Rainbow Story Time (online) w/ Lindz Amer
2026-05-22 11:00 - 11:30, 2026-05-29 11:00 - 11:30, 2026-06-05 11:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
Join Lindz Amer, the award-winning LGBTQ+ activist, author and co-host of the beloved indie web series, Queer Kid Stuff, for songs and stories that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community all-year-round.
All ages welcome with adult.
Please register:
https://kcls.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvdOuqpzssGtC5XlvnFdvIAD2bwlBzP-RA

Weekly Peace Vigil
2026-05-22 16:30 - 18:00, 2026-05-29 16:30 - 18:00, 2026-06-05 16:30 - 18:00 | Percival Landing, 217 Thurston Ave NW, Olympia, WA, 98501
ONGOING LOCAL ACTIONS FOR PEACE

WEEKLY PEACE VIGIL
Every Friday 4:30 – 6:00 pm
Percival Landing in Downtown Olympia
4th & Water Street

We continue to vigil, network, and advocate for Palestinians, for peace with justice, and for our civil rights. Despite an agreed ceasefire, Israel continues to attack Gaza. Bring a sign and a friend, and join us at Percival Landing every Friday!
Thanks to the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation for organizing these peace vigils through the years, and for inviting us to share this space as we advocate for peace.

Virtual Movie Screenings: Every Saturday with Palestine Museum US
2026-05-23 09:00 - 11:00, 2026-05-30 09:00 - 11:00, 2026-06-06 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Check website: https://www.palestinemuseum.us/events for current showings and for registration links!
Often the screening ends with a Q&A with the director!

Indigenous Joy Festival: Richland
2026-05-23 10:00 - 16:00 | Howard Amon Park, 500 Amon Park Dr, Richland, WA, 99352
Join us for this family-friendly event celebrating Indigenous joy from Turtle Island to Palestine, featuring dancing, music and activities!
About this Event
From Turtle Island to Palestine
Come join us for an enlightening event at Howard Amon Park where we will celebrate local and Palestinian Indigenous cultures. Join us for this family-friendly event celebrating Indigenous joy from Turtle Island to Palestine, featuring Native and Palestinian vendors, drummers and dancers!
– – Learn about local and Palestinian cultures while enjoying a variety of vendors, booths and activities, including a raffle drawing!
Performances at 11 am and 3pm
Watch pow wow and dabke performances and a short presentation about their cultural significance. Raffle winners announced at the end of the program.
This in-person event promises to be a powerful and educational experience. Don’t miss out!

Arabic Storytime @ Lake City Branch / وقت القصص بالعربية في فرع ليك سيتي
2026-05-23 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-05-30 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-06-06 10:30 - 11:30 | Lake City – Seattle Public Library, 12501 28th Ave. N.E., Seattle, Washington, 98125, United States
At storytime, children from birth through elementary school and their families can enjoy stories, songs, and fun learning activities.
Event in English and Arabic.
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في وقت القصص، يمكن للأطفال الذين تتراوح أعمارهم من حديثي الولادة وحتى سن الخامسة وعائلاتهم الاستمتاع بالقصص والأغاني وأنشطة التعلُّم المرحة.
نرحب بالعائلات من جميع الأعمار.
يُعقد الحدث باللغة الإنجليزية والعربية.
Registration is not required.

A Crafty Arab: Egyptian Cooking Class
2026-05-24 13:00 - 16:00 | A Crafty Arab Studio, 2701 153rd Ave SE, Bellevue, WA
More info: acraftyarab@gmail.com

وقت القصة باللغة العربية / Arabic Story Time - KCLS
2026-05-28 17:00 - 17:30, 2026-06-04 17:00 - 17:30 | Virtual
Enjoy stories, music, movement and rhymes in Arabic that develop your child’s early literacy skills, then stay to play, have fun and make new friends.
All ages welcome.

وقت القصة باللغة العربية
!انضموا إلينا في وقت القصة باللغة العربية عبر الإنترنت، كل يوم خميس من الساعة 5:00 مساءً حتى 5:30 مساءً
.تمتعوا بالقصص العربية، والحركات المفعمة بالحيوية، والأناشيد التي تهدف إلى تنمية مهارات القراءة والكتابة…

Registration requiredRegister for event

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.

