Sent up the river

Egyptian diva up the creek for disparaging Nile River

Singer Sherine Abdel Wahab to stand trial, banned by musicians syndicate after joking polluted waters unfit to drink

Egyptian singer Sherine Abdel Wahab during her performance at the 45th session of the International Carthage festival in Tunisia,  July 20, 2009. (AFP/STR)
Egyptian singer Sherine Abdel Wahab during her performance at the 45th session of the International Carthage festival in Tunisia, July 20, 2009. (AFP/STR)

CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian pop diva Sherine Abdel Wahab has been referred to trial for suggesting at a concert that drinking from the Nile River could lead to illness, judicial officials said Wednesday.

The singer’s trial date has been set for December 23, they said, on charges of “harming the public interest.”

The announcement came after the Musicians Syndicate in Egypt said it would bar her from performing in the country after she made the remark at a concert in the United Arab Emirates.

Social media users had shared a video of a fan asking her to sing her tune “Have you drunk from the Nile.”

“You’d get bilharzia,” she said, referring to a water-borne parasite Egypt struggled for decades to combat. “Drink Evian, it’s better,” she joked, referring to a brand of bottled water.

Her comments, the Musicians Syndicate said in a statement, constituted “unjustified ridicule toward our dear Egypt.”

The population of the vast country is mostly centered on the banks of the Nile, which flows from the south to the Mediterranean Sea.

The remark set social media ablaze, with some users calling it an insult to Egyptian national pride. Others said the real culprits are those who pollute the river.

A fishing boat lies anchored in polluted water on the Nile river, in Cairo, Egypt, October 8, 2014. (AP/Hassan Ammar)

Later, Abdel Wahab posted on Facebook that the concert had taken place more than a year ago and apologized for her comment.

“I don’t recall saying that because of course I don’t mean it, and it doesn’t reflect my personal feelings towards my nation… I’m sorry,” she said.

“My beloved Egypt and its children: I apologize from all my heart for any pain I may have caused you,” she wrote. “It was a bad joke that I would never use if I go back in time.”

The Musicians Union said the concert was in Lebanon, but Sherine’s statement said she believed it was in the United Arab Emirates more than a year ago.

Egypt’s government and media have relentlessly stoked nationalist sentiment since the military overthrew an elected Islamist president in 2013, portraying nearly all criticism as part of an international plot to undermine the country’s stability.

The video clip emerged at a sensitive time.

Egypt fears a soon-to-be-completed upstream dam in Ethiopia could cut into its share of the river, which supplies more than 90 percent of the arid country’s water.

The Nile’s polluted waters must be treated to be safe for drinking. But critics took Sherine’s remarks to imply that Egypt was not doing enough to protect the river at a time when it is trying to rally world support in the dispute with Ethiopia.

Ahmed Ramadan and Reda Ragab, board members of the Egyptian Musicians Union, said the singer was banned and must appear before the union to answer questions on the incident. They did not say when the questioning would take place, and it was not immediately clear whether Sherine was in Egypt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvELjKXledc

The charismatic singer topped the charts in the region before announcing her retirement last year, but has since gone back on her decision.

She was also a judge on the Arabic version of the popular talent show The Voice.

Most Popular
read more: