ARCE-DC: The Milky Way and the Ancient Egyptian Goddess of the Sky by Dr. Or Graur
2025-08-09 09:00 - 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
The ancient Egyptians left us some of the earliest records of the night sky, in which they noted the sun, the moon, planets, and several constellations. Many of these celestial objects are associated with—or personified by—certain gods, such as Re and the sun. Yet how the Egyptians conceptualized the Milky Way remains unclear. This talk will focus on the popular suggestion that the Milky Way was a manifestation of Nut, the Egyptian goddess of the sky.
The speaker has tested this theory by combining astronomical simulations of the Egyptian night sky, readings of primary sources (the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars), research on ancient Egyptian material culture (coffins, funerary papyri, and tomb murals), and anthropological studies of Milky Way creation stories from around the world.This talk will show how Nut’s depictions changed over the course of Egyptian history, and will present the first visual evidence for the Milky Way in ancient Egyptian art. Dr. Graur concludes that the Milky Way was not a manifestation of Nut but one more astronomical phenomenon that graced her body in her role as the goddess of the sky.
The online event typically lasts an hour—50 minutes for the lecture, 10 minutes for Q+A.
No recording or imaging of presentations is allowed in any way.

Bread and Blood: A Reading with Samah Zaqout in Gaza
2025-08-13 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Join us for a reading with Samah Zaqout in Gaza.

My name is Samah Zaher Zaqout and I am a Gaza-based Palestinian living under the current “war.” I wrote this piece, “Famine, Fear, and the Fight for Bread” to shed light on what we are experiencing here, especially in Northern Gaza where we are experiencing the most difficult conditions.
A little about me: I am a writer, translator, and teacher. I graduated from the faculty of Arts, English literature, as one of the best students; I was a student of the late Dr Refa’at Al-Areer.
I write about life in Gaza. I have published some of my pieces on outlets such as Electronic Intifada, We Are Not Numbers, and Politics Today. I have also participated with my writings in some events and books abroad.
I am partnering with Eyewitness Palestine on an exciting event.

The American Nakba: Palestinian Dispossession and Resistance in the Heart of US Empire (Class Three of Four)
2025-08-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location
Censorship, distortion, and intimidation have made many of us unable to access knowledge about Palestine and the diaspora. And now? We need this knowledge more than ever.
So proud to be hosted through @baladna.pnw
Seattle, sign up for this 4 session course where we’ll discuss the connections between Palestinian dispossession and resistance in the US Empire and in Palestine. Open to everyone.
Registration in bio and https://tinyurl.com/nhff2khb
July 30, Aug 6, Aug 13, Aug 20
7:00-8:30pm
Location to be announced
#seattle #palestine #baladna #class #historyofthepresent

The American Nakba: Palestinian Dispossession and Resistance in the Heart of US Empire (Class Four of Four)
2025-08-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location

Yafa: Virtual Delegation
2025-08-27 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
We are thrilled to announce that for this month’s virtual delegation to Yafa, occupied Palestine, we will be joined by Sami Abu Shehadeh– Palestinian elected official and former member of the Knesset.
During this virtual delegation and Q&A on Wednesday, August 27th at 12pm EST, hear from community and political leaders Abed and Sami Abu Shehadeh about the history of Yafa, the challenges that Palestinians are currently facing there, as well as the city’s significance in connection to the ongoing genocide and displacement in Gaza.

Register for the event here!

What exactly happened in 1948? An animated map by Palestinian architect Nisreen Zahda
2025-08-30 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
This Saturday, August 30, 2025 Virtual Programming via Zoom:
What exactly happened in 1948? An animated map by Palestinian architect Nisreen Zahda.
Please Click Here to register to attend this event via Zoom.
Screening will start at 12:00 PM US EDT; 19:00 Palestine, 18:00 Europe, UK 17:00; Running Time 12 minutes, 2023, English language. The screening will be followed by Q&A discussions with the audience.
About the Topic
The 1948 Nakba—Israel calls it the War of Independence and claims it fended off and conquered the invasion of several Arab armies from surrounding countries. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As the genocide in Gaza continues to unfold, it’s crucial to put the events of 1948 into perspective and examine the similarities and differences. There’s a stark contrast between the misinformation and lack of media coverage in 1948 versus the live-streamed coverage of the current genocide on people’s mobile devices and screens worldwide. Was what happened in 1948 as tragic and horrific as what’s happening in Gaza now, just unknown to the world?

