JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995, Pages 51-52

California Chronicle

Composer Marcel Khalife Finishes U.S. Tour

By Pat and Samir Twair

Marcel Khalife is considered by many critics to be the foremost contemporary composer of the Arab world. The Washington Report caught up with him in Los Angeles, the final venue in his 10-city national U.S. tour. Khalife, who was born in 1950 in Amsheet, Mount Lebanon, is credited with composing stirring music that lifted the spirits of Lebanon's poor during that nation's bitter civil war. Many of his songs have been written for the poetry of Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish.

Khalife now lives outside Paris, but he travels to Lebanon at least twice a year. His latest recording, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," blends Arabic folk themes with classical Western structure that surpasses, but is reminiscent of, his earlier scores for the Caracalla Dance troupe.

During a reception for him in the Los Angeles Druze Center, we asked him how his work differs from that of other serious Lebanese composers such as the Rahbani Brothers, Zaki Naseef and Walid Ghulmiyyah. Khalife replied that the difference is that he is attempting to appeal to Western audiences.

"I want to do for Arabic music what Ravi Shankar did for Indian music in the West," he said. "Everything has deteriorated and become polluted in the Arab world—be it the environment, politics or economies—the only thing that is surviving is our culture. The West may have technology, but we can contribute our literary, architectural and musical traditions to the West."

Khalife believes that, despite his native country's recent civil war, "Arab music is in better shape in Lebanon than in other Arab countries, and it's not just the music. Lebanon has more accomplished musicians, composers and singers than other Arab states. I believe this is because of Lebanon's traditional freedom of expression. It's difficult to be creative when censorship and state guidelines control an artist's expression."

The Washington Report asked Khalife his views of peace agreements taking place in the Middle East.

"This isn't a political question, it's an artistic question," he responded. "You can't make peace with an enemy who wants to destroy you. You can't make peace with an enemy who wants to uproot you and your culture. You can't make peace with an entity that wants to replace your civilization. There may be peace agreements between governments, but that doesn't mean there will be peace between the people."

Khalife urged Arab Americans to keep their cultural traditions alive in the U.S. "Build cultural links to the West, introduce Arabic music, food, and traditions to American society and enrich it."

Antiochians Worried About Jerusalem

On a recent visit to Southern California, Archbishop Philip Saliba expressed concern for Palestinian Orthodox Christians, whose Jerusalem Patriarchate is overseen by a Greek hierarchy. The spiritual leader of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America was in Southern California for the 25th anniversary of St. Michael's Church in Van Nuys. He also presided at a founder's meeting of the Arab-American Committee to Support the Revival of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem Patriarchate. Dr. George Madanat of Diamond Bar, CA was elected president of the committee.

When asked if there is resentment on the part of Palestinian and Jordanian Orthodox Christians that their hierarchy is entirely Greek, Archbishop Saliba nodded in the affirmative. He pointed out that the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, Diodoros, and the Greek Synod of Jerusalem collect money from the holy shrines and from land endowments, but are not held accountable.

A case in point is the Christian hospice in East Jerusalem that has been illegally taken over by Israeli fundamentalist radicals. "We have no idea what kind of agreement Patriarch Diodoros may have made with the Israelis on the hospice," Archbishop Saliba commented. "99.5 percent of the Orthodox Christians in the patriarchate are Arab and it is not in the tradition of the Orthodox church to impose a foreign patriarch on the people," he said. "We couldn't impose an Arab patriarchy on the Greeks or the Russians."

Historically, he noted, the patriarchs were Arab until the Turkish sultan put the Greeks in charge of Jerusalem, one of the five original Apostolic Patriarchates, which also included Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome. While he is an Antiochian Orthodox Christian, Archbishop Saliba opines that Palestinian and Jordanian Orthodox Christians are getting a "raw deal" and that the matter will be justly solved.

As for the peace process, the cleric stated: "If this is the first step toward an honorable peace, then I'm all for it." However, he argues that three areas have not been addressed: the status of Jerusalem; Israeli settlements; and the question of Palestinians forced to leave their homes in 1947 and 1948.

"Every refugee has the right to return to his home," he stated. "The Geneva Conventions and United Nations Resolutions all assert this. If East Jerusalem and the entire West Bank are returned to the Palestinians, then I am for this peace. But if all they are going to give to these people after a half century of struggle is Gaza and Jericho then it's a joke."

Two Arab Journalists Speak in L.A.

Two prominent Palestinian journalists—one from East Jerusalem, the other from Amman—have made separate speaking engagements in Los Angeles.

