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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Arab Idol winner Mohammad Assaf said this week that
he has been banned from performing at the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening
ceremony.
"I was supposed to sing for the World Cup 2014, in the
opening ceremony, but, I do not want to accuse anyone but some people,
or states or parties, God knows who, intervened and FIFA canceled my
song with Platinum Records," he said at a news conference in Gaza on
Tuesday.
"There are a lot of people who fight me, I do not know who," he added.
The Arab Idol star claimed that Colombian singer Shakira has "refused to sing in the World Cup because I will not sing."
In July last year FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he would invite Assaf to sing at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Assaf,
the first Palestinian to win the popular Arab Idol TV singing contest,
became the UN's first Palestinian goodwill ambassador in June 2013
following his victory.
An official from FIFA could not be reached by Ma'an.
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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf on Tuesday
joined appeals to raise money for the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees.
UNRWA says it may not be able to pay staff wages in December because of a $36 million budget deficit.
Assaf,
who is from Gaza and was catapulted into the international spotlight by
winning the Arab Idol talent series this year, said the agency was
crucial for the survival of Palestinians.
"I call upon all to
help fund and support UNRWA because that is the only way the people can
survive and have a bit of hope at the end of the tunnel," Assaf, who is
on a US concert tour, said through a translator.
The singer, who
is a goodwill ambassador for the agency, said he misses his family in
Gaza and he was not sure when he would be able to return to the
blockaded territory.
"I will never forget my roots," said Assaf,
24, who was born in Libya but spent most of his life in the Khan Younis
refugee camp in Gaza.
"I want to go back there soon to see my
parents, but I am not going to give a date," he said. "I miss my family,
they cannot be here because of the blockade."
Miriam Awadallah:"After Assaf clinched the title of Arab Idol, my excitement was wild.
His victory has been described as finally giving the Palestinian people a
reason to celebrate, but his win is so much more than a good reason to
party. The Palestinian people have long craved an Assaf-esque figure to
provide them with a less antagonizing face to the world. The attractive
man singing his heart out on stage is a far cry from the masked,
camouflaged men the American public is used to seeing when presented
with images of Palestinians.
His career as a singer is considered to be a sin in the eyes of the
Islamists who are gaining momentum in the region. Hamas has not exactly
been his biggest fan; they recently attempted to censor him in Gaza, and
gave him a lukewarm reception upon his homecoming despite being a
Palestinian hero.
The Mufti of Nablus also issued a “Fatwa” against watching the same
show he was competing on. Assaf represents the broader modern, secular
trends of the Middle East, empowering the factions that are joining
hands and protesting in the streets of Egypt and elsewhere.
Palestinian youth now have a positive role model, who is empowering
them to show the world the beauty of their culture. With sectarian
violence raging on next door in Syria and Lebanon, Assaf , the
new “goodwill ambassador” of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA), can lead his millions of Arab fans to a path of tolerance,
coexistence and peace."
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"Assaf, with his good looks and easy smile, represents a publicity coup
for the Palestinian cause and makes ordinary Palestinians happy to show
the world, corny as it is, that Gaza is not just about rockets and
strife, but singing and dreaming."
Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf holds a Palestinian flag after he won
the title of the television talent show “Arab Idol,” in Beirut, Lebanon.
(EPA/MBC PRESS OFFICE)
JERUSALEM — It was a most improbable story of a moonlighting wedding
singer from a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, who barged his
way into an audition and went on to win hearts across the Middle East —
and on Saturday night was declared the winner of the “Arab Idol”
singing contest.
He closed down his competitors by singing, in English, the Backstreet Boys hit “I Want It That Way.” Here’s the video:
http://youtu.be/zSgbAWnA4mw
Al Jazeera reported
that after Assaf won the Idol title he was named Youth Ambassador for
United Nation’s agency for Palestinian refugees, a goodwill ambassador
by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and handed a
diplomatic passport — READ MORE
Immediately after he was crowned, Mohammed Assaf was named UNRWA’s goodwill ambassador. (Al Arabiya)
Al Arabiya
Young Palestinian singer from Gaza Strip Mohammed Assaf was crowned
on Saturday the “Arab Idol,” a singing contest organized by the Middle
East Broadcasting Center (MBC).
Immediately after he was crowned,
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
(UNRWA) named him a goodwill ambassador for peace, while Palestinian
President Mohamoud Abbas offered him a position of “diplomatic
standing.”
Assaf, who came ahead of two other contestants,
Syria’s Farah Yousef and Egypt’s Ahmed Jamal, dedicated his award to the
Palestinian people.
The 23-year-old Gazan singer brought
together divided Palestinians in celebrations throughout the Palestinian
territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The handsome,
tuxedo-clad Assaf won after weeks of anticipation from his army of
followers, who had been glued to big screens in cafes and restaurants
across Gaza and the occupied West Bank, listening as his powerful voice
propelled him through the competition every weekend, AFP reported.
His mother, wearing a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, wept
as she wrapped the Palestinian black, green, white and red flag around
her shoulders.
In northern Lebanon, Palestinian refugees in the
Beddawi camp fired gunshots into the air and took to the streets,
honking their car horns to celebrate Assaf’s win.
Shortly afterwards, a spontaneous demonstration broke out in Beddawi to celebrate the occasion.
Born in Misrata, Libya, Assaf grew up in the overcrowded Khan Yunis
refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s poorest and most
densely-populated places where Israel severely restricts the movement of
people, goods and financial aid.
The Islamist Hamas movement,
which has controlled Gaza since 2007, disapproves of what it considers
un-Islamic shows, such as Arab Idol, but has not officially clamped down
on support for Arab Idol or Assaf, according to AFP.
Rocket of peace
In
a previous episode of the program, popular Lebanese singer and jury
member Ragheb Alama had described Assaf as “the best rocket” to have
come out of Gaza, and as “a rocket of peace, not war,” according to AFP.
Announcing Assaf’s nomination as regional ambassador for youth minutes
after his win, the agency’s chief Filippo Grandi said: “All Palestinians
share in his success. Mohammed’s music is a universal language and
speaks to all of us. How fantastic that a Palestine refugee from Gaza
should bring us all together in this way.”
(With AFP)
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