ArabishWay

Static Forms: Writing the Present in the Modern Middle East,
2026-02-06 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Denny Hall, Klickitat Lane, Seattle, WA, 98105
The UW’s Middle East Center invites you to a book talk and discussion by Shir Alon, visiting from the University of Minnesota. In Static Forms: Writing the Present in the Modern Middle East, Shir Alon develops an alternative model for reading Arabic and Hebrew literatures, as two literary systems sharing a remarkably similar narrative of modernization and developing parallel literary forms to address it. In this talk, Alon will discuss the potentials of a paradigm grounded in formal and affective analysis for new understandings of transnational modernism, Middle Eastern literatures, and comparative literary studies at large. She will also explore the limits of this approach, when parallel readings of Hebrew and Arabic literatures obfuscate rather than clarify the conditions of the present.
Shir Alon | On not sharing a present tense: Reading Arabic and Hebrew Literatures together
Friday, February 6
1-3pm
Denny 211
More info: https://jsis.washington.edu/middleeast/events/?trumbaEmbed=eventid%3D192847224%26seotitle%3DOn-not-sharing-a-present-tense-Reading-Arabic-and-Hebrew-Literatures-together%26view%3Devent%26-childview%3D

Right to Resist: ILPS Seattle-Tacoma Report Back from the International People's Tribunal for Palestine
2026-03-03 17:30 - 20:30 | RSVP for Location
🇵🇸The International People’s Tribunal on Palestine found the US & Zionist Entity guilty of genocide, ecocide, and forced starvation!
⏰ Join upcoming Seattle report back to hear about the experience and findings of the IPT!
March 3, 5:30-8:30pm
Local report back
RSVP for location: https://tinyurl.com/IPTreportbackILPS
The Tribunal brought together over 100 attendees in Barcelona on November 22nd and 23rd to observe the process of seven esteemed jurors to hear evidence and pass their verdict. Evidence was presented from the live and written testimony of thirteen witnesses and three experts; expert analyses supported by scientific or technical data; documentary evidence including reports, photographs, and satellite images; and facts widely known and independently corroborated by reliable international human rights organizations and bodies.
This report back is a tool for our movements to expose the crimes of US empire in collaboration with the Zionist entity, and uplift the Palestinian people’s struggle for justice and liberation. It is right to resist genocide, ecocide, and forced starvation!⁩⁩
*Halal dinner will be served and will be timed with Iftar!

Partition and Solidarity: Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present Conference
2026-03-06 09:30 - 17:30 | UW – HUB, 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98195, United States
You are invited to attend this conference hosted by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies and cosponsored by various departments, including the Middle East Center.

Partition and Solidarity: Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present Conference

Friday, March 6, 2026
University of Washington, Seattle
9:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Husky Union Building (HUB)

Over the past five centuries, empires have used partition and division to justify and advance colonialism. We can see that ongoing history of colonial rule and racial violence exploding around the world today—from Palestine to Minnesota and beyond.

Join us at this one-day symposium where scholars and activists will gather to engage in conversations about anticolonial struggles of the past and the present. How might we forge diasporic imaginaries and solidarity movements to contest the colonial world order toward collective liberation?

The symposium will include a keynote address by Adam Hanieh of SOAS, University of London (UK), who has been selected to deliver a Walker-Ames public lecture. He is the MBI Jaber Chair in Development Studies and the Director of the Middle East Institute at SOAS, University of London. His research focuses on oil and capitalism, energy transitions, and the political economy of the Middle East.

Registration required: https://events.uw.edu/event/partition-solidarity/summary
Program and schedule: https://labor.washington.edu/partition-solidarity

UW Public Lectures: Palestine to Iraq with Adam Hanieh
2026-03-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
While World War I is often framed as a European conflict, its most far-reaching consequences were profoundly felt far beyond Europe’s borders. In the Middle East, the war sparked a sweeping political crisis that ultimately led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. In its wake, the European victors imposed new borders and mandates, carving the region into fragmented zones of imperial control and influence.
But this was not merely a story of unchecked colonial dominance. In the postwar moment, a spectrum of fluid, intersecting anti-colonial movements emerged. Palestine became a key site in these struggles, as a racialized order of settler-colonial capitalism took shape under British rule. This talk locates those movements within the broader transition from British to American imperial ascendancy, contending that the political history of the region must be understood as integral to the global history of fossil capitalism.
Moving beyond frameworks centered solely on empire, the talk examines how anti-colonial actors envisioned their futures within a rapidly transforming global system—even as new hierarchies of race, empire, and capital were being redefined.

