Middle East Enders
Playing around mischievously in a recording studio, July 2005
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Gilbert Biberian RIP (1944-2023)
Rest in Peace, Love and Power, my dear friend, fellow musician and Middle Easterner. The great Armenian Greek Turkish composer and guitarist, Gilbert Biberian, left us a few days ago to be with the One. The photo below was taken during my interview with Gilbert for my BBC Radio 4 documentary “Distant Chords”. This particular episode was called “My Book, My Mountain, My Self” [The Bible, Mount Ararat, cultural identity], about …
From 2011…….A WEEK IN CAIRO & THE BATTLE OF QASR EL-NIL BRIDGE
The demonstration in Tahrir Square on Tuesday 25th January which provided the spark for the current nationwide uprising saw a few thousand demonstrators confronting a police force well-armed for riot control. Many demonstrators were intent on peaceful protest, but there were also some willing to engage the police in a fight. The police, in turn, …
From 2011…….A WEEK IN CAIRO & THE BATTLE OF QASR EL-NIL BRIDGE Read More »
Nick Skelton 1953-2022
I was very much saddened to learn from my DJ friend Jamie Renton that Nick Skelton (DJ Skunk as he was known) died earlier this month. He was both a friend and a supporter of independent music over the past two decades, through his work, first at 209 Radio and later at Cambridge 105 Radio. …
developments in Palestine and Syria
Dear Friends & Fans You may have noticed that I have taken a brief break from promoting my new EP. This is because I have been totally distracted, indeed devastated, by recent developments in Palestine and Syria. Palestinians, Muslim & Christian alike, are being denied access to their respective places of worship, especially to al-Aqsa …
ريم الكيلاني – إصدارٌ جديد
“قالَ المُغَنِّي: طائِرُ السَّحَر” تُصدِر المُوسيقيَّة والمُغنيَّة والإذاعيَّة الفلسطينيَّة ريم الكيلاني ألبُومَها القصير المُقبِل “قالَ المُغَنِّي: طائِرُ السَّحَر” يوم 21 مارس 2022. هذا الإصدار هو إهداءٌ إلى روح المُوسيقار والمُغَنِّي الإيرانيّ المُعارض، محمد-رضا شَجَريان، الذي وافَته المَنِيَّة عام 2020: الأغنية الأولى: “قالَ المُغَنِّي” من شعر محمود درويش، وألحان ريم الكيلاني الأغنية الثانية: “مرغ سحر [طائِرُ …
The Singer Said: Bird of Dawn – EP launch
Palestinian singer, musician and broadcaster Reem Kelani released digitally two new tracks in an EP entitled “The Singer Said: Bird of Dawn” on 21st March 2022. The EP is a tribute to Iranian singer, calligrapher and political activist Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, one of the world’s greatest vocalists, who died in 2020: – The Singer Said (Qāla …
Israel’s pink washing
I hate to bring this to you, but although there are Orthodox Jewish Israelis who dress modestly, it is still easier for an average white Brit to relate to a bikini-wearing Israeli, than to a more modestly dressed Muslim, Arab, or Palestinian woman. The notion of a Judeo-Christian narrative which has taken root in recent …
The British Mandate in Palestine
“My father informed us that the British Mandate government has decided to move all the Arab employees of the Department of Land & Surveying into Ramleh, where there is a residence camp that was specially built for British employees who had left Palestine. I was later to understand that this had been part of a …
حكومة الانتداب
“حكومة الانتداب قرّرت نقل جميع موظفي دائرة الأراضي والمساحة العرب للسكن في مدينة #الرّملة، حيث يتواجَد هناك سكن خاص للموظفين #الإنجليز الذين كانوا قد غادروا فلسطين… وفهمت لاحقا أن هذا معناه ترحيل مبدئي من #يافا.” من كتاب المربية الفاضلة والخالة الحنون ازدهار الفرخ أفيوني Izdihar Al Farekh “حدث ذات يوم في آذار”، الطبعة الأولى، #عمّان، …