ArabishWay

a conversation with Palestinian activists: Land Day
2022-03-30 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
On the fourth anniversary of the Great March of Return and on Palestinian Land Day, join us for a conversation with Palestinian activists Soheir Asaad, Mariam Barghouti, and Ahmed Abu Artema as we share reflections and analyses of the current situation on the ground across Palestine, and what recent moments of popular resistance mean in the broader context of the Palestinian struggle for liberation.The Right of Return, the Right to Resist, and the Right to our Land: that’s our demand and that’s what we’ll be discussing next week on Wednesday, March 30 at 12 noon ET.See you there!

Lecture: Weaponization of Antisemitism
2022-03-30 09:00 - 11:00
with Dr. Michael Spath
interviews Mark Weber

Challenging Corporate Complicity in the Continued Colonization of Palestine: Means and Methods
2022-04-02 10:00 - 12:00
Description
Moderator: Tara Alami, Palestinian organizer and writer
Panel:
Wesam Ahmad, Palestinian human rights advocate at Al-Haq
James Yap, Canadian lawyer specializing in business and human rights.
Jonathan Kuttab, international human rights lawyer
Kathryn Ravey, Business and Human Rights Legal Researcher, Al-Haq
Land Day 2022 Webinar
This webinar will consider direct approaches to challenge corporate complicity in the continued colonization of Palestine. This will include judicial and non-judicial mechanisms in in the Canadian specific as well as broader international context.
Co-sponsors: Just Peace Advocates, Al-Haq, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights

Reflections on Jerusalem: A century of lost opportunities (via Zoom)
2022-04-03 12:00 - 13:00
Dr. Rothchild will provide a personal exploration of the ancient city of Jerusalem, with a special focus on East Jerusalem and the surrounding areas of greater Jerusalem, which have experienced decades of “Judaization” and erasure of the Palestinian presence. What are the costs of these policies, not only to Palestinians, but also to Jewish Israelis? How is this a mirror of the ongoing occupation of Palestine? What can we learn and what can we do?
Alice Rothchild is a physician, author, and filmmaker who has focused her interest on human rights and social justice on the Israel/Palestine conflict since 1997. She practiced Obstetrics & Gynecology for almost 40 years. Until her retirement she served as Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harvard Medical School. She writes and lectures widely, is the author of Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience (translated into Hebrew and German); On the Brink: Israel and Palestine on the Eve of the 2014 Gaza Invasion; and Condition Critical: Life and Death in Israel/Palestine.
Dr. Rothchild directed the documentary film, Voices Across the Divide. She is also on the board of the We Are Not Numbers program in Gaza and the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, and on the steering committee of the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council.

ONLINE CLASS: Voices of Arab American Authors: Discovery and Beyond
2022-04-04 10:00 - 12:00
Four Mondays and one Tuesday Bi-Weekly: April 4 and 18; May 2 and 16; and Tuesday, May 31 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST Online

Price:

$170.00 per person (10% off for members)

Here is another series of classes under the main heading of attempting to understand the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through literature and prose written by its authors, advocates, observers, and supporters. This series of classes will be the second time that we examine literature by Arab American authors who delve into the lives and challenges of new immigrants learning to assimilate and live as Americans while keeping an homage to their roots from Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, etc. However, this series will venture out beyond their “comfort zone” and tackle journeys of discovery – the fascination of travel to explore and better understand home, not relocate; Shakespearean theatre to cope with chronic pain; rediscovering the Syrian and Iraqi homeland; and discovering the future in Qatar.
Four Mondays and one Tuesday Bi-Weekly: April 4 and 18; May 2 and 16; and Tuesday, May 31 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST Online

List of readings & dates:
1) Hisham Matar (Libyan) – Month in Siena (April 4) (9780593129135)
2) Mona Awad (Egyptian) – All’s Well (April 18) (9781982169664)
and/or Egyptian-American Journeys: An Anthology (9781623718985)
3) Sinan Antoon (Iraqi) – The Book of Collateral Damage (May 2nd) (9780300251753)
4) Zeyn Joukhadar (Syrian) – Map of Salt and Stars (May 16th) 9781501169052
and/or Zaina Arafat (Palestinian) You Exist Too Much 9781948226509
5) Sophia Al-Maria (Qatar) – The Girl Who Fell to Earth (Tuesday, 31st May) 9780061999758

