Here’s a profile of Islam Khalil, an elementary school teacher and the “brains” behind Egyptian pop star Shaaban Abdel Rahim (whose new tune says Israel perpetrated the 9/11 attacks): He Hates Israel, Too. (Hat tip: ism_truth.)

This is no Elton John/Bernie Taupin collaboration here. For one thing, Shaaban is illiterate. For another, Khalil can’t stand Shaaban.

The middle-aged shaabi singer — who once said in a television interview that he likes his suits to match his upholstery — came into the national spotlight in 2001 with his hit song “Ana Bakrah Israel (wa baheb Amr Moussa)” — “I hate Israel (but I love Amr Moussa)” — dedicated to the man who was then Egypt’s foreign minister and is now head of the Arab League.

Since then, Shaabola (as he is known to his devoted fans) has proven he’s no one-hit wonder, having become a regular fixture at the five-star weddings of Egypt’s elite. This despite the fact that his knife-scarred face, greasy hair, strange taste in attire — not to mention his lack of real singing ability — makes him a questionable pop idol at best and a laughing stock at worst.

His fans counter that Shaaban’s “ingenious” lyrics make up for any shortcomings. The singer regularly touches on hot-button issues in his albums in a way that simplifies complex political and social problems for the average Egyptian, they claim. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Anthony Shadid, writing for the Washington Post, even singled Shaaban out as “another sign of the emergence of Arabic pop music in recent years as an arena for dissent and protest over Israeli and US policy.”

The real man behind the message, however, is not the illiterate Shaaban, but Islam Khalil, an Arabic teacher at an elementary school in Qalyoubia.

Khalil, who has been writing lyrics for Shaaban since 1991 and is responsible for all of the singer’s political hits, is angry that some critics think he is no different from his uncouth musical partner.

The truth of the matter is that they’re nothing alike, Khalil claims.

“It’s tough working with Shaaban sometimes, because he doesn’t know how to think. I am the only one who thinks in this partnership,” claims Khalil, who began his artistic career writing musical scores for plays. “Look, I am not a political specialist or anything. If I sat in a political debate, I wouldn’t know what to say, to be honest. I just write about what I see in the news and how I feel about it.”

Khalil says Shaaban’s appeal lies in the no-holds-barred lyrics he croons: “If I got anyone off the street and told him to sing ‘I hate Israel,’ he would have been a success like Shaaban.

“Actually,” adds Khalil with the painful bluntness that is the trademark of his lyrics, “had I known that song would be so successful, I definitely wouldn’t have written it for Shaaban. But anyway, in the end it’s all in the words — no matter who sings them.”

Here’s Khalil whining about how difficult it is to be a true artist:

“We don’t have to resort to sexual provocation to sell our art like others. It would be very easy to be like them,” he continues. “I could drown the world with lovesick songs if I wanted to. What is hard is to be different — to do what I am doing now.”

Interesting take on the songwriter’s art. So spewing hatred and antisemitism is much harder than writing love songs, eh? Who knew?

Here’s the video for Khalil and Shabban’s work of penetrating political analysis: Hey Arabs Leaders! (Windows Media format.)