ArabishWay

Spring Wilderness Walk with Tareq- All Welcome
2026-05-16 11:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Seward Park (Duwamish Territory), 5900 Lake Washington Blvd S, Seattle, WA, 98118
Spring Wilderness Walks

5/16 Spring Wilderness Walk – All Welcome
A safe space for QTBIPOC to walk with us and co-regulate, especially if this is your first Trillium event.
​​For culture healing through relational learning and orienting ourselves as part of the natural world 🌍. A politicized container to weave power and address systemic injustice.

As always, this is a container to honor land, heal culture, connect, and expand towards justice and wellness for all.

WHAT TO EXPECT
The guidance will be tuned around the unfurling of spring. We’ll see who we run into and learn about their way of living and role in the ecological community.
We’ll also learn, relating, recognition, and reciprocal foraging. If we’re lucky, we’ll take some home to enjoy!

The Horse of Jenin
2026-05-16 19:30 - 21:30 | Cherry Street Village, 720 25th Avenue, Seattle, WA, United States
Saturday, May 16: “The Horse of Jenin” – Our exclusive screening of the powerfully expressive one-man show created by Palestinian performance artist and comedian Alaa Shehadeh. A graduate of The Freedom Theatre Acting School in Jenin Refugee Camp, Alaa has toured internationally to rave reviews. “The horse in Arabic is a symbol of freedom. But to us, the horse is much more. The horse is us.” The 80-minute film will be followed by a talkback with local artists who focus on embodied liberation, on parallel paths with Alaa. Come ready for a compelling show and a discussion that will feed your own imagination and activism.

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.

SIFF Movie (Egypt): Happy Birthday
2026-05-17 18:30 - 20:00 | PACCAR IMAX Theater at Pacific Science Center, 200 Sue Bird Ct N, Seattle, Washington, 98109
Egypt | 2025 | 92 min. | Sarah Goher

Eight-year-old Toha has big plans; she wants to throw her friend Nelly a birthday party. But the differences between them will make this a challenge in ways she may not fully understand.

Palestine Folk Arts Showcase
2026-05-19 08:00 - 17:00 | WA
May 24th 1pm – 2:30 pm, Palestine comes to the @nwfolklife festival for the 3rd year in a row!
The program will feature poetry by @giovanna_writes_poetry , music by @intisaarband and @houseoftarab and will close with an instructional dabke celebration by @seattledabke
Join us for a celebration of Palestine, PNW style!

The Arabian Table
2026-05-19 18:00 - 20:30 | Whisk, 10385 Main St, Bellevue, WA, 98004, United States
Arabian food, influenced by Nomadic, Persian, Indian and North African traditions, is a diverse, aromatic cuisine characterized by rich spices, succulent roasted meats, and staples like rice, pita bread, olives and chickpeas. Chef Hend Yahya grew up around an Arabian table in the PNW and will share her immense culinary background in this hands-on class by imparting a unique PNW twist on classic Arabian dishes. You will work with warm spices, various nuts and seeds, legumes and herbs, as well as vegetables and meats to create a warm and inviting three course Arabian dinner. Come hungry and be prepared for a unique culinary journey!

Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Kabobs served over Rice
Hummus Fatteh-Layered dish with crispy pita, chickpeas, tahini sauce and various toppings
Hazelnut Baklava-Layered phyllo filled with nuts and soaked with sweetened syrup
Served with Karak Tea

Book Discussion: Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
2026-05-20 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
Contemporary Translated Works
Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, Translated by Marilyn Booth
May 20 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Zoom

Winner of the 2019 Man Booker International Prize, Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies follows three sisters in a small Omani village, each navigating love and marriage against the backdrop of a country transforming from a traditional, slave-owning society into its complex modern present. A multigenerational portrait of one family’s losses and loves, it is the first novel translated from Arabic to win the prize.
Free to Folio & NOTIS members.
RSVP to attend >>
Order Celestial Bodies >>

Understanding the Roots of Israeli Apartheid & its Present Regime
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

'We Are Not Numbers' Reading
2026-05-20 19:00 - 21:00 | Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, 98122, United States
Join Ayah Abdel-Qader, Lubna Alzaroo, Yarra Hassan, and Giovanna Khoury, with Alice Rothchild, for an evening of readings from We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza’s Youth.