Heba F. El-Shazli is an Egyptian-American and an avid lover and reader of literature from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She is an assistant professor of political science at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Master’s Degree Program at the Center for Democracy and Civil Society. Heba teaches courses on governments and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, Islam and politics, international relations, and the role of civil society and social movements in democratization. She has a Ph.D. in Planning, Governance, and Globalization (PGG) with a specialization in Governance and International Affairs from Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs and a Master’s degree from Georgetown University. She was the Director of MENA programs at the Solidarity Center (2004-2011) and the Deputy MENA Regional Director at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) from 2001 until 2004. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (www.cfr.org)
Karen Leggett Abouraya is a journalist and children’s author, winning the 2013 Arab American Book Award and other honors for Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books. She is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Egypt, and with her Egyptian-born husband, chairs the Baltimore Luxor Alexandria Sister City Committee and the Friends of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) Maryland, Virginia, DC. Together they also produce the podcast American Egyptian Women of Influence. Karen facilitates online conversations between Egyptian and American children and co-hosted a conference on informal education at the BA in 2015. She reviewed children’s books for the New York Times, is a past president of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C. and has served as a judge for children’s writing contests in Egypt and Montgomery County. She earned her B.A. in international relations from Brown University.

SPECIAL PRE-RECORDED WEBINAR: HERITAGE TO ENRICH LIVES
2022-04-05
Event Description: Dr. Reem El Mutwalli and Heike Weber, Embroiderer & Author had a very special conversation earlier in March. To be released on Tuesday, 5th April.
Heike recently exhibited at Dubai Expo 2020, and launched her book documenting the history of embroidery in the Levant region titled “Anat and her hero Baal – The embroidery language of The Levant”.
When Heike Weber arrived in Syria in 1982, seeking refuge from the Lebanese civil war, she fell in love with the country’s capital Damascus.During the years of war, she braved the mortars and shelling that left their marks on the walls of her home located in a narrow alleyway in the heart of Damascus old city.Now 70, the German woman vowed to not leave the country and she said she feels a sense of duty to the country she has called home for decades.Married to a Palestinian, Weber started her life in the Yarmouk camp, near Damascus, where she followed her passion for embroidery. She started to learn about diverse Syrian designs and teach women in the camp.In 2003, Weber moved with her family to a house in the old city where she opened her atelier.Two of Weber’s children left before the war and the third left after a mortar hit the house.Weber now lives on her own, spending most of her time with her embroidery students, and sells her hand-knitted embroidered designs to tourists.She wrote a book documenting the history of embroidery in the region titled “Anat and her hero Baal – The embroidery language of The Levant”.
Please register to receive an email with a link to the recording on Tuesday, 5th April which you can then view in your own time.
Release Date: 5th April 2022
Time: 4 am (NYC), 9 am (London), 12 noon (Dubai)
Tickets: Donation
Students: If you are a student or member of academia please register here to receive your complimentary registration links.
Buy Tickets

P&P Live! Jim Al-Khalili | The Joy of Science (virtual)
2022-04-06 09:00 - 11:00
Click Here to register for this virtual event.
Today’s world is unpredictable and full of contradictions, and navigating its complexities while trying to make the best decisions is far from easy. The Joy of Science presents 8 short lessons on how to unlock the clarity, empowerment, and joy of thinking and living a little more scientifically.
Jim Al-Khalili is Distinguished Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Surrey and one of Britain’s best-known science communicators. He has written numerous books, including The World According to Physics; Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed; and Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and lives in Southsea, England.

2022 Online Film and Discussion MidEast Series: Sumud
2022-04-08 20:00 - 21:00
THE SPRING 2022 ONLINE FILM AND DISCUSSION SERIES

The theme for this year’s Film Series is Sumud. This is a Palestinian word that means “Steadfastness” or “Steadfast Perseverance.” It is a cultural value in Palestine. There is no possible way Palestinians can defend themselves in the face of one of the most well-equipped military powers in the world. They practice “sumud” which sometimes is an act of making breakfast, sometimes walking the children to the checkpoint on the way to school, sometimes, joining a peaceful protest at a blocked crossroad, just to say “We are here!”

In this series we will meet a young Israeli woman who also practices her own sumud as she resists joining the Israeli military. We will discover what sumud looks like in the devastation we call “Gaza”, and in the tragedy we call “Hebron.”

