Palestinian Mohammed Assaf criticized for participating in Carthage Festival

Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf was heavily rebuked for his intention to participate in Tunisia’s International Festival of Carthage.

As part of the 59th Carthage festival, Palestinian artist Mohammed Assaf is preparing to perform a major concert on the evening of July 27, under the slogan “For Gaza.”

According to the media, the concert is expected to blend music with humanitarian values and solidarity with the Palestinian people. However, despite that, Assaf landed in hot water by his fans for major principles.

One of the main reasons that Mohammed Assaf was criticized for was that the Carthage festival is sponsored by many companies and brands, including “Carrefour Tunisia”. It is worth noting that the Carrefour group is under a huge boycott campaign by pro-Palestinian activists over its links to Israel.

Another reason was that due to the harsh situation and the starvation in Gaza due to the blockade imposed by the Israeli army, banning humanitarian aid from entering the strip.

Many fans attacked Assaf in the comments, saying: “What a shame,” “So you’re going to relieve them while you’re singing????” and “How will the people of Gaza benefit from the concert? Explain to me, I can’t understand.”

Another wrote: “How can you sing and dance while the people of Gaza are in this situation? I am Palestinian and humiliated by you.”

According to the BDS website, Carrefour, the French group, is a franchise partnership with Electra Consumer Products (ECP) and its retail subsidiary, Yenot Bitan, both active in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise.

The International Festival of Carthage is an annual music festival taking place in July and August since 1964 in the coastal city of Carthage, Tunisia.