Boycotting Placebo: A Lesson in Democracy

Pierre AbiSaab 

How does one deal with the lawsuit filed by Jihad Murr, head of the event management company 2U2C, against Lebanese, Arab, and international figures and organizations in what has become known as the Placebo case?

Discussion of the case is important, especially since the case itself violates the very logic of democracy that guarantees freedom of expression and respects the right to disagreement.

I write this assuming that Murr has no other intent behind the lawsuit besides seeking compensation -- even though he waited a full year before finally resorting to litigation.

The story goes back to the summer of 2010, when 2U2C invited the British rock band Placebo to perform in Beirut on its way back from performing in Tel Aviv.

At the time, Placebo ignored Arab and international calls to cancel their visit to the Zionist state only a few days after the Mavi Marmara flotilla massacre, which resulted in Israel’s international isolation.

Organizations in Lebanon had called for the boycott of the Placebo concert at the Forum De Beirut and staged a protest on the night of their performance.

How has this peaceful protest been depicted as sabotage? Is expressing an opinion an offense according to the law? Murr’s lawyers seem to have invented a new type of censorship.

The protesters were not dealing with some minor matter. They were engaging in a central issue that concerns Lebanese and Arabs: putting an end to the continuous Israeli aggression by all direct and indirect means.

Al-Murr estimates his financial loss from the aborted concert at US$180,000. Of course, it is hard to place the logic of business against that of the resistance, knowing that the argument over the invitation of the band is primarily ethical rather than economic or legal.

The initiative launched by al-Adab magazine, the Campaign to Boycott the Supporters of Israel in Lebanon, the Center for the Rights of Refugees (Aidoun), and others succeeded in discouraging some from attending the concert. This is considered a big victory for democracy.

It is noteworthy that the low rate of attendance at the concert may be attributed to various other reasons not related to the boycott campaign, as critics and rock fans know.

In any case, don’t the Lebanese people still have the right to publicly express their opinions using civil, peaceful, and legal means, without being accused of sabotage?

Al-Akhbar - November 10, 2011