An Overview of the History of Palestine and Israel : A Three-Part Series
2026-03-07 14:00 - 15:30, 2026-04-04 14:00 - 15:30 | Poulsbo – Kitsap Regional Library, 700 NE Lincoln Rd, Poulsbo, WA, 98370
Save the date March 7. ❤️ Kitsap Palestine Solidarity Coalition is continuing to offer an educational program,
An Overview of the History of Palestine and Israel : A Three-Part Series
We were so excited that the first part of our series had over 70 people in attendance. The second part of the series continues on March 7, 2-3:30 pm in the meeting room of the Poulsbo branch of Kitsap Regional Library.
The topic is “A European-Dominated State in the Middle East: From the founding of the state of Israel to October 2023 ”
We will cover: The Nakba, Why the formation of Israel was a disaster for the Palestinians, An American Jewish perspective on the history, The Occupation, and Palestinian and Jewish resistance to it. Why the U.S. supports Israel., A history of the peace process, and why proposals have not worked so far, How Hamas gained power and what led to the 10/7/23 attack.

Fasting, Faith and the Fight Against Erasure: Ramadan in Al Quds
2026-03-11 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual
Featuring:
Layan Abbasi
Researcher & Writer
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Specialty
Al Quds
Yazan Risheg Executive Director Jerusalem-based
organization Researcher of political
economic dynamics
Al Quds
Rami Nashashibi Islamic Studies Scholar
& Executive Director
Inner-City Muslim
Action Network (IMAN)
Chicago

Material Identities: Regional Dress in Late Ottoman Syria
2026-03-13 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Virtual Lecture Registration

Material Identities: Regional Dress in Late Ottoman Syria
Date: Friday, March 13, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Location: Online, Zoom link will be emailed at 10am EST on event day
Instructor: Wafa Ghnaim, Dress Historian, Researcher & Educator
Registration Fee: Sliding scale
Description: This lecture examines the regional styles of embroidered traditional dress produced within the geographic boundaries of present-day Syria during the late Ottoman period, roughly 1850–1922. It centers on historical garments from various villages, towns, and desert regions across Syria, as well as the textile traditions that shaped them. Participants will learn about Syria’s role as a major center of textile production, including the rise and decline of its fabric industries and the historic cloth types most commonly used in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The lecture surveys distinctive village and regional styles, with attention to materials, structure, and surface design, beginning in the Northern Galilee and extending into southern Syria and beyond.
The presentation draws on surviving garments, visual documentation, and the work of leading scholars in the field of Syrian dress history. This research is informed by the expertise of Aida Dalati, Anne Marie Weiss-Armush, Hanan Munayyer, and other leading collectors and historians in the field. Through this focused visual and historical review, the lecture situates Syrian dress within its social, economic, and cultural contexts, highlighting how regional identity was expressed as a broad regional tradition shared by communities of the eastern Mediterranean over centuries. While many have argued that the cultural knowledge of Syrian dress styles is extinct, Wafa argues that new digital archives led by a new generation are ensuring its survival and revival.

Gaza -Virtual Visit Sulala Animal Rescue
2026-03-25 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
Upcoming event with Eyewitness Palestine

Iraqi Community Center: College Workshop
2026-03-31 13:00 - 14:00 | Immigrants and Refugees Community Council, 24401 104th Ave SE #102, Kent, WA, 98030
The Iraqi Community Center is pleased to invite you to benefit from the information that will be presented by specialized professors from Renton Technical College and Highline on the coming Tuesday, which is March 31st at 1 pm in the Community Office in Kent.

It will be an opportunity to answer your queries and learn about programs that benefit you in your career and sources of support available at colleges… Mr. Nizar and Mr. Ahmed will be ready to dialogue and answer questions and help with the application steps

Hear from Delegation to the West Bank of Palestine
2026-04-07 18:30 - 20:00 | Virtual
Our recent delegation to the West Bank of Palestine (sponsored by the Mennonite Palestine/Israel Network–MennoPIN, and MennoniteMen).

Our group was there to assist with olive tree planting on Palestinian farms and to visit with a number of different Palestinian farmers, activists and liberation theologians in and around Nazareth, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and East Jerusalem. The nine of us from the PNW region who joined the delegation will hold a storytelling session on Zoom next month (see attached announcement).

You are most welcome to attend!