A Conversation with Khayari founder Areej Masoud
2025-09-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location
Areej Masoud, a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem and the Executive Director of Khayari – a Women’s Empowerment organization in the Occupied West Bank, will share her insights about the realities of life in Palestine, her work with Khayari and how you can get involved.
This event will be co-hosted by Bethany Presbyterian Church and Quest Church.
Location provided via email after competion of registration.

Tatreez in Conversation: Six Dresses, Six Stories
2025-09-25 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Tatreez in Conversation: Six Dresses, Six Stories

Date: Thursday, September 25, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Location: Online, Zoom link will be emailed 24 hours prior to event
Instructor: Wafa Ghnaim, Dress Historian, Researcher & Educator
Registration Fee: Sliding scale, starting at $10
Description: Until the mid-twentieth century, the dress of the Palestinian people was descriptive of identity; first by societal segment (city dweller, villager or nomad), and then 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.
After al-Nakba and throughout the 1960s, the thobe transformed into a reflection of national identity. It no longer signified a woman’s village, tribe, or town, her marital status, or her familial lineage, but instead bore the material impact of colonialism, occupation, war, and exile. While the loss of regional identity in dress is registered as part of the violence Palestinians endured during al-Nakba, this shift also marks a moment of unity in Palestinian communities newly dispersed and scattered across the region. The six-branch dress, a dress construction that became a governing style by the 1960s, showcases innovative approaches by women at the time to protect a vital component to Palestinian cultural heritage.
This lecture will focus on the six dresses presented in Tatreez Inheritance, examining their material characteristics, their paths to the United States, and the ways in which one can employ the art of “close looking”—a skill Wafa learned from her mother at a young age—to uncover evidence of a woman’s personality, vocation, life, and sense of pride.

Media, Race, and the Sudanese Civil War | Global Africa Transcontinental Seminar Series
2025-10-02 08:00 - 09:30 | Virtual
In April 2023, fighting broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. In the ongoing conflict, thousands have been killed, millions displaced, and millions more require urgent humanitarian assistance. In the midst of it all, another element has become a focal part of this trauma: the media. In this talk, Dr. Christopher Tounsel (University of Washington) will discuss the war’s historical background, address why Western media has been comparatively silent in its coverage, and show how one community’s response to the conflict sheds light on the intersections of race, media, and the African Diaspora.
Christopher Tounsel is Director of African Studies and associate professor of history at the University of Washington. An historian of the Sudan, Tounsel is the author of Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan and Bounds of Blackness: African Americans, Sudan, and the Politics of Solidarity.
The Global Africa Transcontinental Seminar brings together UW African Studies, the Department of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, and the African Program at Sciences Po Paris, France, and aims to engage scholars and students around contemporary research on “African Worlds” or ”Global Africa.” The virtual monthly lectures and discussions will connect communities of scholars across the humanities and social sciences in North America, Africa, and Europe to discuss themes such as Black radical politics, decolonial feminisms, African technologies, environmental history, postcolonial migration, religion and modernity, and language. Through consideration of the ways in which the three continents have influenced each other and their respective institutional contexts, the seminar will bring original and situated perspectives on a range of topics and further a rich conversation across institutions, teaching traditions, and research.

