Zeinab Shaath
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1954 (age 70–71)
Zeinab Shaath زينب شعث | |
|---|---|
| Born | Zeinab Shaath 1954 (age 70–71) Alexandria, Egypt |
| Origin | Palestinian-Egyptian |
| Genres | Folk, protest music |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | Early 1970s–c. 1980 (then intermittently) |
| Labels | Cultural Arts Section, Palestine Liberation Organization; reissued by Discostan and Majazz Project (2024) |
Zeinab Shaath (Arabic: زينب شعث; born 1954) is a Palestinian-Egyptian singer-songwriter. She is known for the song "The Urgent Call of Palestine", released in 1972.
Zeinab Shaath was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1954 to a Palestinian father and a Lebanese mother. Her parents had moved to Egypt in 1947 after her father accepted a job as an educator. The following year, the State of Israel was established, marking the start of the Nakba, rendering her family unable to return home. Shaath inherited a sense of Palestinian identity from her family, who spoke Palestinian Arabic at home and were active in the refugee community in Egypt.[1] Shaath and her family lacked Egyptian citizenship and were considered stateless, although they later received Syrian passports after her father filed a request to the government.[2] Shaath was interested in music from a young age, first learning the piano, and was later introduced to the guitar by her older sister Mysoon, who also shared with her a number of records from the United States. She then became influenced by American folk songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.[1]