To receive links to the film (watch on your own time within 48 hours of the discussion) and the Zoom discussion, send a message to seattlemideastfocus@gmail.com

APRIL 8, 8 P.M. (discussion)
GAZA
Gaza brings us into a unique place beyond the reach of television news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters, offering us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict.
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

APRIL 22, 8 p.m. (discussion)
MISSION: HEBRON
and SKIES ABOVE HEBRON
In Mission: Hebron six young Israeli men who served in the army from the age of 18 give an account of their mission in Hebron, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Footage documenting numerous appalling situations corroborates their compelling stories, from soldiers taking pot shots with rubber bullets and conducting humiliating searches of passersby to arresting ten-year-olds and turning entire households upside down. What effect did these military duties have on their moral compass? Looking back and growing older, how do they feel about this mission now?
Learn more here.
Skies above Hebron is a coming of age story depicting three boys coping, each in his own way, with physical and mental obstacles enclosing life in their Palestinian hometown of Hebron.
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

MAY 6, 8 P.M. (discussion)
LITTLE PALESTINE: DIARY OF A SEIGE
During the Syrian civil war, the district of Yarmouk, home to thousands of Palestinians, became the scene of dramatic and ferocious fighting. Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege is a film that follows the destiny of civilians during the brutal sieges, imposed by the Syrian regime, that took place in the wake of the battles. With his camera, Abdallah Al-Khatib composes a love song to a place that proudly resists the atrocities of war
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

MAY 20, 8 P.M. (discussion)
200 METERS
Mustafa lives on the Palestinian-controlled side of the wall, and Salwa and their children on the Israeli side. One day he gets the call every parent dreads: his son has been in an accident and is in the hospital. He will do anything to reach his son, and after being denied access through the checkpoint on a technicality, Mustafa embarks upon a journey to cross the border illegally.
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

P&P Live! Luma Mufleh — Learning America (virtual)
2022-04-12 17:00 - 18:30
Click Here to register for this virtual event.
Learning America traces the story of how Mufleh grew a group of kids into a soccer team and then into a nationally acclaimed network of schools for refugee children. The journey is inspiring and hard-won: Fugees schools accept only those most in need; no student passes a grade without earning it; the failure of any student is the responsibility of all. Soccer as a part of every school day is a powerful catalyst to heal trauma, create belonging, and accelerate learning. Finally, this gifted storyteller delivers provocative, indelible portraits of student after student making leaps in learning that aren’t supposed to be possible for children born into trauma–stories that shine powerful light on the path to educational justice for all of America’s most left-behind.
Luma Mufleh is the founder of Fugees Family, with schools now in Georgia and Ohio and an expanding footprint bringing educational equity to refugee resettlement communities across America. Her TED Talk on educational justice for refugee families was viewed more than 1.7 million times.

2022 Online Film and Discussion MidEast Series: Sumud
2022-04-22 20:00 - 21:00
THE SPRING 2022 ONLINE FILM AND DISCUSSION SERIES

The theme for this year’s Film Series is Sumud. This is a Palestinian word that means “Steadfastness” or “Steadfast Perseverance.” It is a cultural value in Palestine. There is no possible way Palestinians can defend themselves in the face of one of the most well-equipped military powers in the world. They practice “sumud” which sometimes is an act of making breakfast, sometimes walking the children to the checkpoint on the way to school, sometimes, joining a peaceful protest at a blocked crossroad, just to say “We are here!”

In this series we will meet a young Israeli woman who also practices her own sumud as she resists joining the Israeli military. We will discover what sumud looks like in the devastation we call “Gaza”, and in the tragedy we call “Hebron.”

To receive links to the film (watch on your own time within 48 hours of the discussion) and the Zoom discussion, send a message to seattlemideastfocus@gmail.com

APRIL 22, 8 p.m. (discussion)
MISSION: HEBRON
and SKIES ABOVE HEBRON
In Mission: Hebron six young Israeli men who served in the army from the age of 18 give an account of their mission in Hebron, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Footage documenting numerous appalling situations corroborates their compelling stories, from soldiers taking pot shots with rubber bullets and conducting humiliating searches of passersby to arresting ten-year-olds and turning entire households upside down. What effect did these military duties have on their moral compass? Looking back and growing older, how do they feel about this mission now?
Learn more here.
Skies above Hebron is a coming of age story depicting three boys coping, each in his own way, with physical and mental obstacles enclosing life in their Palestinian hometown of Hebron.
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

MAY 6, 8 P.M. (discussion)
LITTLE PALESTINE: DIARY OF A SEIGE
During the Syrian civil war, the district of Yarmouk, home to thousands of Palestinians, became the scene of dramatic and ferocious fighting. Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege is a film that follows the destiny of civilians during the brutal sieges, imposed by the Syrian regime, that took place in the wake of the battles. With his camera, Abdallah Al-Khatib composes a love song to a place that proudly resists the atrocities of war
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

