Macklemore Cancels Dubai Show Over UAE’s Role in Sudan Conflict

Macklemore Cancels Dubai Concert Over UAE’s Role in Sudan Crisis

Macklemore has canceled a planned October concert in Dubai over the UAE’s role in the “ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan.

The American rapper’s announcement has sparked renewed attention to the UAE’s role in the war that has gripped the African nation. While the UAE has repeatedly denied arming the Rapid Support Forces and supporting its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Taghalo, UN experts in January reported “credible” evidence that the Emirates had repeatedly sent arms to the RSF from northern Chad.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-running tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders erupted in the capital Khartoum and spread to other areas, including Darfur. Estimates suggest that more than 18,800 people have been killed in the fighting and more than 10 million have been displaced from their homes. Millions are on the brink of starvation.

At a contentious UN Security Council meeting in June, Sudan’s government directly accused the UAE of arming the RSF, and an Emirati diplomat angrily told his opponent to stop “the big deal”. The United Arab Emirates has been part of peace talks to end the conflict.

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 event had been cancelled, without providing an explanation for the cancellation, and that the money would be refunded.

In a post on Instagram on Saturday, Grammy-winner Macklemore said, “I’ve 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 their ongoing role.” Genocide and Humanitarian Crisis”.

Macklemore said he revisited the show as part of his public support for the Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. He recently began performing a song called Hind’s Hall, along with four of his cousins, his aunt and uncle and two paramedics, in memory of Hind Rajab, a young woman killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. All streaming proceeds from Hinds Hall go to the UN relief agency UNRWA.

“I know this will affect my future performances in the region and I really hate to let any of my fans down,” he wrote. “I was also very excited. But I will not perform there until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF.

He added: “I have no judgment against other artists performing in the UAE. But I ask a question to my colleagues scheduled to play in Dubai: What can we achieve if we use our platforms to mobilize collective liberation?

The RSF was formed from Janjaweed militias under Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes. During the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.

Dubai has attempted to attract A-list artists to the city-state with a brand new arena and other venues. Artists in the past, however, have acknowledged the difficulties of performing in the United Arab Emirates, a hereditary confederation of seven sheikhdoms where speech is tightly controlled.

That includes American comedian Dave Chappelle, who in May called the Israel-Hamas war in Abu Dhabi “genocide” and drew attention to the UAE’s vast surveillance apparatus.