We Are Not Numbers was founded in 2014 to give voice to the youth of Gaza. In this collection—vital, urgent and full of heart, spanning over ten years to the present moment—we gain an unparalleled insight into the past, as well as the current and next generation of Palestinian leaders, artists, scientists and scholars and imagine where we might go from here.
Registration is not required, but helps us anticipate audience size. if you’d like to RSVP, please do so here!
“We Are Not Numbers is not just a book—it’s my life, their life, and our shared story. I know some of these brave writers; I’ve walked the same streets, felt the same fear, and shared the same dreams under Gaza’s skies. These pages carry the truth of our struggle and the beauty of our humanity. This is Gaza as it truly is, written by those who live it every day.” — Motaz Azaiza, award-winning Palestinian photojournalist
“With lovingly crafted words and stories, the authors in We Are Not Numbers open portals in Israel’s apartheid wall, inviting readers into the impossible realities of life under siege in Gaza. The collective commitment to doing whatever it takes to produce this extraordinary symphony of testimony is evident on every page. This book is a jailbreak—and a miracle.” — Naomi Klein
“Essential . . . A project that insists on liberation.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates
“A rebellion against the singular story. An insightful, multifaceted glimpse into the besieged Gaza Strip, where millions of people continue to confront a genocide waged by an Israeli regime.” — Mohammed el-Kurd
A teenage girl stares at her roof, hoping it won’t collapse over her head. A young student searches the Internet for photos of libraries around the world, hoping he’ll be able to visit them one day. Another walks around the city, taking notes of all the buildings she dreams of repairing.
These are the stories of young people from Gaza, born under Israeli occupation and blockade. They are people who have endured unspeakable struggles and losses, who keep fighting to be recognized not as numbers, but as human beings with hopes, dreams, and lives worth living.

وقت القصة باللغة العربية / Arabic Story Time - KCLS
2026-05-21 17:00 - 17:30, 2026-05-28 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

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.

Tatreez and Tea Virtual Lecture Registration: The Village Series
2026-05-22 08:00 - 17:00 | Virtual
Virtual Lecture Registration: The Village Series

Village Series, Part I
Two Sessions: May 8 & 22, 2026, Friday
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Location: Online, Zoom link will be emailed at 10am EST on event day
Instructor: Wafa Ghnaim
Registration Fee: Sliding scale within range
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. 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 relationship to land.
This course is a consolidated version of a portion of the Village Series, with updates, originally taught across twelve classes. Between 2020 and 2023, Wafa taught 22 cohorts of students. This consolidated version includes the villages and cities noted below, and does not have a stitching component. These are lectures only.
Session 1: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Nablus, Tubas
Session 2: Bir Saba and North Sinai, with discussion of other Bedouin styles in historic Palestine
Authored by Wafa Ghnaim
What You’ll Receive:

Live access to both sessions, each 2-hours that include Q&A sessions
A recording for 7 days after the live session

Important Notes:

Tickets include access to both sessions and are nonrefundable.
This is a live virtual event hosted via Zoom. If you are unable to attend live, you may still register to receive access to the recording.
Registration closes at 10:00 AM EST on the morning of the first lecture.
Waiting room closes at 12:30 PM EST.
All participant names should match their registration name.
A Zoom link will be sent to registered participants at 10am EST on event day.
The instructor reserves the right to review and decline registrations at her discretion to ensure a respectful and safe learning environment for all participants.
Camera sharing is required for all attendees.
Interested in learning something? Share your interest here.

Rainbow Story Time (online) w/ Lindz Amer
2026-05-22 11:00 - 11:30, 2026-05-29 11:00 - 11:30 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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

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