MAY 20, 8 P.M. (discussion)
200 METERS
Mustafa lives on the Palestinian-controlled side of the wall, and Salwa and their children on the Israeli side. One day he gets the call every parent dreads: his son has been in an accident and is in the hospital. He will do anything to reach his son, and after being denied access through the checkpoint on a technicality, Mustafa embarks upon a journey to cross the border illegally.
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

Sisters in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism
2022-04-25 14:00 - 16:00
Hiwar Maftuh (Public Conversation)

April 25, 2022
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Location
Virtual via Zoom

Calendar
Download iCal File

Join the Arab American Cultural Center, the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center, and Prof. Nadine Naber for a conversation with Elora Shehabuddin, Professor of Transnational Asian Studies and Core Faculty, at the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Rice University, about her new book Sisters in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism.
About the Book: Stretching from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment era to the War on Terror present, Sisters in the Mirror shows how changes in women’s lives and feminist strategies have consistently reflected wider changes in national and global politics and economics. Elora Shehabuddin presents a unique and engaging history of feminism as a story of colonial and postcolonial interactions between Western and Muslim societies. Muslim women have found themselves having to negotiate their demands for rights within other forms of struggle—for national independence or against occupation, racism, and economic inequality. Through stories of both well-known and relatively unknown figures, Shehabuddin recounts instances of conflict alongside those of empathy, collaboration, and solidarity across this extended period. Sisters in the Mirror is organized around stories of encounters between women and men from South Asia, Britain, and the United States that led them, as if they were looking in a mirror, to pause and reconsider norms in their own society, including cherished ideas about women’s roles and rights. These intertwined stories confirm that nowhere, in either Western or Muslim societies, has material change in girls’ and women’s lives come easily or without protracted struggle.
About Author: Elora Shehabuddin is Professor of Transnational Asian Studies and Core Faculty, Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, at Rice University. She is author of Reshaping the Holy: Democracy, Development, and Muslim Women in Bangladesh, coeditor of Gender and Economics in Muslim Communities, and associate editor of the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures.
Event is co-sponsored by Global Asian Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies
Zoom auto-captioning will be available. For questions or accessibility, contact us at arabamcc@uic.edu or 312-413-3253

Bakar: live at the Neptune
2022-04-27 19:00 - 22:00 | Neptune, 1303 Northeast 45th Street, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
Musical influences cited by Bakar include Madlib and Foals.[19][11] He has described his music as “schizophrenic”, and said that he attempts to “bridge the gap” between different music genres.[19] Ones to Watch described his style as a “melting pot of indie, rap, rock, and punk”.[44]
https://www.facebook.com/yeaabk
EVENT NOTES

Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Doors at 7:00 pm
Show at 8:00 pm
General Admission
All Ages / Bar w/ Valid ID
$23.00 in advance
$28.00 day of show
(not including fees)
Proof of COVID vaccination required for entry. Patrons unable to be vaccinated can show proof of negative COVID PCR test. Click here for details.

Bakar is of Yemeni and Tanzanian descent

Arab American Heritage Month Celebration
2022-04-28 16:00 - 17:00
April is Arab American Heritage Month! The Association of Lutheran of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage (ALAMEH) is hosting an online celebration on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The event will feature speakers Samer Khalaf, national president of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee and Jonathan Kuttab, executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America. Join us to discuss of Arab American heritage in the United States, advocacy, justice, combating discrimination and more.
Please register ahead of time at bit.ly/ALAMEHCelebration

The Art of the Short Story: Small Odysseys (Zoom)
2022-05-03 17:30 - 19:00
Small Odysseys celebrates the latest gems of contemporary short fiction–striking and joyful, the collection elucidates the character of the current literary landscape. Join Small Odysseys’ editor and contributors as they discuss this thrilling and impactful collection of works.

Authors participating include:
Edwidge Danticat, Omar El Akkad, Hannah Tinti, and J. Robert Lennon

2022 Online Film and Discussion MidEast Series: Sumud
2022-05-06 20:00 - 21:00
THE SPRING 2022 ONLINE FILM AND DISCUSSION SERIES

The theme for this year’s Film Series is Sumud. This is a Palestinian word that means “Steadfastness” or “Steadfast Perseverance.” It is a cultural value in Palestine. There is no possible way Palestinians can defend themselves in the face of one of the most well-equipped military powers in the world. They practice “sumud” which sometimes is an act of making breakfast, sometimes walking the children to the checkpoint on the way to school, sometimes, joining a peaceful protest at a blocked crossroad, just to say “We are here!”

