Saudi Arabian rapper faces arrest over song about ‘powerful and beautiful women’
Expert says reaction shines a light on kingdom’s ‘contradictory approach towards freedom of expression’
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Your support makes all the difference.A female rapper in Saudi Arabia is facing arrest for her music video which celebrates women from the holy city of Mecca as “powerful and beautiful”.
Authorities in the Middle Eastern country called for the musician – who goes by the name of Asayel Slay – as well as any individuals involved in producing the video to be arrested.
Mecca regional authorities said that the governor of Mecca issued orders for prosecution.
“Prince Khalid bin Faisal of Mecca has ordered the arrest of those responsible for the Bint Mecca rap song,” the tweet said. ”Which offends the customs and traditions of the people of Mecca and contradicts the identity and traditions of its esteemed population.”
The Saudi rapper describes her pride in being from Mecca –Islam’s holiest city and an important site of pilgrimage – in the video.
“Our respect to other girls but the Mecca girl is sugar candy,” she sings in the clip which is filmed in a cafe and includes children as backup dancers.
The musician, who is of Eritrean heritage, sings: “A Mecca girl is all you need/Don’t upset her, she will hurt you.”
She adds: “With her, you can complete the Sunna (which means get married)/Your life with her will become Paradise.”
Critics on social media have condemned the arrest order, saying it flies in the face of the government’s recent reforms around women’s rights.
Others on social media called for the rapper – whose video has been taken down from her now suspended YouTube channel – to be immediately deported and employed rhetoric which some said was sexist and racist to criticise her.
Yahya Assiri, director of ALQST, a Saudi human rights organisation that is based in both Saudi and London, told The Independent: “Reports that Saudi authorities have called for the arrest of those involved in the production of a video about Mecca shine a light on the contradictory approach that they have towards freedom of expression.
“While the Saudi authorities want to present an image of a country striving for reform, and have invested heavily in entertainment including by hosting music festivals and inviting world-famous musicians to perform, at the same time they continue to show a brazen disregard for the fundamental right to freedom of expression for those living inside the country".
Critics on social media juxtaposed calls for the female rapper’s arrest with the fact Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred had been allowed to perform in the Saudi capital of Riyadh after facing three charges of rape – charges he denies.
Amani Al-Ahmadi, who refers to herself as a Saudi-American feminist, tweeted: “This is so typical of the Saudi government to do – bring western influencers to artwash the regime but attack real Saudi women who try to artistically express their cultural identities”.
Other tweets about the issue had clear racial undertones – with one user hitting out at the video by saying: “Enough of this depravity. I hope the punishment for this African woman will be imprisonment then deporting her back to her country.”
Another said: “Immediate deportation is the answer, in addition to holding every foreigner who claims to be from Mecca accountable.”
Saudi Arabia has introduced social and economic reforms in recent years including giving women the right women to drive – but these changes have occurred alongside an intensified crackdown on those who censure the government.
The detainment of women’s rights activists such as Loujain al-Halthloul has seen the country face extensive scrutiny over its human rights record, compounded by criticism of its actions in the war in Yemen.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also faces widespread international criticism over the killing of Washington Post columnist and critic Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Women are forbidden from mixing freely with members of the opposite sex in Saudi Arabia – a country that imposes a very strict interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism.
Abortion is prevented in the Middle Eastern country unless a woman’s health is at risk and sexual relations outside of marriage are criminalised – with unmarried women faced with prosecution and even jail if they are found to be pregnant.
Women in Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty’s 2018 human rights report on the country, face “systematic discrimination in law and practice and were inadequately protected against sexual and other violence”.
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