All peace, no charity?

As the concert kicked off, Sean Paul's crew relaxed and seemed to enjoy themselves backstage. While the reggae superstar kicked around a football and chatted with his girlfriend, I asked him how he feels about the issues in the Middle East.

‘Life is a gift'

"I would like to say to the Arab youth that life is a gift. I think you are here to live life, and no matter what problems come up we should be able to conquer our emotions and learn that we can use our brain to get over our problems without war and just giving peace. It's the same thing that I have been saying to Jamaica for a long time. There are a lot of problems there...a lot of problems," he said with his strong Jamaican accent.

Equal

"It has a lot to do with no education and no money. You know what I'm saying? We have the ups and downs in social classes. I don't think that everyone can live equally, because everyone is different. But it would be nice for us to provide each other with the right facilities, so we can be considered to be on an equal level."

Sean Paul is definitely happy that his music is popular in the Middle East, but admits he doesn't know why.

"I don't know what the connection is, you know what I mean. But the music is good and the people are loving it. So I am giving thanks," he said with a smile. Then his tank of a bodyguard made the "your time is up" sign, and I quickly gave my thanks too.

Worst

Unfortunately, Sean Paul's agent, Walter Laurer, was not impressed with the organisers and how his crew were treated.

"All in all it was a very poor and unprofessional organisation and behaviour -personally, my worst experience at a Sean Paul show!

"These organisers should not be allowed to do any peace festival or any other event anymore," Laurer said in an email statement after the concert.

The line-up

Jamaican reggae star Sean Paul
Cilvaringz and DJ Sueside from the Wu-Tang Killa Beez
Moroccan/Dutch rapper Salah Edin
Canadian /Palestinian /Jordanian rapper Arabesque
Syrian/Lebanese rapper Eslem
Swedish/Palestinian rapper Palestine
Jordanian DJ Shadia
Canadian band TheSoundofReason