She will survive, hey hey: from our “This must be good news if she’s not getting death threats” Department and the Jerusalem Post, with thanks to chappelbaum:
Gloria Gaynor will be singing her hit “I Will Survive” in Dubai only nine days after she sang it Monday at a pro-Israel rally in Paris. But in a sign of changing times, Muslim visitors and residents of Dubai said they could not care less.
Abdul Samia Abdul Basir, 22, said he did not know who Gloria Gaynor was, but even if he did he wouldn’t care that she performed at the “Israel je t’aime” rally.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” said the local resident wearing a pressed long white dishdasheh tunic common in the Arab Gulf countries.
In the past, oil-rich Gulf states have embargoed foreign companies for doing business with Israel. But times have changed and it appears that ticket sales were not likely to be affected.
Only the UAE English-language daily Gulf News had reported on Gaynor’s performance by Monday, saying it had caused a stir locally. But no one interviewed by The Jerusalem Post expressed any such opposition in principle.
Echoing the thoughts of many Muslims in Dubai, Abdul Basir said he hoped for a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that he doesn’t really have a problem with Israel anymore.
“The relations are now different, better,” said Abdul Basir, adding that once peace is achieved “then we will have peace with Israel. We are tired of war.” Ticket sales were not likely to be affected also because most of the locals did not know who Gaynor was. A manager at the Dubai Aviation Club, where the event will take place on April 26, said that most of the ticket buyers were foreigners.
“They are mostly Westerners, but some locals,” said Marco Golub. “We are hoping [Gaynor’s pro-Israel performance] won’t affect the sales,” he said, adding that people come to the elite club every day to buy
tickets…