Family Dinner: Sahtein, A Modern Arabic Feast
2026-05-29 19:00 - 22:00, 2026-05-30 19:00 - 22:00 | the Pantry, 1417 NW 70th Street, Seattle, WA, 98117
Join us for a dinner where we do all the cooking! Each month we open the doors between our classrooms and seat 40 guests for a five-course family-style dinner, featuring all the ingredients we’re excited about. This season we’re teaming up with Nadia Tommalieh for Sahtein, A Modern Arabic Feast! Pricing includes a wine or nonalcoholic drink pairing with each savory course, and tea or coffee with dessert.
Mokabelat Mushakaleh
Hummus with sauteed morel mushrooms and green chickpeas
Mghanajeh (charred eggplant) topped with peppers, scallions, and tomatoes
Pistachio muhammara with pomegranate seeds
Labneh tabat (labneh bites coated with za’atar and olive oil)
Ka’ak el asrounieh (Lebanese sesame bread)
Honey and baharat-roasted carrots
Warm dates, crispy halloumi, and tahini-date molasses drizzle
Spring fattoush with shaved asparagus and radishes, snap peas, and fava beans
Crunchy pita and herby green olive dressing
Mashawi
Reyash (pomegranate molasses-glazed lamb lollipops)
Shish taouk (yogurt-marinated chicken thighs)
Grilled asparagus & spring onions
Smoked pepper toum, green garlic tatbeeleh (jalapeno sauce), and caramelized carrot labneh
Markouk bread
Olive oil-toasted bulgur with black lime-infused tomato sauce and caramelized onions
Sumac-roasted strawberries with rose and pink peppercorn meringues
Honey-labneh mousse, crumbled filo, and pistachio honeycomb candy
The vegetarian menu will include grilled vegetables in place of the lamb and chicken.
The pescatarian menu will include grilled halibut in place of the lamb and chicken.
The gluten-free menu will include gluten-free crackers in place of the sesame bread, rice in place of the markouk bread , and no crumbled filo with the dessert.

May Ziadeh Salon and Book Pre-Launch
2026-05-31 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
Who was May Ziadeh (1886-1941) & why was she an important part of Arabic letters? An introduction to Ziadeh’s “Musings of a Young Woman.”

Come for the first of our May Ziadeh salons and a book pre-launch celebration of Musings of a Young Woman (forthcoming, ArabLit Books).
Join scholars, translators, editors, & enthusiasts to learn more about May Ziadeh, her writing, and her importance to the early twentieth century literary scene.
Join Dana Al Shahbari, a May Ziadeh scholar who wrote the introduction to the book; the book’s managing editor, Ibtihal Mahmood; one of our translators, the novelist Layla Alammar; and editor Mennan Salih. Emceed by ArabLit’s founding editor M Lynx Qualey.
Dana Al Shahbari is a PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge, specializing in the Arab Renaissance (Nahda), its intellectual history, and Arab women’s writing. Her research focuses on the recovery of May Ziadeh (1886–1941) through scholarship and archival work. She explores how Ziadeh’s writings that span journalistic essays, poetry, literary correspondence, and experimental prose, challenge dominant narratives of Arab modernity and offer new frameworks for understanding women’s intellectual production and rethinking questions of gender and literary authority. Dana holds both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the American University of Beirut(AUB), where she also minored in Arabic and Near Eastern Languages. Her work has been published in both Arabic and English, including co-authoring 101 Arab Women Writers(Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre,2024) and contributing a chapter to Feminist Readings in Arab Intellectual History. Alongside her academic research, Dana is also interested in translation and public humanities.
Ibtihal Rida Mahmood is a writer, editor, translator, and poet. She is the translator and co-editor of Snow in Amman: An Anthology of Short Stories from Jordan (2015) and the English translator of Yassin al-Haj Saleh’s The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy (2017). Her essays, translations, and criticism have appeared in The Markaz Review, New Internationalist, Qantara, The Seattle Globalist, and Women Writers, Women’s Books. Her poetry and literary translations have been featured in international anthologies, including The Art of Being Human (2013), Premio Mondiale di Poesia Nosside (2014), and Versus Versus: 100 Poems by Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent Poets (2025). She is a contributing editor at ArabLit. She also publishes the Substack newsletter Naked Shadows on a Black Wall.
Layla Alammar is an Assistant Professor at the American University of Kuwait. She earned a PhD in Arab women’s literature and literary trauma theory from Lancaster University and an MSc in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. She is also a novelist and translator. Her debut novel, The Pact We Made (2019), was nominated for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award while Silence is a Sense (2021) was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. She has written for The Guardian, LitHub, the Times Literary Supplement, ArabLit Quarterly, The New Arab, GQ Middle East, NewLines Magazine, and The Markaz Review.
Mennan Salih is a translator, language consultant, and editor; she is also the writer of The Arabic Pages. A PhD candidate at the University of Westminster, she researches metaphors in Arabic literature through a psycholinguistic lens. Mennan—who is originally from Cyprus—has a keen interest in both modern and ancient languages, and is currently studying the Old Babylonian variant of Akkadian. She holds a BA (Hons) in Arabic and Linguistics and an MA in Advanced Arabic.
M Lynx Qualey is the founding editor of ArabLit.