In this series we will meet a young Israeli woman who also practices her own sumud as she resists joining the Israeli military. We will discover what sumud looks like in the devastation we call “Gaza”, and in the tragedy we call “Hebron.”

To receive links to the film (watch on your own time within 48 hours of the discussion) and the Zoom discussion, send a message to seattlemideastfocus@gmail.com

MAY 6, 8 P.M. (discussion)
LITTLE PALESTINE: DIARY OF A SEIGE
During the Syrian civil war, the district of Yarmouk, home to thousands of Palestinians, became the scene of dramatic and ferocious fighting. Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege is a film that follows the destiny of civilians during the brutal sieges, imposed by the Syrian regime, that took place in the wake of the battles. With his camera, Abdallah Al-Khatib composes a love song to a place that proudly resists the atrocities of war
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

MAY 20, 8 P.M. (discussion)
200 METERS
Mustafa lives on the Palestinian-controlled side of the wall, and Salwa and their children on the Israeli side. One day he gets the call every parent dreads: his son has been in an accident and is in the hospital. He will do anything to reach his son, and after being denied access through the checkpoint on a technicality, Mustafa embarks upon a journey to cross the border illegally.
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

2022 Online Film and Discussion MidEast Series: Sumud
2022-05-20 20:00 - 21:00
THE SPRING 2022 ONLINE FILM AND DISCUSSION SERIES

The theme for this year’s Film Series is Sumud. This is a Palestinian word that means “Steadfastness” or “Steadfast Perseverance.” It is a cultural value in Palestine. There is no possible way Palestinians can defend themselves in the face of one of the most well-equipped military powers in the world. They practice “sumud” which sometimes is an act of making breakfast, sometimes walking the children to the checkpoint on the way to school, sometimes, joining a peaceful protest at a blocked crossroad, just to say “We are here!”

In this series we will meet a young Israeli woman who also practices her own sumud as she resists joining the Israeli military. We will discover what sumud looks like in the devastation we call “Gaza”, and in the tragedy we call “Hebron.”

To receive links to the film (watch on your own time within 48 hours of the discussion) and the Zoom discussion, send a message to seattlemideastfocus@gmail.com

MAY 20, 8 P.M. (discussion)
200 METERS
Mustafa lives on the Palestinian-controlled side of the wall, and Salwa and their children on the Israeli side. One day he gets the call every parent dreads: his son has been in an accident and is in the hospital. He will do anything to reach his son, and after being denied access through the checkpoint on a technicality, Mustafa embarks upon a journey to cross the border illegally.
Learn more here.
with host:
special guest:

The Farhat J. Ziadeh Distinguished Lecture in Arab and Islamic Studies
2022-06-05
2022: 5 June; “The Emerging New Regional Order in the Middle East” presented by Vali Nasr, Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.

ARCE DC: King Taharqa: The Man and the Myth
2022-06-11 10:00 - 11:30
Presented by: Dr. Rita Freed

1:00 PM EDTWashington, DC
Zoom

Register via this email

11.3 Dialogues on the Art of Arab Fashion: Alternative Museum of Sudan
2022-06-14 09:00 - 10:00
Event Description: Dr. Reem El Mutwalli with Amado AlFadni- Sudanese Egyptian Visual Artist & Najlaa El- Ageli- Founder of Noon Art discuss the exhibition.
Najlaa El-Ageli is an architect with over twenty years of experience in the profession. Passionate about the arts, she founded Noon Arts Projects in 2012, a small private art foundation, to promote contemporary Libyan art and expose it to the world stage. Collaborating with cultural foundations and galleries, she has curated over 16 projects and successfully shed light on the current Libyan artistic scene.
Amado AlFadni is an artist who was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1976 to Sudanese parents. His childhood environment was composed of both the Cairene street and the traditions of a Sudanese household. The relationship and the tension between these two different cultures strongly influenced his views, making him question the subject of identity with its related rhetoric, as well as the variables of nation and ethnicity in his work. The ‘Alternative Museum of Sudan’ is Amado’s first solo exhibition in London, that traces the findings of his five-year journey and research into the buried histories of the people of the Sudan who were badly affected by colonialism and other interruptive external forces.
Date: 14th June 2022
Time: 12 pm (NYC), 5 pm (London), 8 pm (Dubai)
Tickets: Donation