Symposium | Gender, Translation, and the Short Form in the Eurasian Periodical
2025-10-10 09:00 - 15:00 | University of Washington – Thomson Hall, 1911 Skagit Lane, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
Literary modernity did not always appear in book form, but as a periodical! Throughout the 20th century, literary and cultural production across much of Central, Western, and South Asia reached readers through the pages of periodicals. These periodicals–newspapers, magazines, and journals–housed a variety of literary forms ranging from serialized novels, to poetry, to short stories, alongside advertisements, comics, and photography. This symposium features emerging literary scholarship that investigates short form fiction as it appears in the rhizomatic 20th century periodical, and its intersections with translation and gender. How does fiction move across and between languages in 20th century periodical cultures of Eurasia? What does an explicit and intentional consideration of gender in these translingual (and frequently transnational, or transhistorical) literary movements illuminate? In exploring such questions, this symposium foregrounds gender, translation, and the short form in the growing field of Periodical Studies, and brings together scholars working on texts from across Eurasia, in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Russian, and Turkish
Thomson Hall : Rm 317

Healing Under Occupation: Mutual Aid Webinar with Anar Palestine and Healing to Hope
2025-10-15 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
Join us for a webinar with Anar Palestine and Healing to Hope to learn about their mental health work: empowering Palestinian children and their caregivers, and supporting their healing to help them realize their full potential.

Join us for a webinar with Anar Palestine and Healing to Hope to learn about their mental health work: empowering Palestinian children and their caregivers, and supporting their healing to help them realize their full potential.

Lecture: The AI Con with Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna
2025-10-21 18:30 - 21:00 | Wyncote NW Forum, 1119 8th Ave (Entrance off Seneca St.), Seattle, WA, 98101
Is artificial intelligence on the brink of world domination? Have tech giants created autonomous thinking machines? Will AI render authors, artists, and other creatives obsolete? Are we entering an era where computers surpass humans in every way?
According to linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna, the answers to these questions are clear: no, they wish, LOL, and definitely not. What fuels these dramatic predictions is a phenomenon known as AI hype—a misleading narrative that distorts reality to serve corporate interests. Hype doesn’t just exaggerate; it justifies data exploitation, accelerates surveillance capitalism, and undermines human creativity by reducing skilled work to mechanical tasks.
Bender and Hanna provide essential tools to identify AI hype, break it down, and expose the underlying power plays it seeks to conceal.
Alex Hanna
Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)
Alex Hanna is the Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) and a sociologist whose work explores the data behind computational technologies and its role in deepening racial, gender, and class inequalities. She also studies social movements, focusing on anti-racist campus protests in the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Hanna holds degrees in computer science, mathematics, and sociology from Purdue University and earned her MS and PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She is the co-author of The AI Con (Harper, 2025), a critical examination of artificial intelligence and the hype surrounding it. Alongside linguist Emily M. Bender, she co-hosts Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, a lively, incisive series on Twitch and podcast platforms that deconstructs AI industry narratives.
Dr. Hanna’s research has been published in top-tier social science journals, including Mobilization, American Behavioral Scientist, and Big Data & Society, as well as leading computer science conferences such as CSCW, FAccT, and NeurIPS. She serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies and is an advisory board member for the Human Rights Data Analysis Group.
Recognized for her contributions, Dr. Hanna has received the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Forward Award, been named to FastCompany’s Queer 50 list (2021, 2024), and featured on Business Insider’s AI Power List. She was also highlighted in the Cal Academy of Sciences New Science exhibit, which celebrates queer and trans scientists of color.

Karam Foundation's: The Journey Home
2025-12-02 11:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
Join us on Tuesday, December 2nd, at 1:00 EST to hear stories and insights directly from our team on the ground. We’ll also take a closer look at The Journey Home, our latest report that captures how Syrians are thinking and feeling about returning home and what these insights say about the country’s next chapter.
We will explore:

What daily life looks like inside a newly liberated Syria

What families are saying about home, safety, and the future

What surprised us in the data, and what it means for rebuilding

Where the biggest opportunities and challenges are emerging

We’ll close with an open Q&A.
This session offers an essential look at what is unfolding in Syria right now, through the voices of the people living it. We hope you’ll join us.

