Khaled actúa en el Grec antes de afrontar el boicot islamista por cantar con Noa
   Las colaboraciones artísticas del rey del raï con la cantante judía han despertado los recelos de los integristas, que han llamado al boicot de los conciertos de Khaled en varios países árabes

© LA VANGUARDIA - 03.49 horas - 09/07/2002 BARCELONA. Redacción
   El regreso a los escenarios españoles del músico argelino Khaled, considerado el rey del raï, se ha encontrado inesperadamente enmarcado en un conflicto de notable calado político. En su último disco, "Kenza" (2000), el músico y cantante de Orán incluía una versión del "Imagine" de John Lennon interpretada junto a la cantante israelí Noa, lo cual ya despertó en su día la reprobación en círculos fundamentalistas islámicos.
    El pasado mes de mayo Khaled y Noa volvieron a cantar juntos en Roma en un acto por la paz en presencia del ministro de Asuntos Exteriores israelí, Simon Peres, y del consejero de Yasser Arafat, Mohamed Rachid. Ese acto, en pleno conflicto palestino-israelí, ha motivado que algunas de sus actuaciones previstas puedan ser boicoteadas en varias naciones árabes.
    El caso más cercano es su concierto previsto para dentro de una semana en Jordania, ya que el presidente de la central sindical del país -controlada por los islamistas- ha llamado a su boicot. "Rechazamos la participación de Khaled porque ha llevado a cabo un acto de normalización con Israel en un momento en que los tanques israelíes machacan al pueblo palestino", ha declarado.
    Khaled, según informa la prensa de Ammán, ha rechazado las acusaciones: "No tengo por qué armarme para ganar mi batalla; tengo mi voz para rechazar la guerra y cantar por la paz".
    El intérprete de canciones como "Aïcha" o "Sahra" añade: "Los israelíes no son mis hermanos, de la misma manera que yo soy un cantante y no un político".
    Khaled Hafj Brahim (Orán, 1960) es uno de los grandes creadores y popularizadores de la música raï, sonidos tradicionales del norte de Argelia combinados con ritmos occidentales y textos de temáticas actuales y generalmente urbanas. El rechazo que este tipo de música produjo en su país natal entre sectores fundamentalistas le obligó a instalarse en Francia en 1988 -al igual que muchos otros colegas de profesión-. No regresaría a Argelia hasta agosto de 1999, desafiando una condena de dos años de prisión que pesaba sobre él por una supuesta ruptura de contrato discográfico. Aun así, reside en París.
    Khaled regresa esta noche a Barcelona -no lo hacía desde el Grec de 1998-. En el Poble Espanyol (22 h), al frente de nueve músicos , presentará "Kenza" (Universal). Es una obra producida por el rockero Steve Hillage o el funkero norteamericano Lati Kronlund, en donde regresa al raï en todas sus vertientes, combinándolo con cuerdas egipcias, voces paquistaníes o aromas cubanos.(  © LA VANGUARDIA )

    SUCCÈS DU CONCERT DE KHALED AU LIBAN MALGRÉ LES APPELS AU BOYCOTTAGE
mardi 16 juillet 2002  [La chanteur de raï Khaled en concert au festival de Beiteddine au Liban]
© AFP Ramzi Haidar
    Le chanteur algérien de raï Khaled s'est  produit devant un public enthousiaste lundi  soir au festival libanais de Beiteddine, malgré les appels à le boycotter pour avoir chanté aux côtés d'une artiste israélienne.
Khaled, la cheville foulée, est monté sur scène avec des béquilles devant un public électrisé par les prestations du violoniste palestinien, Simon Chahine, accompagné par son groupe Qantara, et par le chanteur populaire égyptien Hakim. Le "roi du raï" a déposé ses béquilles, s'est installé sur un trépied sur le devant de la scène et a commencé à chanter devant près de 3.000 personnes, qui ont dansé pendant plus d'une heure au rythme de ses chansons et l'ont applaudi, debout. "Je ne suis peut-être pas d'accord qu'il chante avec ou pour des Israéliens, mais il a chanté pour la paix, et ça, c'est bien", a déclaré une spectatrice, habituée du festival, qui se déroule en plein air dans un palais datant du 19ème siècle.
    Le chanteur algérien a été critiqué par une partie de la presse arabe pour s'être produit en mai, à Rome, aux côtés de la chanteuse pacifiste israélienne Noa, devant notamment le ministre israélien des Affaires étrangères   Shimon Peres, alors que l'armée israélienne menait une vaste offensive dans les territoires palestiniens. Des communiqués signés  d'organisations inconnues ont appelé à boycotter ses concerts dans le monde arabe.
    Khaled a affirmé dimanche à son arrivée à Beyrouth qu'il continuera à "chanter pour la paix "et qu'il n'avait "peur de personne".  © AFP Ramzi Haidar