Dreams Rising Artist Talk: Gaza Artists Malak Al-Absy and Mohammed Qraiqe
2022-06-18 09:00 - 11:00
Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip as young as 14 years old have endured four major Israeli military offensives. They live under an Israeli military blockade which controls who goes where and when, which goods can enter and exit Gaza, and which patients can seek specialized health care abroad. And yet, they are dreaming of a better future.
The Museum of the Palestinian People is pleased to introduce a new exhibition that invites visitors to imagine a better future for Palestinian children in Gaza. Working with a team of youth specialists, curator Ahmed Mansour asked children to paint a vision of their future.
The exhibition was envisioned and created in memory of the 67 Palestinian children killed in the May 2021 Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip. The exhibition features artwork created by 11 child and youth artists in Gaza in collaboration with Sama Center for Art and Culture.
This event is a conversation with two of the young artists featured in the exhibition: 16-year-old Malak Al-Absy and 21-year-old Mohammed Qraiqe. The event will be moderated by Ahmed Mansour, the curator of Dreams Rising and the director of programs at the Museum of the Palestinian people.
Malak Al-Absy, 16, is a Palestinian artist from Gaza who was born in 2006, the year before the Israeli blockade closed the Gaza Strip to the rest of the world. Malak has lived through four major Israeli military offensives in the 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021. She started to paint from a young age and has participated in several local art exhibits in Gaza City. Through art, Malak tries to explore the idea of love in the war-torn Gaza.
Mohammed Qraiqe, 21, is from the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City. His talent as an artist emerged when he was five years old. He was adopted by several art institutes in Gaza before he started making his way to international exhibits. Mohammed has toured Dubai, Tunis, Lebanon, and Chicago with his art. He’s currently finishing his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at a university in Norway.

11.4 Dialogues on the Art of Arab Fashion: Tatreez & Tea
2022-06-28 09:00 - 11:00
Event Description: Dr. Reem El Mutwalli and Wafa Ghnaim, Founder of Tatreez & Tea discuss her upcoming book to be published.
Wafa Ghnaim is a Palestinian-American artist, researcher, writer, educator, and businesswoman who began learning Palestinian embroidery from her mother, award-winning artist Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim, when she was two years old. This legacy has deeply influenced her career, becoming a leading educator in the field, the first-ever Palestinian embroidery instructor at the Smithsonian Museum, and collections specialist at the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, D.C. Wafa continues her mother’s educational legacy through Tatreez & Tea, a global arts education initiative that she established in 2016. Tatreez & Tea’s mission is to educate and empower exiled Palestinians of their heritage as well as to cultivate and strengthen allyship with non-Palestinians around the world.
Embroidery, or tatreez, is a centuries-old practice preserved through intergenerational exchange over a cup of tea, or shay. Inspired by generations of fibre artists, The Tatreez Institute continues the rich traditions of embroidery, textile, and storytelling of Palestine, the Palestinian diaspora, and Greater Syria from the United States.Wafa coined the title “Tatreez & Tea” in 2015 when she set out to write a book that preserved the meanings, stories, and patterns of Palestinian embroidery designs that she and her sisters had learned throughout their lives.
Date: 28th June 2022
Time: 12 pm (NYC), 5 pm (London), 8 pm (Dubai)
Tickets: Donation
Students: If you are a student or member of academia please register here to receive your complimentary registration links.
Registering will not only give you access to the live session but also a recorded version to catch up on in your own time.
Buy Tickets

ARCE DC: Excavating a Frontier Fortress: Uronarti, Sudan
2022-07-16 10:00 - 11:30
The fortifications at Uronarti in Lower Nubia were among a string of massive monuments built by the kings of Egypt’s 12th dynasty when they established control over this gold-bearing region.

While the fortresses were imposing military monuments, they were also locations of interaction between the Egyptian garrison and local Nubian populations, as well as places of domestic and production activities. Since 2012, a joint mission of Brown University and Swansea University has been conducting an excavation and survey at Uronarti and the surrounding area to address questions of both colonialism and daily life at this outpost.

This talk will present recent finds from that project, including one of the best-preserved ancient Egyptian pottery kilns yet known, a settlement of stone huts outside the fortress, and construction layers from the earliest phase of the site that highlight the impressive engineering necessary to conquer this forbidding landscape.

