MAHMOUD DARWISH AND MARCEL KHALIFE VISIT SHATILA, 1999-11-12 (photo)

Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (R) with Lebanese leftist composer Marcel Khalife (L) lay flowers at the mass grave of the victims of Sabra and Shatila massacre in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut on November 12. Pro-Israeli Christian militiamen massacred more than 1,000 Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila while Israeli forces surrounded the two camps during a bloody invasion to Lebanon in 1982. Darwish recited a collection of poems to the subtle old tunes of Khalife, who is awaiting trial on charges of blasphemy for singing a Darwish poem that included Koranic verse. JS/