The Hidden Burdens of Being an Arab
2026-05-31 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
An engaging online workshop designed to help name, validate, and navigate the unspoken pressures and expectations many in the Arab diaspora

Many Arabs in the diaspora navigate identity across cultures while managing expectations from family, community, and society. This can create a quiet pressure to succeed, represent well, and earn a sense of belonging.
At the same time, war and the global uncertainty add another layer of emotional weight that often feels personal, even from a distance.
Together, these experiences can feel isolating and hard to name, leaving many carrying more than what is visible on the surface.
You don’t have to go through this alone. This workshop offers a space to make sense of these experiences, connect with others who share similar realities, and explore ways to feel more grounded.

Potluck at the Pantry: Soomaaliya: Food, Memory, and Migration
2026-05-31 18:00 - 21:00 | the Pantry, 1417 NW 70th Street, Seattle, WA, 98117
We don’t always need an instructor to show us how to sit around the table and eat a meal together! So we’re breaking out of the class format in this installment of our cookbook club potluck suppers, where we’ll all explore a new cookbook together. This time around we’ll be cooking from “Soomaaliya: Food, Memory, and Migration”, written by Ifrah F. Ahmed. You cook a recipe from the book, and we’ll pour the wine (and do the dishes!). We’ll be in touch before the potluck so you can sign up for your favorite dish.

Keffiyah Walk at Green lake!
2026-06-01 17:30 | Greenlake Boathouse and Coffee Shop, 7351 East Green Lake Dr N #5303, Seattle, WA, 98115, United States
Monday June 1st (and every Monday!)
5:30pm (They usually start walking counter clockwise at about 5:45pm)
Starting at the Greenlake Boathouse coffee shop

Flavors of the Arabian Seas at the Pantry with Nadia
2026-06-01 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-06-02 18:00 - 21:00 | the Pantry, 1417 NW 70th Street, Seattle, WA, 98117
Fresh seafood dominates the vibrant culinary traditions of the Arabian Seas and in this class, Nadia Tommalieh will teach you how to prepare a menu inspired by the rich maritime heritage of the region — blending spices, herbs, and sauces. You’ll learn how to prepare samak makli (marinated and fried whole fish) served with batata harra (spicy potatoes in Aleppo pepper and cilantro sauce); fattet gambari (layers of toasted pita bread, tahini, caramelized onion, and sauteed shrimp in spicy citrus sauce); and salatet jarjeer w shamandar (roasted beets, arugula and parsley salad in pomegranate molasses dressing).
Please note: some classes can be adjusted for students with dietary restrictions, but many cannot. If you’re vegetarian, pescatarian, or gluten-free, you can use the drop-down menu on our events page to view the best classes to fit your needs. If a class you’re interested in doesn’t appear in that filtered view, please email us before registering and we’ll see if the class’s menu can be modified.

Hannah Moushabeck presents 'Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine'
2026-06-02 18:00 - 21:00 | Third Place Books – Lake Forest Park, 17171 Bothell Way NE #A101, Lake Forest Park, WA, 98155, United States
A love letter to home, to family, and to persistent hope that transcends borders.
Third Place Books welcomes author Hannah Moushabeck to our Lake Forest Park store for a conversation about her picture book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine: a moving, beautifully illustrated story of a family keeping their home alive in memory.
This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

SIFF Movie: Bouchra
2026-06-04 14:00 - 15:30, 2026-06-05 14:00 - 15:30, 2026-06-05 19:00 - 20:30 | SIFF Film Center, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, 98109
Wrestling with writer’s block for her first film, Bouchra, a queer Moroccan jackal living in NYC, starts having difficult yet overdue phone calls with her mother in Casablanca that begin influencing the project. From the visual artists behind the 2020 web series 2 Lizards.

Italy | 2025 | 85 min. | Orian Barki, Meriem Bennani

Charity 5k to raise funds for HEAL Palestine
2026-06-07 10:00 - 12:00 | Golden Garden Park, 8498 Seaview Pl NW, Seattle, WA, 98117, United States
A Charity 5k to raise funds for HEAL Palestine in collaboration with both Seattle Muslim Run Club and Arab Run Club – Seattle.

Hi everyone!
I’m hosting a charity 5k for Gaza. I’m partnering with both Muslim Run Club and Arab Run Club and donating the proceeds to HEAL Palestine.
Heal Palestine is a humanitarian initiative dedicated to helping children in Gaza access lifesaving medical care. The organization works to evacuate critically ill and injured children for treatment abroad while raising awareness about the ongoing humanitarian crisis. They’ve also helped some people I know get evacuated from Gaza for medical leave.
The suggested donation is $50 but feel free to send more or less! The link to donate is (tinyurl.com/HEALSeattle5k) and it’s zakat eligible too.
Please RSVP on Partiful (Charity 5k for Palestine | Partiful)
We’ll be running at golden gardens park. The map is linked in the strava event (https://strava.app.link/la9F7KtTg3b) but I’ll also add a map here asap.
Feel free to invite your friends, the more the merrier. If you’re interested in volunteering day of, fill out the questionaire.
linktree.com/SeattleHeal5K for all consolidated links!