CSDE Seminar - Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria’s War - In Person and Virtual
2026-04-17 12:30 - 13:30 | UW – Parrington Hall, 4105 George Washington Lane NE, Seattle, WA, 98195
Speaker: Rana Khoury, Assistant Professor of Political Science & Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Abstract: In Civilizing Contention, Rana B. Khoury asserts that to understand civilian and refugee activism in war, we must regard the international actors and organizations that enter the scene to help. When these organizations respond to crises, they work with local actors. In so doing, they facilitate the activists’ participation in something like a civil society even in the depths of war. Yet as aid imposes its structures and routines, it also leaves activists unprotected from the violence of war and its aftermaths.
Khoury pursues these ideas through analysis of Syria’s war that emerged from the 2011 Arab Uprisings. She traces the afterlife of a social movement that did not merely take up arms or capitulate to repression. Interviews with Syrian activists and international aid workers in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon provide insight into action among actors in the war, while original social-media data offers additional evidence. Civilizing Contention deepens knowledge of civilian and refugee agency by explaining how ordinary people act in extraordinary ways in a world structured by powerful forces.
Bio: Rana B. Khoury is an assistant professor of political science at Illinois. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University. She received her Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University and M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University. Rana’s research interests include contention, displacement, and humanitarianism in the Middle East, as well as qualitative and multi-method research. Her research has been published in Perspectives on
Politics, World Development, Middle East Law and Governance, and Forced Migration Review. Her book, Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria’s War is forthcoming with Cornell University Press.
Parrington Hall – Rm 360
Virtual Link: https://washington.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1Ij7h6opR1mdgyO7C0IUzQ#/registration

Anti-Palestinian Racism Workshop
2026-04-18 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual
UPCOMING WEBINAR
Date: April 18, 2026 Time: 10am – 11:30am PST/1pm – 2:30pm EST
REGISTER HERE
Attendee will learn to:

Know who Palestinians are;
Describe anti-Palestinian racism;
Identify who can be targets of anti-Palestinian racism;
Understand the impact of anti-Palestinian racism on health and wellbeing (incl. latest released findings);
Learn ways to address anti-Palestinian racism.

Our trainers volunteer their time so these webinars are always pro-bono. If you believe in this work, consider supporting us here so we can keep bringing expert voices to more communities.

VIEW OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNTERING ANTI-PALESTINIAN RACISM IN K-12 SCHOOLS HERE.
Every student and educator deserves to learn and work without fear of discrimination or racism. Yet, anti-Palestinian racism – an underrecognized, pervasive, and highly prevalent form of racism – is harming the health and wellbeing of our students, teachers and administrators. At the Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism (IUAPR), we are dedicated to raising awareness of this injustice and helping K-12 schools create environments where all forms of racism are addressed.
LEARN HOW TO COUNTER ANTI-PALESTINIAN RACIST MYTHS AND VIEW OUR MYTH-BUSTING YOUTH GUIDE HERE.
In talks about Palestine and Israel, you may hear racist myths and stereotypes about Palestinians. These myths are used to deny their human rights and to excuse injustice against them. The IUAPR Teen Committee created this youth guide with the aim of showing why these myths are false and giving facts to help counter them.

The State of State Divestment
2026-05-02 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual
Join us on Saturday, May 2 for a discussion on state-level divestment campaigns in the United States. Activists from the state of Washington will share insights from their recent successful effort to push the state Treasurer to divest from Caterpillar, due to the company’s longstanding involvement in Israel’s grave human rights violations against Palestinians.
We will also hear from organizers in California who are building a broad, union-centered coalition to target the state’s pension funds and advance divestment efforts. They are motivated by the understanding that ending complicity is a legal and moral obligation.
And we’ll hear from activists in Minnesota, who successfully pressured the state to sell off most of its Israel Bonds.
This session will be valuable for activists who are already engaged in BDS campaigns, as well as for those just getting started. While the focus will be on campaigns in the US, the lessons and strategies discussed will be relevant to divestment efforts globally.

Event Cosponsors include the BDS Movement, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Jewish Voice for Peace, CalSTRS Divest, and Minnesota Anti War Action Network.

When: Saturday, May 2 – 12 PM PT/3 PM ET/9 PM CET
RSVP for Zoom link.

Webinar: Ceasefire in Lebanon: Between Negotiation and Reality
2026-05-06 07:00 - 08:30 | Virtual
About the Webinar
Ceasefire in Lebanon: Between Negotiation and Reality
Unpacking the Questions of Sovereignty, Deterrence, and Recovery
The fragile ceasefire in Lebanon continues to be strained by repeated Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and retaliatory fire from Hezbollah. Amid rising casualties and displacement, the US-mediated 10‑day truce was extended for three weeks following high‑level meetings in Washington. Negotiations have progressed through rare direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors, focusing on prolonging the ceasefire and laying the groundwork for broader agreements on security, border management, and reconstruction. Diplomatic activity also remains active, with reports of upcoming state‑level engagements in Washington, while discussions about Hezbollah’s weapons and the long‑term stability of the border continue to shape the diplomatic agenda.