Email us at arce.dc.news at gmail dot com for a link to register for
this event.

Registration is required
Presented by: Dr. Laurel Bestock

1:00 PM EDTWashington, DC

Arab Film Series Online: Bloody Beans + Talkback
2022-07-28 - 2022-07-31
Arab Film Series Online: Bloody Beans + Talkback
Free Online Stream | Suggested $5 Donation – Register
This July, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Algerian Independence from France, Arab Film Series presents Bloody Beans, an experimental take on the Algerian War by Narimane Mari. This program is accompanied with a recorded discussion with the filmmaker.
Shot on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Algerian independence, (the film) is based on a loose, improvisational script about a group of children who, fed up with their monotonous diet of beans, decide to steal food from the French military barracks and end up capturing a young French soldier as well. This allegory of the Algerian War of Independence is enacted on the beach and within the populous neighborhoods of today’s Algiers, where almost half the population is under twenty-five years of age and largely unemployed. In a powerful mix of past (the struggle against French occupation) and present (the struggle of young people to survive), the film addresses the emotional realities of colonialism and contemporary forms of disenfranchisement., which sees the conflict played out by a group of vibrant children. Incorporating unique lighting and sound, the film is a complex exploration of colonial powers and the fight for freedom.
77 Minutes / 2013 / Algeria / Experimental / French and Arabic with English subtitles
For questions, e-mail Dave Serio at dserio@accesscommunity.org.

The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I : Online Lecture
2022-07-28 16:00 - 18:00
This presentation will outline and discuss how World War I affected the Balkans and the Middle East, in such long-standing campaigns as the Serbian Campaign, the Dardanelles Campaign, the Caucasus Campaign, the Palestine Campaign, the Arab Revolt, and the Mesopotamian Campaign. We will investigate how the Ottoman Empire entered the war, how Middle Eastern soldiers participated in the conflict, and how those experiences would affect the aftermath of the war.

Note: This episode will not discuss the Ottoman internal situation during the war (including the situation in eastern Anatolia) which will be discussed in the next week and will not discuss the more famous Western and Eastern Fronts in Europe as those are outside of the Middle East focus of this series.

The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 29 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. The combatants were, on one side, the Ottoman Empire (including Kurds and some Arab tribes), with some assistance from the other Central Powers; and on the other side, the British (with the help of Jews, Greeks, Assyrians and the majority of the Arabs, along with Indians under its empire), the Russians (with the help of Armenians and Assyrians) and the French from among the Allied Powers. There were five main campaigns: the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, the Mesopotamian Campaign, the Caucasus Campaign, the Persian Campaign, and the Gallipoli Campaign. There were also several minor campaigns: Arab Campaign, and South Arabia Campaign.
Both sides used local asymmetrical forces in the region. On the Allied side were Arabs who participated in the Arab Revolt and the Armenian militia who participated in the Armenian Resistance during the Armenian genocide; along with Armenian volunteer units, the Armenian militia formed the Armenian Corps of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918. In addition, the Assyrians joined the Allies following the Assyrian genocide, known as the Assyrian volunteers and Our Smallest Ally. The theatre covered the largest territory of all theatres in the war.
Russian participation in the theatre ended as a result of the Armistice of Erzincan (5 December 1917), after which the revolutionary Russian government withdrew from the war under the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3 March 1918). The Armenians attended the Trabzon Peace Conference (14 March 1918) which resulted in the Treaty of Batum on 4 June 1918. The Ottomans accepted the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies on 30 October 1918, and signed the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920 and later the Treaty of Lausanne on 24 July 1923.

Free virtual screening of the documentary film "Aida Returns," directed by Carol Mansour
2022-07-30 09:00 - 11:00
We will be screening a 20 minute-condensed pre-release version of the film. The film screening will be followed by Q&A discussion with Carol Mansour, film director, and Muna Khalidi, producer. Click the title above for more information.

AIDA RETURNS – أمي العائدة إلى يافا

This film is a poignant, sometimes sad, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of a multiple journey: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggled with losing herself to Alzheimer’s disease, but finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest and be herself once more.
Close to four years after Aida’s passing away, the director’s friend and colleague Tanya who lives in Ramallah came to visit Beirut. When she heard about Aida’s wishes and yearning for Yafa, Tanya suggested that she herself carries the ashes back. The film accompanies director Carol Mansour as she engineers a way to return her mother to Yafa in search of eternal rest and peace for her. A return that is aided by an unlikely set of friends and strangers all coming together to facilitate what should have been a simple journey. This journey is at the same time very private and personal, while resonating with hundreds of thousands of Alzheimer’s sufferers and their families as well as hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees awaiting their return home.
This film is a tribute to the lost past of the director’s family, an attempt to restore part of both an individual and a collective memory, and a poetic nod and affirmation to all those exiled Palestinians forbidden from returning to their hometowns, even after death.