America's Forever Wars in the Middle East" on US imperialism at the People’s Forum.
2025-12-02 15:30 - 17:30 | Virtual
Without understanding the imperialist system that underlies the ongoing drive for war, and that has attempted to destroy the Palestinian people and those who stand with them, we cannot understand how to confront it. Join popular educators from the Palestinian Youth Movement in a rigorous study of the history and present of US intervention in the Middle East to understand US imperialism, Israel’s role within it, and its consequences for working people in the US and around the world.

For nearly half a century, the United States has been involved in endless wars in the Middle East that have claimed the lives of millions of people. These wars have ballooned the US’ military budget and lined the pockets of wealthy warmongerers as conditions for working people deteriorate. Over the same period, the US government has financially, politically, and militarily backed Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine, including through its full support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In turn, people across the political spectrum have begun to question the US government’s continued commitment for a foreign policy predicated on endless war, devastating interventions, and unconditional support for Israel, regardless of the administration in power.
This 4-part course from the Palestinian Youth Movement will study the history and present of US intervention in the Middle East to equip participants with a deeper understanding of US imperialism, Israel’s role within it, and its consequences for working people in the US and around the world. It seeks to illuminate how it is the imperialist system, and not just the ideological positions or policies of any one politician in office, that keeps America at war and invested in the destabilization of the Middle East. Without understanding the imperialist system that underlies the ongoing drive for war, we cannot understand how to confront it.
This course is organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), a grassroots, international movement that organizes Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation
WHEN
America’s Forever Wars in the Middle East is a 4-part hybrid course from Dec. 2 – 11, meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET. Here is the schedule:

Session 1: Introduction to Imperialism: How Gaza Exposed America-First’s False Promises | December 2, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Session 2: From Sovereign Nation to Client State: U.S. Imperialism in Egypt | December 4, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Session 3: America’s War of Terror on Iraq| December 9, 6:30 -8:30 PM ET
Session 4: Imperialism and the Anti-War Struggle in the US | December 11, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET

America's Forever Wars in the Middle East" on US imperialism at the People’s Forum
2025-12-04 15:30 - 17:30 | Virtual

America's Forever Wars in the Middle East" on US imperialism at the People’s Forum
2025-12-09 15:30 - 17:30 | Virtual
Without understanding the imperialist system that underlies the ongoing drive for war, and that has attempted to destroy the Palestinian people and those who stand with them, we cannot understand how to confront it. Join popular educators from the Palestinian Youth Movement in a rigorous study of the history and present of US intervention in the Middle East to understand US imperialism, Israel’s role within it, and its consequences for working people in the US and around the world.

For nearly half a century, the United States has been involved in endless wars in the Middle East that have claimed the lives of millions of people. These wars have ballooned the US’ military budget and lined the pockets of wealthy warmongerers as conditions for working people deteriorate. Over the same period, the US government has financially, politically, and militarily backed Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine, including through its full support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In turn, people across the political spectrum have begun to question the US government’s continued commitment for a foreign policy predicated on endless war, devastating interventions, and unconditional support for Israel, regardless of the administration in power.
This 4-part course from the Palestinian Youth Movement will study the history and present of US intervention in the Middle East to equip participants with a deeper understanding of US imperialism, Israel’s role within it, and its consequences for working people in the US and around the world. It seeks to illuminate how it is the imperialist system, and not just the ideological positions or policies of any one politician in office, that keeps America at war and invested in the destabilization of the Middle East. Without understanding the imperialist system that underlies the ongoing drive for war, we cannot understand how to confront it.
This course is organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), a grassroots, international movement that organizes Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation
WHEN
America’s Forever Wars in the Middle East is a 4-part hybrid course from Dec. 2 – 11, meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET. Here is the schedule:

Session 3: America’s War of Terror on Iraq| December 9, 6:30 -8:30 PM ET
Session 4: Imperialism and the Anti-War Struggle in the US | December 11, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET

America's Forever Wars in the Middle East" on US imperialism at the People’s Forum
2025-12-11 15:30 - 17:30 | Virtual
Without understanding the imperialist system that underlies the ongoing drive for war, and that has attempted to destroy the Palestinian people and those who stand with them, we cannot understand how to confront it. Join popular educators from the Palestinian Youth Movement in a rigorous study of the history and present of US intervention in the Middle East to understand US imperialism, Israel’s role within it, and its consequences for working people in the US and around the world.