Understanding the Roots of Israeli Apartheid & its Present Regime
2026-05-06 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-13 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-20 17:00 - 18:00 | Virtual
American Muslims for Palestine (Chicago Chapter) presents the first of the special 5-week teach-in series titled “Understanding the Roots of Israeli Apartheid & its Present Regime,” live on Zoom with our education coordinator Tarek Khalil, where each session will have a particular focus.

May 6th – Gaza’s Siege & Blockade: The Creation of an “Open Air Prison”

May 13th: 1948 Palestinians: Foreigners in Their Ancestral Homeland

May 20th: The Right of Return: Apartheid’s Impact on Palestinian Refugees

Virtual Movie Screening: Boycott
2026-05-13 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual
Join us for a special, virtual screening of Boycott, followed by a discussion on Wednesday, May 13, at 2:00 pm ET / 9:00 pm Jerusalem time that reunites protagonists from the film alongside civil rights attorneys and organizers to examine what this moment reveals about the evolving landscape of protest rights in the United States.
Upon registering, you will receive early access to stream the full film ahead of the event. This conversation will be moderated by Daniel Nerenberg, Education and Communications Specialist, Just Vision, and feature the following speakers:

Alan Leveritt, Publisher of the Arkansas Times and Boycott protagonist
Bahia Amawi, Palestinian-American speech therapist and Boycott protagonist
Brian Hauss, Deputy Director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, also featured in Boycott
Janan Najeeb, Founder and Executive Director of the Muslim Women’s Coalition and Founder of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, a statewide coalition of 95 organizations working to repeal Wisconsin’s anti-boycott law

Story-telling in the Arab American Tradition
2026-05-13 17:00 - 19:00 | Pigott Auditorium – Seattle University, 901 12th Ave Sinegal Building, suite 140, Seattle, WA, 98122
Join your colleagues and students from across the university for a celebration of Arab American culture! This special event, in Pigott Auditorium, will feature four presenters and performers. It’s free, open to all, and will feature free food. Please RSVP for planning purposes.
Featuring:
Hebah Fisher | Kerning Cultures
Sabrene Odeh | Baladna PNW
Hanna Eady | Dunya Productions
Giovanna Khoury | SU Student
Food provided by Hamsa Arabic Cafe and Restaurant
Thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for their support of this event.

Fragile Crossings: The Pathways, Barriers, and Cost of Pediatric Medical Evacuations From Gaza
2026-05-17 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual
With Dr. Zeena Salman
Pediatric Oncologist
HEAL Palestine cofounder
for more info, check out the website here.

2026 Farhat G. Ziadeh Distinguished Lecture, Lecture by Shawkat Toorawa
2026-05-21 19:00 - 20:30 | Kane Hall – University of Washington, 4069 Spokane Ln 98105, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
Farhat J. Ziadeh Lecture in Arab and Islamic Studies 2026 feature Shawkat M. Toorawa (Yale University) who will be giving a talk entitled “Finding True North: Reflections on the Translation of Arabic Literature.
Shawkat M. Toorawa is the Brand Blanshard Professor of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Professor of Comparative Literature at Yale University. He is a scholar, translator, and editor. He has published studies on the history of Arabic literature, translated the poetry of Adonis and the Quran, and he has been involved in numerous translation projects in his role as an executive editor for the Library of Arabic Literature.
In his talk, Professor Toorawa will share his unique insights to his research and translations over the course of his long career.
The talk is free and open to the public.

Political Polarization and Academic Freedom
2026-05-28 17:00 - 19:00 | UW – HUB, 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98195, United States
Join us to discuss the case of Aria Fani, associate professor of the Persian and Iranian Studies program who (on March 27), received a 6 am phone call informing him of his termination as director of the Middle East Center at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. Danny Hoffman, director of the
Jackson School, objected to Fani’s letters to the Center’s listserv on March 9 and March 18, critically analyzing Zionism and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Professor Shirin Saeidi was similarly disciplined at the University of Arkansas, and these are but two examples of cases across the country.

Therapy is Political Speaker Series featuring Shaza Abu Dayah
2026-06-12 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
Join us live from Gaza for a conversation with Shaza Abu Dayah: Psychologist, Writer, and Journalist.

Please join us for a live talk with Gaza-based psychologist and writer Shaza Abu Dayah. Shaza will share her reflections on trauma, resilience, meaning-making, and redefining the role of the therapist within the context of an ongoing genocide. She’ll speak about “the limitations of traditional mental health models when applied to a violently colonial reality, and how practitioners can become more aware of the political and ethical dimensions of their work.” She’ll also explore “forms of support and solidarity that move beyond the individual level toward a more collective responsibility”. You don’t want to miss Shaza’s powerful message!

