DAMMAM: Popular Egyptian singer and actor Hani Shaker has filed a complaint against the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, after Israel police used his photo and a short video of one of his songs in its recruitment campaign targeting Israeli-Arab residents.
Shaker, who said he was “surprised” by the campaign, immediately asked his lawyer to file a complaint to the Egyptian Public Prosecutor against the Israeli Embassy, according to Quds Press.
The 64-year-old singer told the PNN: “This is theft of Arab art, and an Israeli assault on it ... It is a despicable attempt to falsify the Arab consciousness.” He added: “This damages the reputation of Egyptian artists who support the Palestinians and their rights, including the rejection of all forms of normalization with Israel and which call for return rights to their owners.”
Israeli police recently launched a campaign to encourage Arab-Israelis to join the force. Shaker’s music was included in the advert.
His lawyer told Quds Press that he has started the procedure of filing a complaint against Israel, stressing that Shaker opposes normalizing ties with Israel.
The lawyer accused the Israeli police of trying to reach the hearts of the Arab residents in Israel through their love for Shaker, reported IMEMC News. The veteran singer, also known as the “Prince of Arab singing,” began his musical career at a very early age.
Shaker scored his first breakthrough hit in 1972 with his song “Heloua ya Dounia (It’s a Wonderful Life).
Egyptian singer Hani Shaker sues Israeli police over ‘theft of Arab art’
Egyptian singer Hani Shaker sues Israeli police over ‘theft of Arab art’
Fans bid farewell to Japan’s only pandas
TOKYO: Panda lovers in Tokyo said goodbye on Sunday to a hugely popular pair of the bears that are set to return to China, leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.
Loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, the distinctive black-and-white animals have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1972.
Some visitors at Ueno Zoological Gardens were left teary-eyed as they watched Japan’s only two pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao munch on bamboo.
The animals are expected to leave for China on Tuesday following a souring of relations between Asia’s two largest economies.
“I feel like seeing pandas can help create a connection with China too, so in that sense I really would like pandas to come back to Japan again,” said Gen Takahashi, 39, a Tokyo resident who visited the zoo with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
“Kids love pandas as well, so if we could see them with our own eyes in Japan, I’d definitely want to go.”
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month after Japan’s conservative premier Sanae Takaichi hinted Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of any attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery took turns viewing the four-year-old twins at Ueno zoo while others gathered nearby, many sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to celebrate the moment.
Mayuko Sumida traveled several hours from the central Aichi region in the hope of seeing them despite not winning the lottery.
“Even though it’s so big, its movements are really funny-sometimes it even acts kind of like a person,” she said, adding that she was “totally hooked.”
“Japan’s going to be left with zero pandas. It feels kind of sad,” she said.
Their departure might not be politically motivated, but if pandas return to Japan in the future it would symbolize warming relations, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and expert in East Asian international relations.
“In the future...if there are intentions of improving bilateral ties on both sides, it’s possible that (the return of) pandas will be on the table,” he told AFP.
