Arab World Rocking to War Protest Song
Lyrics tap 'what many people are feeling'

by Mark MacKinnon

AMMAN -- Ahmad Abu Mlhem only needs to hear a few bars before he's hooked.

"Oh yeah," he says with a smile. "I like that."

The song blaring from the 48-year-old Jordanian tour guide's screechy car radio is called The Attack on Iraq, and Mr. Mlhem isn't the only one playing it at top volume these days. An angry song protesting against the idea of an American-led war on Iraq, it's quickly becoming one of the hottest songs in the Arab world.

"Chechnya! Afghanistan! Palestine! Southern Lebanon! The Golan Heights! And now Iraq, too? And now Iraq, too? It's too much for people. Shame on you! Enough, enough, enough!" Egyptian pop star Shaaban Abdul Rehim sings.

In the neon-lit markets that surround Amman's central Hashemite Square, the cassette is so new that many stores don't yet carry it, but it's already in heavy demand.

"We just got the tape today, and we sent it out to the factory to make copies," said 22-year-old music vendor Rami Makamreh, noting that the tune is already a phenomenon in Egypt. "It's a good song. I think it's going to be famous because it expresses what people are feeling."

What many in this part of the world say they are feeling is anger at the United States, first for its support of Israel against the Palestinians, and now for its plans to invade their fellow Arabs in Iraq.

People in the region are also frustrated at their own governments, which, afraid of damaging relations with the White House, have by and large ignored public opinion and quietly acquiesced in U.S. war plans.

The song taps into those sentiments with a forceful denunciation of the justifications Washington has been giving for war. Some of the lyrics, complaining of the unfairness of United Nations weapons inspections, have likely never before been heard in popular music and likely never will again.

"Leave Iraq in peace; you inspected it; it has no arms of mass destruction, but they are still bombing it," Mr. Rehim sings over a beat mixing traditional Arabic sounds with modern instruments. "Go inspect Israel instead; there are lots of arms of mass destruction there."

Mr. Rehim's lyrics blame Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for causing "a bloodbath" in the region. In the song's video, that line is heard over a clip of Mr. Sharon shaking hands with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Then the song takes aim at America.

"They want to divide Iraq; they have their eyes on oil," Mr. Rehim continues, before charging that the United States "wants to achieve the dream of Israel, to govern the region."

Each verse seems to be based on popular beliefs in the Arab world. And since many Arabs live under repressive regimes that ban public demonstrations, Mr. Makamreh predicts that just playing the song at home for friends will become a form of protest.

"It won't be played in the clubs or discos," he predicted. "But patriots will play it in their homes and shops."

Mr. Rehim has tapped into such feelings before. Two years ago, he had another regional hit when he released the single I Hate Israel and Love Amr Mussa (the leader of the Arab League), just as the latest Palestinian uprising was getting under way.

Mr. Rehim says he just sings what he feels.

"I'm sad because of what's happening to our brothers in Palestine and Iraq," the singer told an interviewer recently. He said the song is popular because it "expresses the opinion in the Egyptian street."

The video, which is played on satellite channels throughout the Arab world, has caused a stir. It shows images of the Sept. 11 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, as the lyrics lament the circle of violence those terrorist strikes began.