Sing for peace

Magida el Roumi has been singing for over 30 years, and despite the dip in optimism, her passion for peace is undimmed.

You’ve been working on the symbol of peace image for as long as I can remember; is it fun carrying the weight of the world?

In this country, everyone’s job is politics. All we talk about all day, every day, is war. War is a loss, always, it doesn’t matter who wins anymore. This made me decide to sing for peace. For as long as I am blessed with the strength and the voice.

Make songs not guns; you think that’ll work?

I was born with a good voice and so it was my best weapon. War begets misery, breaks families, buys and sells people and freedoms. I’m tired, I’m disgusted. Lebanon’s lost a lot in all these wars. Where would Lebanon be if it weren’t for the war? We should have been important, a Monte Carlo, a lighthouse of art, culture and knowledge. I swore that I would never support anyone except my government.

But do you really think music gets through to people?

People are affected by words. This has been proven over and over. Have you noticed how the people labeled dangerous are usually the speakers? Words are far better weapons than guns, and the guns know this. The media is powerful.

But the media isn’t out to help anyone…

The Lebanese are comfortable. They get down to the streets and make trouble whenever they’re upset and then it’s over. There are lots of opinions and lots of heads in Lebanon, and it is such a small country. Lebanon won’t have a respectable government until one head comes in and controls all the others.

A dictator? I’ve always secretly thought of that, but it just feels off…

Have you seen any other country that has so many media channels? So many politicians who express themselves so freely? There are ways to vent, through organizations, through systems. I don’t bother anymore. I’ve quit politics. I don’t even know most of the ministers. In this house I’ve built a world to my size. It’s my right to live in peace. I’ll sing for peace until I can sing no longer.

You’d rather just stay out of the whole mess…

You’re not allowed to not take sides. I don’t want to split my country, I want it all. But I need to know as much about politics as they do before I can choose, and I never can. But I’m honored to be a Lebanese. Each man has a government in his house, and they still survive. These people deserve life, deserve peace, and the war has given us enough resilience to live decently. Money, electricity, water, on or off; it doesn’t matter. We don’t need a lot, we just need peace. Give us a chance and we’ll shine in everything. What’s the use, anyway?

That’s a bit of a defeatist attitude; you don’t think anything can be done?

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe the next generation will work harder than us. The only thing I can say about Lebanon is haram. Just haram. Some people were born and killed in the war. In the long run I have to be optimistic. Nothing remains the same, the universe changes. It’s impossible to remain this way. All will change, maybe for the better, maybe not. For my part, I’ll just keep singing.

Any particularly favorite areas of Lebanon?

I love it all. Don’t divide yourselves, don’t let anyone else divide you, don’t fall into that trap. Beirut is tired city, one that deserves peace.