Dublin to Gaza: One concert, two cities
Fiona McCann
Whether you believe in the power of music to make political change or not, tomorrow’s concert, through a live-link to Gaza city where it will be broadcast on a big screen, is doing something else: letting those living in the beleaguered city know that they have not been forgotten, even as their story slips from the front pages and fades from the airwaves. Tomorrow night, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Lumiere, Kíla, Naisrin, Zahara El Safty, Palestinian singer and rapper Shadia Mansour, Iraqi/English political activist and rapper Lowkey and the Dublin-based Discovery Gospel Choir will all take to the Tripod stage for an evening of cultural celebrations that will be transmitted live on a big screen in Gaza. Palestinians in turn will have the opportunity to communicate live to the Irish audience through the live link-up, while filmmaker, Dearbhla Glynn,will screen some of her footage from a recent Gaza visit to shed some light on the remaining devastation, nine months on from the January attacks. Irish activist, Caoimhe Butterly, will also speak on the night about her experience working on the ambulances in Gaza during the January attacks that momentarily galvanised an international community. Ten months on, and the city is still under blockade and is struggling to recover from the attacks: which is why zll profits from tomorrow night’s show go towards rebuilding the city. Tickets are priced at 15 euro, with doors opening at 7 p.m. and an early kick-off promised due to the two-hour time lag behind Gaza.
