DUBAI, UAE — Macklemore, an American rapper, has canceled an impending October show in Dubai due to the UAE’s suspected support for the paramilitary army fighting government soldiers in Sudan.
Macklemore’s revelation focused on the UAE’s participation in the conflict gripping the African nation. While the UAE has frequently denied providing the Rapid Support Forces and assisting their leader, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, UN specialists reported “credible” evidence in January that the Emirates transferred weaponry to the RSF multiple times per week from northern Chad.
Sudan descended into anarchy in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary commanders flared up in the capital, Khartoum, and extended to other regions, especially Darfur. According to estimates, over 18,800 people have died in the conflict, and more than 10 million have fled their homes. Hundreds of thousands face hunger.
American Rapper Macklemore Says He Canceled Dubai Show Over UAE Arming Sudan Paramilitary Forces
At a tense U.N. Security Council meeting in June, Sudan’s fragile government accused the UAE of supporting the RSF, prompting an Emirati diplomat to tell his counterpart to cease “grandstanding.” The UAE has participated in continuing peace efforts to halt the fighting.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry and Dubai Media Office had no immediate comment on Macklemore’s public remark Sunday. Last week, organizers said that the performance had been canceled and that refunds would be paid, but they did not explain why.
In a Saturday Instagram post, Grammy winner Macklemore claimed he had a series of people “asking me to cancel the show in solidarity with the people of Sudan and to boycott doing business in the UAE for the role they are playing in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis.”
Macklemore claimed he reconsidered the concert in part because of his previous outspoken support for Palestinians during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip. He recently began performing a song called “Hind’s Hall,” in memory of Hind Rajab, a young girl slain in Gaza in a shooting that Palestinians blamed on Israeli forces opening fire on a civilian car.
“I know that this will probably jeopardise my future shows in the area, and I truly hate letting any of my fans down,” he said. “I was also quite excited. But, until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF, I will not perform there.”
He said, “I have no judgement against other artists who perform in the UAE.” But I do ask my peers who are slated to perform in Dubai: “What could we achieve if we used our platforms to mobilise collective liberation?”
The RSF was founded by Janjaweed fighters under former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who governed the country for three decades before being deposed in a popular rebellion in 2019. The International Criminal Court wants him on charges of genocide and other crimes committed during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s.
American Rapper Macklemore Says He Canceled Dubai Show Over UAE Arming Sudan Paramilitary Forces
Dubai, home to long-haul carrier Emirates, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and other tourist attractions, has long attempted to attract A-list musicians to the city-state’s new stadium and other venues. However, performers have already highlighted the difficulty of performing in the UAE, a hereditarily administered federation of seven sheikhdoms where speech is strictly regulated.
That includes American comedian Dave Chappelle, who made headlines in Abu Dhabi in May when he referred to the Israel-Hamas conflict as a “genocide” while simultaneously mocking the UAE’s extensive surveillance infrastructure.
Macklemore, a 41-year-old rapper born Benjamin Hammond Haggerty in Kent, Washington, received a Grammy Award in 2014 for his breakout single “Thrift Shop.”
SOURCE | AP