For nearly half a century, the United States has been involved in endless wars in the Middle East that have claimed the lives of millions of people. These wars have ballooned the US’ military budget and lined the pockets of wealthy warmongerers as conditions for working people deteriorate. Over the same period, the US government has financially, politically, and militarily backed Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine, including through its full support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In turn, people across the political spectrum have begun to question the US government’s continued commitment for a foreign policy predicated on endless war, devastating interventions, and unconditional support for Israel, regardless of the administration in power.
This 4-part course from the Palestinian Youth Movement will study the history and present of US intervention in the Middle East to equip participants with a deeper understanding of US imperialism, Israel’s role within it, and its consequences for working people in the US and around the world. It seeks to illuminate how it is the imperialist system, and not just the ideological positions or policies of any one politician in office, that keeps America at war and invested in the destabilization of the Middle East. Without understanding the imperialist system that underlies the ongoing drive for war, we cannot understand how to confront it.
This course is organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), a grassroots, international movement that organizes Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation
WHEN
America’s Forever Wars in the Middle East is a 4-part hybrid course from Dec. 2 – 11, meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET. Here is the schedule:

Session 4: Imperialism and the Anti-War Struggle in the US | December 11, 6:30 – 8:30 PM ET

Threads of Resistance Webinar Series: Blacklisted
2025-12-15 17:00 - 18:00 | Virtual
This session spotlights individuals who are not new to speaking out against the occupation, and who have been fired, silenced, de-platformed, shadow banned or publicly targeted for speaking the truth. Hear firsthand accounts from people who have endured retaliation for standing in solidarity with Palestinians and learn how censorship shapes movement work globally. Together, we will explore the consequences of suppression, and imagine collective strategies to resist attempts to fracture, intimidate, or silence the movement. Ticket: $15

End the year on an inspiring note and join us this December for “Threads of Resistance,” a powerful week-long series of online events uplifting voices across the global movement for Palestinian liberation. Throughout the week, we’ll feature artists, organizers, public figures, spiritual leaders, and past Eyewitness Palestine delegates who have witnessed the occupation on the ground firsthand. What unifies our speakers is their commitment to standing firmly in truth, even when doing so comes at personal cost.
Each session offers unique perspectives, bringing together stories, experiences, and acts of resistance that span communities and continents. We invite you to be part of these conversations, to learn, to reflect, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with us.

Threads of Resistance Webinar Series: Breaking Borders: Globalizing Palestine
2025-12-16 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual

Threads of Resistance Webinar Series: Breaking Borders: Palestine Through My Eyes
2025-12-17 17:00 - 19:00 | Virtual
In this session, past delegates will share their firsthand experiences from the ground in Palestine. Hear personal reflections, stories, and insights from those who have witnessed the violence of the occupation as well as the strength, creativity, and beauty of the Palestinian people, across the West Bank. Ticket: $15

End the year on an inspiring note and join us this December for “Threads of Resistance,” a powerful week-long series of online events uplifting voices across the global movement for Palestinian liberation. Throughout the week, we’ll feature artists, organizers, public figures, spiritual leaders, and past Eyewitness Palestine delegates who have witnessed the occupation on the ground firsthand. What unifies our speakers is their commitment to standing firmly in truth, even when doing so comes at personal cost.
Each session offers unique perspectives, bringing together stories, experiences, and acts of resistance that span communities and continents. We invite you to be part of these conversations, to learn, to reflect, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with us.

