Rapper Macklemore says he has canceled an upcoming concert in Dubai because of the UAE’s role in the “ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan. He is cited in support of the UAE’s report Paramilitary forces That has been fighting with government troops there.
The rapper’s announcement drew attention to the UAE’s role in the war gripping the African nation. Although the UAE has repeatedly denied arming the Rapid Support Force and supporting its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, UN experts reported in January “credible” evidence that the Emirates sent arms to the RSF several times a week from northern Chad.
A Civil war has spread Fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum, after tensions flared between the country’s military and paramilitary leaders for more than a year, and spread to other regions, including Darfur. Estimates show that more than 18,800 people have been killed since then, while more than 10 million have fled their homes and hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.
The International Rescue Committee, an aid agency, issued a “crisis alert” for the war-torn country earlier this summer, warning that the risk of famine was looming while the lack of a political solution left Sudan “on the brink of historic catastrophe.” Scale.โ CBS News spoke to several humanitarian groups at the time who said that two million people could die of starvation if the situation in Sudan does not improve and additional humanitarian aid enters the country.
At a contentious UN Security Council meeting in June, Sudan’s embattled government directly accused the UAE of arming the RSF, and an Emirati diplomat angrily told his counterpart to stop the “grandiosity”. The UAE was a part of ongoing peace talks to end the war.
The Emirati foreign ministry had no immediate comment on Macklemore’s public statement on Sunday, nor did the city-state’s Dubai media office. Organizers announced last week that the show had been cancelled and refunds will be issued, without explaining the cancellation.
Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP
In a post on Instagram on SaturdayMacklemore said his series was “in solidarity with the people of Sudan asking them to cancel the show and boycott doing business in the UAE because of the role they are playing in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis.” The Grammy winner said he had decided to cancel a planned show in Dubai scheduled for October and would not perform in the country “until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF”, referring to the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces. .
“I know this will probably jeopardize my future shows in the area, and I really hate to disappoint any of my fans,” her post continued. “I was really excited too. But until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF, I won’t perform there.”
Macklemore said he revisited the show as part of his recent, public support for Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. He recently began performing a song called “Hind’s Hall”, in honor of Hind Rajab, a young woman responsible for shooting at a civilian vehicle in Gaza when Palestinians opened fire on Israeli forces.
“I know this will probably jeopardize my future shows in the area, and I really hate to disappoint any of my fans,” he wrote. “I was also really excited. But until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF, I won’t perform there.”
He added: “I have no judgment against other artists who have performed in the UAE. But I ask the question of my peers scheduled to perform in Dubai: What can we do if we use our platforms to mobilize collective liberation?”
The RSF was formed from Janjaweed fighters under then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being ousted in a popular coup in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide and other charges. Crime during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.
Dubai, home to long-haul carrier Emirates, the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa and other tourist destinations, has long sought to draw A-list performers to one-of-a-kind arenas and other venues in the city-state. However, performers in the past have acknowledged difficulties performing in the UAE, a hereditary federation of seven sheikhdoms where speech is strictly controlled.
These include American comedian Dave Chappelle, who attracted attention in Abu Dhabi in May when he referred to the Israel-Hamas war as “genocide” and also poked fun at the UAE’s massive surveillance apparatus.
Rapper Macklemore, 41, born Benjamin Hammond Haggerty in Kent, Washington, won a Grammy Award in 2014 for his breakout song “Thrift Shop.”
