Petition

I was shocked this morning to read that a petition had been started to prevent Boy Marley’s son, Ziggy, performing at this year’s World of Music and Dance (Womad) festival in New Plymouth.

The reason given was that Marley was part of a fundraiser for the Israel Defence Force back in 2018. That was before the Hamas attack on Israel which occurred in October last year.

According to the news source, Marley recorded Shalom Salaam to promote peace between the Israelis and Palestinians back in 2021. Perhaps he thought that helping the Israeli army would help support this cause. When the organiser of the petition, Sakhr Munassar, was asked if it was fair to condemn Marley for something he did in 2018, the response was that one couldn’t call themselves a humanitarian and still promote a military.

I don’t think there would be a single person in the world who doesn’t want this war in the Middle East to end. In Marley’s defence, when he gave that money to the military, Hamas had not carried out the terror attack on Israel and I am sure he would not have foreseen the brutal attack on Palestine that followed.

But my shock in all this comes from the fact that this music festival has been targeted. It is a beautiful event; I have been twice, as well as living in the city when these musicians have visited, and felt the vibe that comes with their being there. The beauty of Womad is that musicians are brought from all over the world. One gets to sample, sometimes obscure, music from the Sahara Desert, Africa, America, just to name a few countries, and one is treated to the feast they provide. It saddens me that politics has been brought to this event.

Womad’s organiser, Dion Tuuta, says he respects the petitioners right to express peaceful opposition to Marley’s presence.

This year’s Womad line-up, March 15-17th, includes musicians from France, Pakistan, New Zealand, Ukraine, Senegal, Boznia, Herzegovina, Mongolia, Australia, Brazil, UK, Ireland, South Korea, Estonia, Haiti, Angola, Portugal, Mexico, Vanuatu, India, Zambia, and Jamaica.

Let their music and their participation in this event, help bring peace to the world.