
Maizie Williams said the Palestinian concert organizers told her not to sing "By the Rivers of Babylon" during the band's first ever Ramallah gig. The song's chorus quotes from the Book of Psalms, referring to the exiled Jewish people's yearning to return to the land of Israel.
Palestinians often question the Jewish historical connection to the Holy Land.
Williams said she did not know if it was a political thing or what, but they asked us not to do it and we were a bit disappointed. Organizers said they asked for the song to be skipped, deeming it inappropriate.
The Palestinian International Festival continued on Thursday in the West Bank.
Other performers at the festival included Algerian singer Cheb Faudel, Tareq al Nasser and the Rum Group.
The festival was organized by the Popular Art Center, directed by Iman Hamouri.
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Think about this.Roger Waters while his last concert in Israel addressed that message: The rest of the world need this generation of Israelis to tear down this wall.Eventually there were many booooos and so on as a respond to that. So please don't spread this Babilon propaganda. I am definitely the rest of the world...
Boney M should do the song, "la la" through the part referring to "the exiled Jewish people's yearning to return to the land of Israel" the fist couple of time, then sing it full once at the end. Flip the scummy pals the bird they deserve!
Try as they may the Arabs cannot erase Jewish history. So much progress can be made if only they would acknowledge the historical record. By the way, they also deny themselves a chance to hear a great song.
Tell me this, would Jews in Tel Aviv want to hear a song about old Palestine and how Arabs will return it one day? Didn't think so.
... what?
I think Moses brought the Palestinians to the Promised Land. According to the Palestinians there were no Jews to be found.
The group should sing it anyway or, at least, inform the audience about the political petition by the PA. Otherwise, they should avoid any comment and sign whatever is permited by the democratic authority. Let the people decide what is good or bad
Bearly 300 years od. Islam does not come in the equation...Yours is the comparison of APPLES AND ORANGES.Or ,who came first the chicken or the egg? To compare the US with so-called palestine is ridiculous in the EXTREME.
In Jamaica they sing this song everywhere. In fact I saw a number of Jamaicans wearing Stars of David, instead of crosses, because they say Jews were the true believers of God.
Subject says it all
Maybe we buy tickets, attend the show. and insist the song will be performed?
And other would follow.Odd that is coming from Abass's power base ?o difference from his chum Haniyeh. It is nothing but the erasure of the Jews.existence. This 137 Psalm is in the HOLY BIBLE,true history of the sufferings of the Jewish people.So,Hans go,go why not?
Yet another attempt by Palestinian propagandists to rewrite history. I suppose it's only a matter of time before they claim that the hundreds of thousands of archeological artifacts proving a Jewish sovereign presence in Ancient Israel were planted there by Zionist conspirators. I'd also be upset if the name my nation took for itself, Palestine, was the one the Romans gave to captured Judea and if the only national cohesion I had came from opposition to the Jews.
By the rivers of Babylon There we sat down Ye-eah, we wept When we remembered Zion
Once again, the Palestinians demonstrate how pathetically small-minded they really are.
Let them censor their own Koran, becuase there it is also written about the Jews connection to the Land
I see. That's why they kill each other because they cannot agree if Jew exists or not.
does anyone know how this is to be protested? this is beyond outrageous! poor boney M should just walk out. this is beyond being a useful idiot.
and that's ok with the usual "acitivist" and "peace-loving" protesters.
Do Muslims believe that Islam is older then Judaism or that Muslims were in the land of "Palestine" before the jews?
they also claim that jesus was a muslim. if that's not revisionist, then nothing is.
They are Arabs and they claim Israel as Arab land.! Palestine What was their language>? Palestinian?? How many archeological inscriptions in Palestinian? Which country was that?"Historical Palestine"?? Who was the Palestinian king? What was the Palestinian currency? So they want peaceful coexistence? Their real face yet again!
You,I ,and others know the Jewish historical narrative,and the song "BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON" is not only true but a very important one. That the Arabs reject it is given..knowing they are NOT part of the peoples of the HOLY LAND. many of us remind people of the list you presented,but the naysayers i.e the Israel bashers refuse to admit there is nothing pertaing the Palestinians at all. No KINGS,NO ARCHITECTURAL FINDS,NO CURRENCY (as you enumerated etc,etc). it is all about promoting their propaganda machine. Odd to say the least.
When will you tired of dragging out the lies? Just about every historian agrees Arabs were just a very small ruling class while the majority of the population eventually converted to Islam. As for the historical basis of a nation called Palestine, I have asked (and somehow you never answer) how you explain that there was no nation called the United States until 1776 (and then there was)? If a US could come into existence, why not a Palestine?
So, first they censor music, then they will interfere with the group's press releases and before you know it we're back to burning books and denying the truth. Some things just don't change!
How can Berbers and Khazars lament their loss of Israel? The Book of Psalms is clearly a Zionist plot, invented after WW II and made to sound a bit older. King David was a Rock artist who wrote the lyrics. ... Man, who are you calling mental?
i'm assuiming your entire family is as hallucinatory and ignorant as you are. either that, just on drugs
I can imagine if Israel forbade a conductor from playing Wagner or told theatres what parts of plays they could put up on the stage. It is part of the culture to censor there, but this is pretty damning. Blatant racism and incitement to violence is allowed as 'freedom of speech' when in reality there is only artistic freedom if you go 100% along the party lines.
I can imagine if Israel forbade a conductor from playing Wagner or told theatres what parts of plays they could put up on the stage. It is part of the culture to censor there, but this is pretty damning. Blatant racism and incitement to violence is allowed as 'freedom of speech' when in reality there is only artistic freedom if you go 100% along the party lines.
So, an occupied people do not want to be reminded by why they are occupied and why their lives are ruined in these virtual prisons that are bombed from time to time?
Which is why they don't understand that there are two people in the land
beautiful psalm..... way before anything arabic