features

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My Name is Reem Kelani - In The Long Now

I was born in Manchester, of Palestinian, Arab, Muslim parents. This is my story in the Long Now.
My mother hails from Nazareth in the Galilee and my father from Jenin in the West Bank. I spent my formative years in Kuwait and I moved back to the UK 20 years ago.
I see myself not as a victim, for victims can become oppressors. I have my Palestinian cultural DNA, and as an artist, I want to share it with you. There are people who seek to suppress my narrative, while others are afraid to acknowledge it.
My debut solo album took 20 years to produce, encompassing my arrangements of old songs I collected from Palestinian mamas in Palestine and in the refugee camps in the region, as well as my own compositions. It wasn't an easy journey, but as an independent unsigned artist, I take pride in bringing my cultural heritage to you.
I just want you to acknowledge my existence as a Palestinian and our rights as Palestinians. You may not like my music, but you cannot ignore the collective cultural heritage of my people.
I had the privilege earlier this year to attend a talk given by Archbishop Tutu, in which he spoke about the struggle against Apartheid and of how the Church of England had sustained and supported him and his colleagues in South Africa through solidarity in their hour of need. Similarly, the Church of Denmark responded to the threat of Nazism and did so much to ensure the safety of their Jewish fellow citizens.
May Palestinians, and Palestinian Christians among us, not have to wait any longer for Christians in Europe to take up their struggle for basic justice. After all, St George, your patron saint, was a Palestinian!
Greenbelt, August 2009

What's on Syria

On the eve of Reem Kelani's appearance at Jableh Cultural Festival, she talks to Joanne Lisinska about her past, to find out how she identifies with her music, her people and her motherland

Published July 2009
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'My narrative is that I exist'

Natalie Hanman talks to the Manchester-born Palestinian singer and jazz musician about her eclectic influences and connecting with her roots

Published in the Guardian, 19 September 2008
Click here to go to the original article

Because I'm an Arab, I play Jazz

Interview with Reem Kelani
by Mira Katbamna

Published in the British Council's New Routes - issue 7 - 2007

I am a Muslim but I am primarily a Palestinian

Reem Kelani
by John Lewis

Published in Gulf Air's inflight magazine, October 2007

Reem Kelani and the Beating Wing Orchestra

Interview with Reem Kelani
by Sarah Irving

Published in the Big Issue in the North, September 2007 [PDF]

'Land and freedom'

Reem Kelani tells Mira Katbamna about the refugees who taught her to sing

Published in the Guardian, 1 November 2006
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Fancy cutting your own CD?

Singer Reem Kelani became an entrepreneur to make sure her music was heard.
Sally McCrone hears about her struggle to record a DIY album

Published in the Observer, 26 February 2006
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Existing Music

Reem Kelani has a very individual take on Palestinian music. Jamie Renton finds out what makes her tick

Published in fRoots, April 2005
Click here to go to the original article[PDF]

Roots

An obituary of Dr Shawkat Kelani

Published in The Guardian newspaper, 2002

An interview with Reem Kelani

Jayne Comins' Firing Line: Reem Kelani

Published in The Singer magazine, August / September 2001

Songs of Pain and Pride

Burj el-Barajneh Dispatch
written by Reem Kelani

Published in The Middle East Report, spring 1999 [PDF]