The Beauty of Tatreez: Exploring Palestinian Embroidery and Dress
2026-06-15 10:30 - 12:30 | Virtual
Embroidery as language: trace how Palestinian women stitched village identity, lineage, and land into the thobe…

CLASS DESCRIPTION
Until the mid-twentieth century, the dress of the Palestinian people was descriptive of identity; by societal segment (city dweller, villager or bedouin), and by the region in which the wearer came. Within each regional style, finer distinctions in women’s dress (thobe) were expressed that shared the maker’s life and the natural world around her. Palestinian women recorded their identity in their thobe with embroidery (tatreez) through a shared illustrative language of embroidered patterns, stitching techniques and thread colors. The thobe records unwritten stories and serves as a visual register of collective and individual identities, documenting a woman’s village, tribe or town, her marital status, her familial lineage, and the material impact of colonialism, occupation, war and exile. The regional identity of the woman defines the overall governing style of her thobe, and evidence of identity is largely through her embodiment of land.
This lecture will discuss the regional distinctions in dress in historical Palestine during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by city, village and tribe for at least six regions, to include Ramallah, Galilee, Gaza, Bir Saba, Al Khalil, and Bethlehem.
ABOUT OUR LECTURER
Wafa Ghnaim is an art and dress historian, fashion researcher, embroiderer, educator, and the founder of the Tatreez Institute, specializing in Palestinian embroidery and adornment. She is the author of Tatreez & Tea (2016) and THOBNA (2023), with research published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery of Singapore. A former instructor at the Smithsonian and Research Scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she now continues her preservation work as a Mellon Foundation Research Fellow at the Museum of the Palestinian People, and a commissioned designer for Victoria & Albert Museum’s Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine.

Palestine Feminist Collective: Report Launch Screening
2026-06-30 16:00 - 18:00 | Virtual
The Palestinian Feminist Collective is excited to announce our launch event for our forthcoming report with Progressive International, titled “A Predatory State: Israeli Systemic Sexualized and Gendered Violence.”
This historic, groundbreaking 200-page report exposes the relationship between Israel’s sexualized and gendered violence against Palestinians, including the systematic targeting of reproductive health and freedom, the desecration of martyred bodies, the assault on Palestinians’ homes, forced separations of Palestinian families, and the use of AI to facilitate domicide. Speakers include Hadeel Shatara, Aaron Maté, and Tara Al-Alami.
Watch our livestream on June 30, 2026, at 7 pm EST.
Where: https://bit.ly/PfcReportLivestream
When: June 30, 2026, at 7 pm EST
This report comes at a time when it is crucial that we acknowledge and act against Israel’s historical and present use of systemic sexualized and gendered violence. We must all stand up against Israel’s predatory actions against Palestinians as we fight for the total liberation of Palestine.

Discover the History of Palestine: An Interactive Zoom Presentation.
2026-07-08 17:30 - 19:00 | Virtual
Join us for an engaging journey through the modern history of Palestine, from the British Mandate period to the Second Intifada.This immersive presentation is inspired by A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict by renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappé.
Presented by one of our own SAWA SoCal high school students in collaboration with the People’s Center for Palestine, this session offers an accessible introduction to key historical events and perspectives that continue to shape the region today.
Date: Wednesday, July 8
Time: 5:30 PM (PST) Location: Zoom
Scan the QR code to register.
The Zoom link will be emailed to registered participants prior to the presentation.
All ages are welcome, with content especially recommended for middle school and high school students.
This presentation also serves as an excellent introduction to the curriculum developed for Camp Palestine.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVVcn-gHQJhwqu5MbdPwASvvm0LHzNA_5mlcpBWIG9Ul5Y-w/viewform?usp=header

JVP Health Advisory Council webinar: Palantir in Our Hospitals
2026-07-12 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual
JVP Health Advisory Council webinar 7/12
Palantir in Our Hospitals: How the company powering the Gaza genocide and ICE surveillance is rapidly expanding into healthcare
Featuring speakers from American Friends Service Committee, No Palantir in the NHS campaign, and National Nurses United
Date: Sunday, July 12, 2026
Time: 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern
Brief description: The same company enabling Israel’s genocide in Gaza and powering ICE’s surveillance systems now manages 1 in 5 U.S. hospital beds. Join us to learn about Palantir’s rapid expansion into the healthcare sector and what we can do to stop it.
Did you know that Palantir uses multiple company names for their products and you may already be using Palantir???
sign up, just click on events on the tab at the top. https://www.jvphealth.org/events
