Anyway I love “Ritta”, “To My Mother” and “Jadal” … Specially “Jadal” that’s when I discovered Marcel the composer.

Sabbah tips us: Marcel Khalife named UNESCO Artist for Peace. …the Lebanese musician and writer was named UNESCO Artist for Peace on June 7 by UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, at a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters. Born in 1950 in Amchit,

My favorite singer/musician: Marcel Khalifé, the Lebanese musician and writer, was named UNESCO Artist for Peace on June 7 by UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, at a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters. Born in 1950 in Amchit, Mount Lebanon, Kh…

Marcel Khalif, the Lebanese musician and writer, was named UNESCO Artist for Peace on June 7 by UNESCO Director-General, Kochiro Matsuura, at a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters. Born in 1950 in Amchit, Mount Lebanon, Mr Khalife first studied, then taug…

Khalife’s 1995 Arab Coffeepot album contained a song, entitled “Oh Father, I Am Yusuf,” based on a poem by Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish. The song compares the oppression of Palestinians in Arab lands to the biblical Joseph’s mistreatment at the hands of his brothers, a story that also appears in the Koran. The song’s vague citation of a Koranic verse drew hostile attention from the Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s highest Sunni authority. They charged that citation of the Koran, or even a poet’s interpretation of a Koranic text, represented disrespect to a religious text and blasphemy. Given that Sunni authorities are often viewed as relative cultural moderates, this is surprising and indicative of internal shifts. Ironically, leading Shiite clerics, usually thought more conservative, have come to Khalife’s defense.

Blasphemy proceedings brought against Khalife in 1996 halted after intervention by then-late Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. The case brought an outpouring of support for the singer, one that emphasized Beirut’s renaissance as a cultural center.

In his statement from the courthouse steps, Khalife spoke words of accommodation. “The accusation against me stems merely from relating passionately to a Koranic verse which opened my soul to vast horizons in ways no other text is capable of doing. I stand accused because I believed that the spirit of religion is more broad and tolerant than the interpretations by those who appoint themselves as guardians of our faith and morality. I also believed that inquisition courts were things of the past.“

It saddens me, that people who represent our culture in a sweet manner like him are not appreciated across all society levels…

I mean all the critisim he got few years ago was trully haarsh… I think he felt misunderstood at that point.