Those Syrian Musicians

[rowyn]

I know koogrr was interested in the group of musicians suspected of one reporter of being terrorists.

They appear to have been the backup band for "Nour Mehana" (a.k.a. Noor Mehanna, Nour Mhanna, or Noor Mhanan, or probably some other spellings, take your pick).

Thanks to Scott Kellogg and Snopes.com for the link.

Comments

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

Ah, very cool!

I was pretty sure there couldn't be that many bands with 14 members (it's like a small orchestra), from Syria, scheduled to play in a Casino around that time, and that they ought to be possible to be found.

Now the harder problem of finding someplace to get a CD of an artist with 5 different spellings of his name... Maybe Amazon will be nice.

[rowyn]

I found this CD by him for sale.

However, before you decide to support him, one columnist got a disturbing translation of one of his songs, "Um El Shaheed":

"Mother of a Martyr" glorifies the death of a young Palestinian. Mehana sings to a grieving mother that she should not be sad, because her son, who died as a martyr, is a hero. She should be happy that her son is gone, Mehana croons, because freeing Palestine and the Golan Heights are heroic goals. The song, which starts slow and solemn, ends with a triumphant chorus, celebrating the martyr's glorious death: "Allahu Akbar...Allahu Akbar...Allahu Akbar!"

I haven't confirmed the accuracy of this assessment. But I'll admit that, if it's true (even of only one song), I wouldn't be keen on giving him my money.