umm kulthum

Juliano Mer Khamis. (Photo: Vera Reider)

100 percent human: Five years without Juliano Mer-Khamis

In a small cafe in Berlin, I found myself surrounded by Palestinian refugees from Yarmouk who knew and loved my friend Juliano — a man who was 100 percent Palestinian and 100 percent Jewish. By Udi Aloni When I landed in Berlin on April 4th, I realized that it was the first time since the…

By +972 Magazine April 11, 2016

Umm Kulthum in Vogue: Manipulations in visual media

‘Manipulation,’ an exhibit that opened this past Thursday as part of the annual Jerusalem Design Week, brings together the country’s top graphic designers to examine whether the field of visual communications is itself nothing more than that – a manipulation. By Eitam Toubul and Shira Glick Designer Daniel Mouktel, who is known for his previous…

By Cafe Gibraltar December 15, 2013

Umm Kulthum. (photo: WIkicommons)

From Umm Kulthum to Woody Guthrie: Thoughts on cultural sovereignty

For an Israeli who has only known occupied, subdued and desperate Middle Eastern cities, there is something exciting about rediscovering the cultural world of a confident, proud Levant, cognizant of its traditions and histories. By Amos Noy (translated by Matan Kaminer) To ‘Amar, with fond remembrance. Between the demand for “authenticity,” which, while conscious of itself,…

By Cafe Gibraltar May 10, 2013

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Zehava Ben. (Wikicommons)

Finding a place in the Middle East through music

Although the racism and hatred between Israel and its neighbors seems as entrenched as ever, many Mizrahi artists are connecting to their Arab roots. Does this trend portend a brighter future for the Middle East? By Mati Shemoelof and Ophir Toubul In an interview with Al Arabiya several years ago, popular Israeli singer Zehava Ben…

By Cafe Gibraltar April 21, 2013

Left to right: My grandmother, Becky Mamron (who was called Rubio at the time), with Farid al Atrash and her sister, Leoni. Alexandria, sometime in the mid-late 1930s.

I Don’t Know Arabic, but I do. And yet don’t

Watching an Arabic movie every Friday throughout my childhood. Nearly 30 years would pass before I discover that my grandmother and Farid al-Atrash were friends. I have no idea, it goes under my radar. And yet they are there, the words. By Tamar Kaplansky (Translated from Hebrew by Orna Meir-Stacey) I don’t know Arabic. My…

By Haokets April 7, 2013

Lebanese pop singer Mohamed Eskandar

Daddy, I want a career: pop music sexism (Issa Edward Boursheh)

I admire classical Arabic music, performed by musicians like Wadih El Safi, Sabah Fakhri or Umm Kulthum, but I try to avoid listening to contemporary Arabic pop music. Video killed the Arabic radio stars, and music in general. I prefer watching Umm Kulthum on a stage over Rubby shaking it on my television. Contemporary pop…

By +972 Magazine September 12, 2010