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The Palestinian Authority security forces detained DJ Sama Abdul Hadi and several others at Saturday’s party at Nabi Musa, the place where Moses is believed to be buried, which is located in the West Bank between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Videos of the event were posted on social media, drawing the ire of local Palestinians. These images, along with reports of partygoers drinking and using drugs at the holy site, led hundreds of people to descend on the party to break it. Many were also angry at the Palestinian Authority for allowing him to move on.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has said that an investigation is underway and those responsible for the event will be brought to justice.
Hadi Mashal, a lawyer representing Abdul Hadi, told CNN that she is being accused of violating article 275 of the Palestinian criminal code, which criminalizes the “desecration” of holy places or symbols made with the intention of insulting a religion or group. in particular.
“Have you violated the article to date? All I can tell you is I don’t see how,” Mashal said. “But the investigation is not over yet. We expect it to be completed in a few days.”
The DJ’s father, Saad Abdul Hadi, told CNN that he was very concerned about his daughter’s arrest and rejected claims that she had desecrated a holy site, saying the party had taken place in another part of the compound.
“It is not true that people were drunk or using drugs,” he said. “It is also not true that she was playing techno music in the mosque; in fact, no one entered the mosque. It all took place in the bazaar, where visitors come to shop and stay at the guesthouse.”
Saad Abdul Hadi said his daughter was being singled out by the Palestinian Authority to hide his embarrassment at the public reaction to the party.
“It appears that the Palestinian Authority did not know how to control the anger of the street, so they used Sama as a scapegoat for something that the street saw as a mistake.”
Saad Abdul Hadi added that his daughter had been commissioned by a Paris-based production company to perform at various Palestinian historical sites, and had received permission from the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which is responsible for the Nabi Musa bazaar. unlike the site mosque, which is run by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
CNN has obtained a letter from the Ministry of Tourism, granting DJ Sama and the production company permission to film at Nabi Musa, provided they “adhere to the necessary security measures” and “respect the religious and cultural importance and privacy of the site.” .
Abdul Hadi has also been accused of violating Covid-19 procedures, according to her lawyer.
CNN has reached out to the Ministry of Tourism for comment. The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Shtayyeh, is also the minister of religious affairs.
But prominent religious figures have been quick to denounce the techno party, in an indication of how charged the episode has become.
Mahmoud Al-Habbash, supreme judge of the Palestinian Authority and adviser to its president on religious affairs and Islamic relations, said in a tweet: “I feel disgusted and angry about what happened at the Nabi Musa mosque … and not yet I know who is responsible for this sin, but whoever is responsible should receive a deterrent penalty commensurate with the atrocity of what happened, because the Mosque is the House of God, and his holiness is the sanctity of our religion. ”
In an interview with Palestinian radio station NAS Radio, Hussam Abu-Alrub, the deputy minister for religious affairs, stated that his ministry was responsible for the mosque and yet permission had not been obtained to hold any events in its interior.
“The act that was committed was unacceptable and outside of all our religious principles,” added Abu-Alrub. “At the Awqaf Ministry we will not remain silent and will continue the investigation.”
DJ Sama is one of the most popular DJs in the region and one of the first Palestinian women to gain prominence in the electronic music community.
His lawyer urged people to look at the facts. “If they hadn’t given him a license, the event wouldn’t have happened. Period,” Mashal said. “So, who’s responsible for not thinking about what the reaction would be? I don’t know. Is it Sama’s fault? That remains to be seen.”
Zeena Saifi reported from Amman, Jordan. Abeer Salman and Andrew Carey reported from Jerusalem.
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