Philippe Katerine/Julien Mignot/Contour by Getty Images
Qalam strives to explore the interpenetration of different cultures. To this end, we have decided to launch a series of playlists in which music mediates between different geographical and ideological spaces. Our first playlist is called ‘West to East: One Hundred Best Songs’. It will be updated several times a week, and its curation will focus on how Western pop culture has reflected the realities of the East, whether they are musical, geographical, religious, or political. (The terms ‘West’ and ‘East’ should be taken as broadly and arbitrarily as possible.)
Philippe Katerine is a French chansonnier from the post-Gainsbourg constellation—an excellent melodist and a superb eccentric. However, it must be acknowledged that his musical heyday is already behind him (his best albums were recorded in the second half of the nineties and the first half of the 2000s). In recent years, he has become more interesting as an actor (and a César award winner, by the way). This song begins as a joke and ends as a religious hymn. It contains only three words, 'Juifs arabes ensemble,'( “Jews and Arabs together” ) which, in today's context (the song was released in 2011), sounds almost blasphemous. On the other hand, this might be the only way to say something about the current conflict without inviting accusations of bias.