KHALED THE 'KING OF RAI' DEFIES SANCTION TO TOP OFF AN UPBEAT PROGRAM AT BEITEDDINE PALACE (© Stephanie Saldana and Sonya Knox Daily Star staff )
Talented musical trio play long into the night
Neither fog, nor broken bone, nor the committee against "normalizing with the Zionist enemy" could stop them. On a cold Monday night at the Beiteddine Palace, Khaled, Hakim and Simon Shaheen came. They played, and played hard. And after five and a half hours of straight-up foot stomping, hip swinging, bring-the-house-down music, their response to criticisms of Khaled's relations with Israel was given loud and clear: They simply didn't give a damn.
Monday night was less a concert than a pure celebration of musical possibility. Simon Shaheen and his band Qantara set the night rolling with an intoxicating fusion of Arabic, jazz, classical and Latin songs that have recently garnered them 11
Grammy Nominations.  What a band! Filling the stage with a surreal assortment of flutes and ouds, North African percussion instruments, guitars and a contra bass, Shaheen and Qantara unleashed an electrifying musical conversation.
Shaheen, who hails from Galilee, had the audience pinned under his thumb early on as he switched from English to Arabic as effortlessly as he moved from oud to violin. With the song Blue Flame, the namesake for Qantara's new album, he made it clear why he is acknowledged as the master of oriental jazz.
Yet the highlight of the set was Waving Sands, a  simple upbeat tune that allowed the talented members of Qantara to improvise. By the end there was no doubt not only of Shaheen's musical brilliance, but also of the fact that he had managed to assemble on a single stage some of the finest musicians the jazz world has to offer.
It was a musical 180 when, after a short interval, Hakim ­ "the Lion of Egypt and the Sheikh of Shaabi" ­ leapt on stage with a string of street-based songs that had the audience out of their seats and dancing. Opening and closing with his catchy "Salaam aleyk" refrain, he was the crowd favorite of the evening. Sporting a mischievous grin and a loud red jacket to match, Hakim came to life as few performers can, badgering the crowd when they didn't know the words. With flutes, horns, drums, and the sound of accordions backing him up, he wooed the crowd with early tunes along with smash hits from his album Yaho. It was the longest performance of the evening, and Hakim
succeeded in what few performers can claim to have done ­ he wore a Lebanese audience down. By the time he danced off stage well over an hour later, they were left gasping for breath.
And then the crowd went silent, and the man himself came. As his band played a fast-paced drum beat and the horns bellowed, Khaled limped onto stage on crutches amid clouds of blue smoke, coughed politely, and sat down.
The beat slowed, the music turned mournful, and Khaled ­ the much-acclaimed "King of Rai" ­ began a haunting set of songs that blended seamlessly into the foggy night. Perhaps distraught by the late hour ­ Khaled didn't come on stage until 12.30am ­ or his uncharacteristically slow opening songs, some of the audience left. Those who remained, however, were not disappointed. And Khaled, who has faced considerable criticism from the Arab media for recently performing John Lennon's Imagine with, among others, the Israeli singer Noa, didn't stay quiet for long. 
Preceded only by a brief "shukran," Khaled launched into Abdel-Kader for the third song of the set, bringing the remaining crowd to its feet, clapping and dancing. Although he couldn't join the crowd in standing, Khaled waved his arms and slapped his legs to the beat, at times seeming to almost take flight,and clearly enjoying himself. The mood slowed briefly with Sahra, and then picked up again with Didi. Offering very little in conversation besides "shukran," Khaled conducted his 10-strong band effortlessly from behind his head, counting out the rhythms or occasionally humming the tune until it was picked up by the band. Khaled's elongated, haunting Wahrane Wahrane fit perfectly with the foggy ruins of Beiteddine, its plaint-ive lyrics floating magically into the night.
 Playing songs mostly from his 1996 hit album Sahra, Khaled, though clearly limited by his broken foot and seeming somewhat weary, played for the better part of an hour and a half, keeping the audience on its feet dancing. Toward the end of the ­ very ­ late night, the crowd began chanting "Aicha Aicha!" When the first strains were tentatively played, the audience erupted, singing the now-famous opening lines in a voice louder, even, than Khaled's. He paused, laughing, and seemingly pleased that despite what political groups would say, the crowds in Lebanon still belonged to him. Monday's version of Aicha offered stunning new vocal solos and an entirely new beat solo. The crowd was thrilled, and as Khaled got up shakily on his crutches he was thrown an Algerian flag to drape across his shoulders. Then he was escorted off the stage by members of the ISF, though clearly, as he said in his Sunday night press conference, he was "not afraid of anyone."
(Wednesday, July 17, 2002. © Stephanie Saldana and Sonya Knox Daily Star staff  http://www.dailystar.com.lb )

KHALED ENCHANTS LEBANON CROWD DESPITE ROW OVER CONCERT WITH ISRAELI
BEIRUT ( © AFP) - Algerian star Khaled braved a sprained ankle to enchant the crowd at Lebanon's annual Beiteddine Festival despite criticism in the Arab media for appearing in a concert with an Israeli singer. The king of rai put aside his crutches, sat on a stool and brought an audience of 3,000 to its feet several times during his hour-long concert late Monday at the 19th century palace in the Shouf mountains east of Beirut. "I don't necessarily agree with him singing with
or for the Israelis, but he sang for peace and that's good," said one spectator. Khaled and Israeli singer Noa sang in support of Middle East and world peace at a Rome concert in May attended by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Mohammed Rashid, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Upon his arrival in Beirut on Sunday, Khaled said he had "a clear conscience" over his appearance with the Israeli and would "continue to sing for peace" and was "not scared of anybody." Khaled's performance at Beiteddine formed part of an evening that included concerts by Egyptian singer Hakim and Palestinian violinist Simon Shahin.
Wednesday, July 17, 2002 ©  http://www.jordantimes.com