Threads of Resistance Webinar Series: Breaking Borders: Artists for Palestine
2025-12-18 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Hear from artists across disciplines who use their creative platforms to uplift Palestinian voices, challenge injustice, and inspire global solidarity. This session highlights how art can be employed as a tool for resistance, storytelling, and collective liberation.

Ticket: $15

End the year on an inspiring note and join us this December for “Threads of Resistance,” a powerful week-long series of online events uplifting voices across the global movement for Palestinian liberation. Throughout the week, we’ll feature artists, organizers, public figures, spiritual leaders, and past Eyewitness Palestine delegates who have witnessed the occupation on the ground firsthand. What unifies our speakers is their commitment to standing firmly in truth, even when doing so comes at personal cost.
Each session offers unique perspectives, bringing together stories, experiences, and acts of resistance that span communities and continents. We invite you to be part of these conversations, to learn, to reflect, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with us.

Threads of Resistance Webinar Series: Religious Voices for Palestine
2025-12-19 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Religious and spiritual leaders from various traditions come together to discuss solidarity with Palestine through a spiritual and ethical lens. Explore how faith communities interpret justice, liberation, and moral responsibility in the context of Palestine.

Ticket: $15

End the year on an inspiring note and join us this December for “Threads of Resistance,” a powerful week-long series of online events uplifting voices across the global movement for Palestinian liberation. Throughout the week, we’ll feature artists, organizers, public figures, spiritual leaders, and past Eyewitness Palestine delegates who have witnessed the occupation on the ground firsthand. What unifies our speakers is their commitment to standing firmly in truth, even when doing so comes at personal cost.
Each session offers unique perspectives, bringing together stories, experiences, and acts of resistance that span communities and continents. We invite you to be part of these conversations, to learn, to reflect, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with us.

Cultural Production and the Palestine Movement
2026-01-05 14:00 - 15:30 | Virtual
Join CODEPINK, Watermelon Pictures, and the Palestinian Youth Movement to talk about cultural production in the Palestine solidarity movement!
We’ll discuss how we can incorporate the fight for Palestinian liberation into our cultural spaces and filmmaker Cherien Dabis will give a short introduction and discuss her new film, All That’s Left of You.
🗓️ Monday, January 5th
🕔 5PM EST
💻 RSVP for Zoom link
codepink.org/wp105 (events calendar in bio)

Virtual Lecture: Ethical Stewardship of Palestinian Dress
2026-01-09 09:00 - 23:00 | Virtual
Ethical Stewardship of Palestinian Dress: Collecting, Cataloguing, and a Case Study
Date: Friday, January 9, 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 presents the research and findings of Wafa Ghnaim’s forthcoming article “Archiving the Thobe,” to be published in the Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice (JTDRP). It outlines a reparative framework for the identification, cataloguing, and stewardship of Palestinian dress in American museum collections. Drawing on oral history, regional provenance, and nearly a decade of sustained research with institutions alongside the development of the Tatreez Institute collection, the lecture examines how museum practices and fashion media produced misattribution, decontextualization, and exoticization. It traces how garments were extracted, anonymized, and reframed through biblical and Orientalist lenses, and how these interpretations continue in contemporary digital spaces, priming American and European audiences to adopt dehumanizing views of Palestinians today. The lecture introduces rematriation as a reparative paradigm grounded in Indigenous feminist ethics and matrilineal stewardship. The session invites scholars and cultural workers to cultivate accountable, community-centered practices that safeguard Palestinian cultural heritage in their museum and cultural work.

