Here’s Why Mohamed Ramadan’s Selfie With an Israeli Singer Is Problematic

On Saturday, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs page in Arabic published a photo of Egyptian singer Mohamed Ramadan hugging Israeli singer Omar Adam on a Dubai rooftop party. The picture caption wrote, “art always brings us together”. The post sparked anger on social media, leading to some calling for a boycott of Ramadan and the spread of the hashtag “Mohamed Ramadan is a Zionist” on Twitter, Associated Press reports. In response to the backlash, Ramadan came to social media to shut down the criticism, stating that he didn’t know the nationality of the singer and that he doesn’t “ask which country the person who wants to take a photo with me comes from unless they say themselves.” الفن دوما يجمعنا.. النجم المصري محمد رمضان مع المطرب الإسرائيلي عومير آدام في دبي 🇮🇱🇪🇬🇦🇪 Posted by ‎إسرائيل تتكلم بالعربية‎ on Saturday, November 21, 2020   He continued on by saying that, “Palestine is number one. I salute the brotherly Palestinian people.” This comes after recent peace deals between Israel and several other countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. Why ‘art-washing’ is wrong Art-washing, according to the…

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