Qatar-based US university cancels Mashrou' Leila event after social media backlash

An American university’s Qatar campus cancelled an event featuring Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebanese indie rock band with a gay frontman, after a social media backlash elicited safety concerns.

Mashrou’ Leila which was hailed by the university for its “important global voice on issues of free speech, gay rights and politics”, was slated to participate in a discussion on “media revolutions in the Middle East” at the Northwestern University-Qatar. 

However, due to hostile reactions by conservative and anti-gay social media users, the Doha campus was forced to cancel the band’s appearance. 

Jon Yates, Northwestern's Director of Media Relations told The New Arab that the university and the band mutually agreed to move the event to Northwestern's home campus in Evanston, Illinois, though a date is yet to be announced.

Yates said that the decision was reached due to safety concerns for the band and the school's campus community.

"Because Northwestern firmly believes that the band's ideas, their art and their voices are important for the world to hear, the university is working to bring them to our home campus in the US," Yates said.

Read more: The Mashrou' Leila affair is a wakeup call for free speech defenders in Lebanon

The backlash stemmed from claims that the band’s appearance is an affront to Qatari and Islamic morals due to the sexuality of its lead singer and the band's controversial lyrics, some of which borrow from religious scriptures. The hashtag #نرفض_محاضره_مشروع_ليلي - which translates to “We reject the Mashrou’ Leila lecture” - surfaced on Twitter.