The World as Palestine: On Advocacy, Activism, and Justice
2026-01-23 09:00 - 19:00 | University of Washington – Thomson Hall, 1911 Skagit Lane, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
Register here: forms.office.com/r/91zmnL3jYm
All morning sessions in Thomson Hall 317
9-9:30am | Welcome | Coffee/tea and light refreshments
9:30-11am | PANEL
Policing Dissent: Reflections from Eastern Washington’s Palestinian Liberation Movement

Panelists:
Andrea Brower (formerly Gonzaga University)
Kathryn DePaolis (Eastern Washington University)
Majid Sharifi (Eastern Washington University)
This panel examines academic dissent, critical thought, and resistance with reflections from Eastern Washington’s Palestinian liberation movement.
11-11:30am | BREAK
11:30am-1pm | WORKSHOP
People’s Justice: Lessons from the Palestinian and Filipino Struggles for Liberation
Panelists: Anna Beyette and Troy Osaki, recent participants in the International People’s Tribunals
International People’s Tribunals (IPTs) are quasi-judicial forums convened to serve as a platform for victims and advocates and their organizations to present evidence and legal arguments related to international humanitarian law. Join this workshop to hear directly from delegates who traveled to participate both in the recent IPTs on genocide in Palestine and war crimes under former Philippine president Duterte and learn about the interconnections between people’s struggles for national liberation and more just futures.
Allen Auditorium
2:30-4:30pm | FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION
The Palestine Exception
Filmmaker in attendance: Jan Haaken (Portland State University)
Join filmmaker Jan Haaken for a screening of The Palestine Exception. The film follows professors and students from across the country as they demand a ceasefire and divestment from companies that do business with Israel and face crackdowns from administrators, the media, the police and politicians.
Thomson Hall 317
5-5:30pm | Light refreshments
5:30-7pm | WORKSHOP
Activism and Civic Engagement in Washington State
Facilitator: Laila Taji (Washington for Peace and Justice)
This workshop examines the vital role of state-level legislative advocacy in protecting civil liberties and ensuring access to truthful, accurate education. Participants will explore how state policies influence individual rights, public discourse, and the integrity of educational systems. Join Laila Taji from Washington for Peace and Justice to discuss current legislative challenges and the importance of civic engagement.

Free Film Screening: Israelism
2026-02-01 12:15 - 14:00 | Quest Church, 1401 NW Leary Wy, Seattle, WA, 98107
Two young American Jews travel to Israel seeking a deeper understanding of the country they were raised to love. What they encounter profoundly impacts them, leading them to join a growing movement to redefine their community’s relationship with Israel in this challenging and emotional journey. Join us for the free screening of this film.
About the film
Two young American Jews – Simone Zimmerman and Eitan – are raised to defend the state of Israel at all costs. Eitan joins the Israeli military. Simone supports Israel on ‘the other battlefield:’ America’s college campuses. When they witness Israel‘s mistreatment of the Palestinian people with their own eyes, they are horrified and heartbroken.
They join the movement of young American Jews battling the old guard over Israel’s centrality in American Judaism, and demanding freedom for the Palestinian people. Their stories reveal a generational divide in the American Jewish community as more young Jews question the narratives their synagogues and Hebrew school teachers fed them as children.
The film also features voices like Jacqui, a Jewish educator who says “Judaism is Israel and Israel is Judaism”, and former Anti-Defamation League President Abe Foxman, who claims voices like Simone and Eitan’s represent a small minority. Thought leaders like Peter Beinart, Jeremy Ben-Ami, Noura Erakat, Cornel West, and Noam Chomsky also weigh in.
Directed by two first-time Jewish filmmakers who share a similar story to the film’s protagonists, Israelism is produced by Peabody-winner and 4-time Emmy-nominee Daniel J. Chalfen (Loudmouth, Boycott), executive produced by two-time Emmy-winner Brian A. Kates (Marvelous Ms. Maisel, Succession) and edited by Emmy-winner Tony Hale (The Story of Plastic), Israelism uniquely explores how Jewish attitudes towards Israel are changing dramatically, with massive consequences for the region and for Judaism itself.

Static Forms: Writing the Present in the Modern Middle East,
2026-02-06 13:00 - 15:00 | 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.