Click here to watch the film trailer.
Click here to register for this event.
We will be screening a 20 minute-condensed pre-release version of the film. The film screening will be followed by Q&A discussion with Carol Mansour, film director, and Muna Khalidi, producer

ARCE DC: Moon Knight’s Egyptian Deities: Ammit and Taweret in Hollywood (online)
2022-08-06 10:00 - 12:00
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/moon-knights-egyptian-deities-ammit-and-taweret-in-hollywood-tickets-386146804487

Dr Stuart T. Smith, UCSB, consultant to STARGATE, presents a fun discussion on Ammit & Taweret and their role in Ancient Egypt’s religion

About this event

Marvel’s Moon Knight drew in many fans, and introduced viewers to two Goddesses of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon. The Hippo Goddess, Taweret, in her role of protectress of women, birthing mothers, and infants, was universally revered for several thousand years. Pregnant women wore amulets of her, the meme of both having big bellies lasted thousands of years. Her image was carved on protective and household items. Images of her were also placed in tombs, to help the deceased to live again in the afterlife. This interaction with dead souls in highlighted in Moon Knight.
Ammit, another Goddess who was part hippo, was also part lion and part crocodile. She interacted with the dead in a different way. At the time of final judgement, she crouched by the balance scales where the heart of the deceased was weighed for goodness against a feather, while the spirit of the deceased changed a list of good things done in life, and bad things avoided. If the heart outweighed the feather, the soul was forbidden to enter the afterlife. Their unworthy heart was tossed to Ammit, who devoured it. The soul died. Clearly, as “Devourer of the Dead”, and “Eater of Hearts”she was not a Goddess to mess with. In Moon Knight, Ammit is elegantly costumed, with a fabulous braid and – never shown dining.
Since his 1994 consultancy with the Stargate film, Dr. Stuart Smith of the University of California, Santa Barbara, has given many entertaining talks on the incorporation of Ancient Egyptian themes in Hollywood movies.

"Madafeh" - Open Discussion About Palestine
2022-08-28 09:00 - 11:00
Event: “Madafeh” – Open Discussion About Palestine
Sunday August 28, 2022 – 12:00 Noon US EDT; 7:00 PM Palestine Time.
Please click here to register for this event.
Our guest for this episode is Peabody Award-winning journalist Jamal Dajani, co-host of the syndicated radio show Arab Talk. He will share the documentary film “Occupied Minds.” The film is the story of two journalists, Jamal Dajani, a Palestinian-American, and David Michaelis, an Israeli citizen, who journey to Jerusalem, their mutual birthplace, to explore new solutions and offer unique insights into the divisive Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The film takes viewers on an emotional and intensely personal odyssey through the streets of one of the world’s most volatile regions.

Gaza: Beautiful Resistance - Virtual Delegation to Palestine
2022-08-28 10:00 - 11:30, 2022-08-30 09:00 - 10:30
Gaza is often portrayed as a place of desperation and violence, due to decades of occupation, siege and ongoing brutal assaults. What is far less often portrayed is Gaza as a place of life, laughter, joy, and creativity. On this Virtual Delegation of the Gaza Strip, we will introduce you to beautiful resistance in the Gaza Strip. Through music, art, dancing and more, Palestinians in Gaza resist the dehumanization inherent in colonization.
Join us to meet Palestinians in Gaza who insist on expressing their full humanity and on waging life!
This Virtual Delegation is co-sponsored by Donkeysaddle Projects and Just Vision.
Tour Date Options:
August 28: 1:00-2:30pm ET
August 30: 12:00-1:30pm ET
September 2: 12:00-1:30pm ET
(All tour times are listed in Eastern Time – USA)

REGISTER TODAY!

Director of the movie 1982, Oualid Mouaness on ZOOM
2022-08-28 11:00 - 12:00
Lebanese Americans and Lebanese American Society of Seattle will host the Director 1982 Oualid Mouaness on August 28, 2022, at 11 AM Pacific Time on Zoom.
Mr. Mouaness will be happy to answer your questions live.
https://bit.ly/3Rg69Gl

SIFF
