{"id":45755,"date":"2021-07-06T21:24:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T21:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45755"},"modified":"2021-07-06T21:24:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T21:24:14","slug":"us-calls-on-all-parties-in-ethiopia-dam-to-refrain-from-unilateral-actions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45755","title":{"rendered":"US calls on all parties in Ethiopia dam to refrain from unilateral actions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nALEXANDIRIA: If war and politics have divided Yemen, songs and music have brought its people together. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\nA group of Yemeni singers, musicians and activists have called upon Yemenis to mark July 1 as Yemeni Song Day to bring to life and protect traditional and modern Yemeni music.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFollowing our keen interest in the Yemeni identity, heritage and culture, a group of friends, artists, poets, composers, activists and influencers decided to launch what we called Yemeni Song Day,\u201d Yahya Anbah, a Yemeni singer said, calling on people from all walks of life to join the campaign.<\/p>\n

\nThe initiative drew positive responses as artists, celebrities, politicians and ordinary people shared their songs, turning social media into a massive online concert.<\/p>\n

\nFrom the Houthi-held Sanaa to the government-controlled parts of Taiz, Yemenis arranged musical activities that attracted large gatherings. Local artists sang famous songs as their delighted fans danced.<\/p>\n

\nIn Sanaa, wearing traditional dress, Fatima Muthanna, a young singer, sang patriotic songs. On her Facebook page, which has more than 83,000 followers, she urged Yemenis to use music as a \u201cweapon\u201d to bring about peace in the war-torn country.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSinging is our only outlet in this life. This microphone is my weapon and the weapon of every artist carrying the message of peace, love and affection,\u201d she said.\"\"<\/p>\n

\nIn the southern city of Taiz, not far from the battlefield, the local office of the Ministry of Culture arranged a concert to celebrate, which brought together local singers to entertain the public.<\/p>\n

\nSome Yemenis celebrated by sharing short clips of themselves singing and dancing while doing their daily household chores.<\/p>\n

\nAlfat Al-Dubae, an activist, sang local songs while cooking food. \u201cMy voice is not beautiful, but this festival forces even those who cannot sing to sing,\u201d she said on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\nSome shared photos with famous singers, while others remembered dead singers such as the Yemeni-born Saudi national Abu Bakr Salem Belfkih.<\/p>\n

\nAhmed Fatehi, a Yemeni singer, composer and oud player, performed duets with others. Fatehi called upon Yemeni officials to honor veteran musicians and help poor families of dead singers. \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe officials should express their gratitude to the pioneers of Yemeni music by visiting their families and giving them moral and financial assistance,\u201d the singer told Arab News, adding that some old-timers died because they couldn\u2019t afford medical treatment.<\/p>\n

\nInternational cultural, educational and heritage organizations also participated in the campaign by sharing their funded programs for reviving Yemeni musical heritage.<\/p>\n

\nThe UNESCO office for the Gulf Cooperation Council and Yemen said on Twitter that the song \u201cAl-Ghana Al-Sanaani\u201d was listed as part of the world\u2019s heritage in 2008, and that it was working with Yemen\u2019s authorities to add more songs to the list.<\/p>\n

\nThe Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen posted on Twitter: \u201cYemeni songs reflect the musical heritage and are a cultural marker of the people of Yemen. On #YemeniSongDay, we celebrate the melodies of the past and present-day Yemen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIn addition to the war, Yemenis attributed the massive response to the festival to the growing moral policing of people by the Iran-backed Houthis.<\/p>\n

\nThe rebels have banned people from hiring singers for weddings and launched a crackdown on arts, models and actors. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\nTweeting from Sanaa, Khaled Al-Ruwaishan, a former minister of culture, said Yemenis challenged the Houthi\u2019s repressive rules on arts and music by singing and observing Yemeni Song Day.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThey tried to ban singing in the countryside of Sanaa. The people responded by singing, and making a festival for it. What a response. Our people are alive and our soul is glowing despite all the sorrows,\u201d the former minister said.<\/p>\n

\nYemen\u2019s Ministry of Information, Tourism and Culture gave the campaign official recognition by announcing that July 1 would be recognized as the official Yemeni Song Day, and announced it would establish a museum for Yemeni music in the southern port city of Aden.<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ALEXANDIRIA: If war and politics have divided Yemen, songs and music have brought its people together. \u00a0 A group of Yemeni singers, musicians and activists have called upon Yemenis to mark July 1 as Yemeni Song Day to bring to life and protect traditional and modern Yemeni music. \u201cFollowing our keen interest in the Yemeni…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45755\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}