Mohamed Ramadan has made headlines for a string of controversies.
A concert by controversial Egyptian pop star Mohamed Ramadan in Qatar has not been approved by authorities in Doha, the ministry confirmed on Tuesday.
In a tweet posted online, the Ministry of Culture replied to an inquiry saying: “We would like to confirmed that the ministry has not provided any licences [for this performance”.
The statement was issued following an announcement by Ramadan himself, who revealed details of his “biggest” and first show in the Gulf state earlier this week.
News of the planned 25 November performance triggered outrage online, with social media users pointing to a range of concerns, including his stance on Israeli normalisation, as well as his previous attacks on Qatar.
String of controversies
The popular singer has made headlines in recent years for a string of controversies.
During a live 2019 performance, the Egyptian artist declared his support for Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi while attacking both Turkey and Qatar – both of which he described as “traitors”.
“Egypt will stand with you, O’ army, police, and president.. We were raised in this way.. The angels of Egypt expel all monsters.. Courage is important,” he said, directly addressing the message at “Turkey and Qatar”.
His extreme anti-Qatar views were regularly shared throughout the four-year GCC crisis, in which Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed all ties with Qatar and imposed an illegal air, land and sea blockade.
According to Egypt-based reports, Ramadan in 2019 equated Qatar to the occupying state of Israel.
“Qatar does everything bad for us, and I myself want to know their reason for hating Egypt to this degree,” adding that “sometimes, I feel that the danger to Egypt from Qatar is greater than from Israel,” he claimed.
Under this week’s trending hashtag “#قطر_ترفض_محمد_رمضان“, a Twitter user wrote: “Oh God, we repudiate you from every wrongdoing on our land, for it is pure and purified from all uncleanness and insignificance. So we say it with our mouths: ‘Qatar rejects Mohamed Ramadan'”.
Another such concerned user wrote: “Not a nice voice, nor even moral content. On what basis are they bringing him here [Qatar] after he insults us, frankly, whoever does bring him is just like him!!”
Ramadan has already created uproar across the Arab World.
The artist was heavily criticised this week after confirming a concert in the Syrian capital Damascus, which is under the control of the brutal Assad regime.
Syrian human rights advocates have denounced the move, which comes amid a wave of controversial normalisation despite more than 11 years of conflict.
Ramadan is the most recent Arab pop artist to announce a performance in the Assad-regime held areas of Syria.
In previous years, Ramadan faced backlash for posing in photos and videos with Israelis, cleaning his teeth with gold toothpaste in a Twitter video, and making an appearance on stage in Jordan in a Lamborghini despite the country’s spiralling poverty.
