An insulting budget.” Ali Al-Hajjar announces his withdrawal from the Arab Music Festival for the first time

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Hours after singer Mohamed Tharwat withdrew, singer Ali Al-Hajjar announced that he would not participate in the Arab Music Festival for the first time in 30 years, revealing the real reason behind his decision.

Al-Hajjar said during a post Thursday morning on his Facebook account: “I apologized for participating in this year’s Arab Music Festival, which is the first time that I will not participate since the establishment of the festival.”

He added: "The real reason is that the Opera House adopted a weak and humiliating financial budget for the members of the orchestra accompanying me, which I did not accept, and it is the fact that the President of the Opera House neglected to talk about in the press conference."

The great singer continued: “The strange thing is that the head of the Opera House mentioned that during his reign I held concerts at the Citadel Festival, in Alexandria, and on the Grand Theater of the Opera, which I had become accustomed to for more than thirty years before his arrival, and not as a favor on him,” adding: “He forgot that the respected artist is the one who adds this respect to the opera, in addition to the fact that the concerts held by the artist contribute to increasing the financial income from which the artists’ wages are paid and not as a favor from the Opera House.”

In the early hours of this morning, the great singer Mohamed Tharwat announced his withdrawal from participating in the 34th session of the Arab Music Festival organized by the Opera House, a few hours after the announcement of the schedule for participation in the festival, which will be held from October 20 to 30 of this month.

On his official page on the social networking site “Facebook,” the Egyptian singer wrote, saying: “My beloved audience... over the course of 50 years of giving and singing... I presented to you the values ​​I believed in, and generations were raised on my works, from children’s songs to patriotic and religious songs.”

Tharwat continued, saying, "I have never been late to participate in any event that represents our dear country... and my respect for my country... and my Egyptianness and my Arabism has remained a principle from which I do not deviate," then announcing his sudden decision, saying: "Throughout my journey, I have not been accustomed to talking about any behind the scenes in public or through the media and press releases... but for the first time I say it clearly... I will not accept and will not participate in insulting Egyptian art or Egyptian artists."