Daoud Kuttab, who garnered international headlines in August when he drew up a petition signed by 39 other Palestinian journalists protesting PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's closure of the pro—Jordanian daily An-Nahar , arrived in early October to discuss the peace plan. As a result of the petition, Kuttab lost his job with the Jerusalem-based daily Al-Quds, but he continues to write from East Jerusalem for Reuters, Middle East International, Mideast Mirror and Yomiuri Shimbun, to name a few.

Noting that the Israelis have made no concessions other than relinquishing tiny Jericho and the troubled and impoverished Gaza Strip, the U.S.-educated journalist warned that to achieve real peace, the international community must put pressure on Israel to live up to the pledges it made in the Madrid agreement. The world's inattention is reflected, he said, in the failure to protest Israel's announcement that it will build 1,000 new units in an illegal Jewish settlement on the West Bank.

"It is a dangerous situation," he continued, "when Israel can decide the pace and contents of the negotiations and even dictate when we can have elections and who can run for office and who can or can't vote. This is clear meddling in Palestinian internal affairs."

Kuttab acknowledged that the Palestinian National Authority has made many mistakes, but it also has many achievements. "The PNA shows a willingness to correct its mistakes," he pointed out. "After all, it is a transitional government trying to function after many years of military occupation. And, the people aren't afraid to tell Arafat what decisions of his they object to. No one has been assassinated for speaking his mind."

Asked about freedom of the press in Gaza and Jericho, Kuttab said three new papers have received licenses to print and there appears to be no censorship. "My personal expectation is that the press policy will be more liberal than in other Arab states, with the exception of Lebanon, but not as open as in the U.S.," he said.

As for the status of Jerusalem, Kuttab says "the Israeli mayor wants to talk about it now, but we are in a very weak position and we probably would be forced to accept very little. If the future of East Jerusalem were on the front burner, the entire peace process could be linked to Jerusalem and it could fall apart. It's easier to tackle the simple problems first. Two years ago, the Israelis thought there would be civil war if there were a Palestinian police force in Gaza. Now they realize it's not such a terrible thing."

"We must put our faith in the Palestinian people."

Kuttab is confident that, overall, the transition is moving in the right direction. "We have the right symbols—Palestinian passports, postage stamps, a police force, environmental plans, TV and radio—there's even talk of a stock exchange in Ramallah," he said. "It's senseless to debate whether the peace process is good or bad. We must put our faith in the Palestinian people and their laws because the bottom line is, no one wants Israel to reoccupy Gaza."

The peace process was in a much more tenuous situation when Rami Khouri arrived in Los Angeles two weeks later, just days after the fatal bombing of an Israeli bus that killed 22 and wounded 48 civilians in Tel Aviv. Khouri was on a five-city lecture tour sponsored by Americans for Peace Now. Sharing the podium with him was Israeli journalist Danny Rubinstein, who writes for Ha'aretz.

Khouri, who lives in Amman and writes for the Jordan Times, Mideast Mirror and Pacific News Service, is a visiting scholar for the fall semester at the Global Affairs Institute at Syracuse University. He was born in the United States to Palestinian parents and holds a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University.

Addressing a UCLA audience largely composed of Jewish students, Khouri said this is an historic moment for Jews, Christians and Muslim Arabs.

"The Jews have a chance for a strong Jewish state while being accepted by the nations around them," he said. "The Arabs have a chance for peace without foreign occupation or domination."

When asked to address the refugee issue, Khouri said this is one of the thorniest problems:

"But then look how Jordan and Israel solved the problem of Jordanian land that has been occupied and farmed by Israelis. Israel agreed to return the land, but Jordan will then lease it to the Israelis. This shows the capacity of Semitic people to come up with a typically Middle Eastern solution to a controversial issue.

"This isn't seen as hocus pocus, but as a sensible solution in which neither side feels it has lost. Americans believe there must be a winner and a loser. In the Middle East, our communities can't have this, everyone must save face."

Like Kuttab, Khouri said lack of progress on the peace talks would create a dangerous situation. "It is in the best interest of Israel to speed up the process because, as things are, Rabin and Arafat are very vulnerable," Khouri said. "Israel hasn't adhered to time tables. Arafat has made too many compromises and the lot of the Palestinians hasn't improved.

"Western donors have not released funds to Arafat because they don't like his accounting. The U.S., France and England want to see Palestinians calm and basically under the tutelege of Israel. They must come to terms with the reality that the Palestinians must be 100 percent free and sovereign and equal to the Israelis.

"For two millennia, the Jews wanted a state in Palestine," the Jordanian journalist concluded. "Now they must come to realize the Palestinians must have the same thing. The Israelis cannot have sovereignty without the Palestinians having it too."