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Lebanese musician Marcel Khalife

PEACE AND PERSECUTION: Marcel Khalife

by CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

Prosecuted for blasphemy in his home country of Lebanon, banned from the airwaves in Tunisia, accused of obscenity in Bahrain, peripatetic oud master and cultural icon Marcel Khalife is used to causing controversy, and not just in the Middle East.

The venue he was booked to play on the San Diego date of his latest North American tour, which begins this Friday at Metropolis, cancelled his appearance, claiming it would be “divisive” and “unbalanced” because there wasn’t an Israeli artist on the bill.

“I’m not sure exactly what happened,” Khalife says diplomatically over the line from Paris, “but they refused to let us play, so we’re doing it somewhere else.”

Khalife and his music have transcended sectarian and national boundaries for decades, making him a superstar in the Middle East and beyond. During the Lebanese civil war, he famously risked his life performing in bombed-out concert halls. In 2005, he was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace.

“Everything that’s happening in the Middle East today, all the hatred and misery, is a tragedy,” Khalife says. “We can’t leave the fate of the world in the hands of men who make war.”

Born a Maronite Christian, Khalife is well known for his support of Palestinian rights, something which might seem unusual given the history of conflict between the two communities in Lebanon. “I help Palestinians because they have a just cause. It’s not a question of Muslims and Christians.”

In March, he irked religious conservatives in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain with a performance of the classic love tale, Majnoon Layla, prompting the parliament to create a committee to investigate the offending work. In response, Khalife and his collaborator, Bahraini poet Qassim Haddad, issued a statement headlined “We Came to Declare Love.”

“We were criticized by people who aren’t open to love and to music,” he says. “For me it’s normal. I’m always having problems somewhere.”

At Metropolis on Friday,
Sept. 28, 8 p.m, $40.50