"Lebanese-Canadian gay rights advocates in Ottawa and Montreal have
succeeded in preventing a visiting Lebanese singer from performing songs they
consider homophobic and misogynistic. The singer, Mohamed Eskandar, is scheduled to perform in Ottawa on Sunday
at the El Mazaj Restaurant, a 270-seat venue on Canotek Road. He will also
perform in Montreal the night before. When the flyer for the Ottawa show was noticed by an Ottawa member of
HELEM, a Lebanese-Canadian LGBTQ advocacy group, he immediately informed the
group's headquarters in Montreal. Eskandar's lyrics and videos are familiar to the group. One of the artist's songs, Dod el Enef, is translated from the Arabic as
Against Violence. HELEM says the song's title is intended ironically as a way to
mock the slogan used by LGBTQ advocates in Lebanon. An
English translation of the lyrics, provided by HELEM, but independently
confirmed by the Citizen, includes:
"Without jealousy and real masculinity, women are in trouble. Ever since
the military service stopped, half of men became plagued by the disease of
femininity.
"If my dad and yours weren't straight, we would not have existed and
humans would have become extinct.
"Don't be tender with your boy and don't treat him like a flower. When he
makes a mistake, violence is a must. Let him become strong, violent and macho,
otherwise he will only be a 50-per-cent man."
The group was also outraged by another Eskandar song and video that
depict the evils that allegedly come from having women in the
workforce." (thanks Shawn)
