Concerts of pro-Assad singers cancelled after protests in Syria

On July 20, angry people in the city of Homs in central Syria ripped down posters advertising concerts for two singers accused of supporting the regime of deposed president Bashar al-Assad. Lebanese singer Mohamad Iskandar was supposed to appear on August 14 at the Lion Palace, a restaurant and hotel in al-Hawash, a predominantly Christian town about 30 kilometres west of Homs. Syrian singer Hossam Jneed was supposed to give a concert in Homs and then several more in nearby towns, including Sadad. In light of the protests, management at the Lion Palace hotel announced that very evening that the concert would be cancelled, explaining that they made this decision “out of respect for our people’s feelings and in order to maintain unity and understanding within our community”. A video posted on July 20, 2026 shows residents of the Syrian city of Homs ripping down a poster advertising the concert of Mohamad Iskandar, a Lebanese singer. A man in the video calls Iskandar a “shabiha”, a term used to mean supporters of deposed president Bashar al-Assad. The man in the video also calls on the Ministry of Culture to ban the concert. To display this content from Facebook, you must enable adver...