Their work is un-Islamic, you see. Imagine what fun Muslims who share this perspective could have once they gain control in Europe! “Iraqi artists and singers flee amid crackdown on forbidden culture,” by Afif Sarhan and Caroline Davies in The Observer, May 11 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Iraqi singers, actors and artists are fleeing the country after dozens have been killed by Islamic radicals determined to eradicate all culture associated with the West.
Cinemas, art galleries, theatres, and concert halls are being destroyed in grenade and mortar attacks in Basra and Baghdad.
According to the Iraqi Artists’ Association, at least 115 singers and 65 actors have been killed since the US-led invasion, as well as 60 painters. But the terror campaign has escalated in recent months as both Shia and Sunni extremists grow ever bolder in enforcing religious restrictions on the citizens of Iraq….
In November Seif Yehia, 23, was beheaded for singing western songs at weddings, and painter Ibraheem Sadoon was shot dead as he drove through Baghdad. In February Sunni fighters killed Waleed Dahi, 27, a young actor, while he rehearsed for a play due to open at the Jordanian National Theatre this month.
Culture was encouraged during Saddam Hussein’s regime, but no longer. Abu Nur, an Islamic Army spokesman, said: ‘Acting, theatre and television encourage bad behaviour and irreligious attitudes. They promote customs that affect the morality of our traditional society.’