This week, a bit of controversy erupted in Washington when it was announced that the performance of Malek Jandali, a Syrian musician, had been dropped from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's (ADC) annual convention. It appears that Jandali had insisted on including "Watani Ana," a song about freedom, in his repertoire -- and that some leaders at ADC had been equally insistent that the song be dropped. With no meeting of the minds, Jandali was dropped from the program.
Bloggers, especially those looking for a way to draw blood from an Arab-American organization, had a field day with the story. The irony of a civil rights organization refusing to allow a song about "freedom" was an open invitation to critics, as were suggestions that a few ADC leaders acted as they did out of support for the regime in Damascus. For more than 24 hours, the Arab-American group said nothing, ensuring that the story would grow legs. When they finally issued a statement, it was so infuriatingly oblique and/or evasive, that the situation went from bad to worse. By not addressing whether the Jandali performance had been banned and by not dealing with any of the issues raised by such an action, the wound created by the initial decision festered. As a result, several speakers scheduled to appear at the ADC convention (both those from the Obama administration and leading civil rights activists from across the U.S.) were forced to agonize over whether or not to participate in the event. In the end, most speakers did attend out of respect for the Arab-American community, but added comments making clear their disagreement with the decision on Jandali.
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