Discussion: Palestine is a Feminist Struggle
2021-03-24 09:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | WA
Palestinian women have always been at the forefront of our resistance to Israeli settler colonialism. We are excited to be hosting two remarkable Palestinian feminist organizers, Soheir Asaad of Tal’aat and Sarah Ihmoud of the Palestinian Feminist Collective for a conversation about emerging Palestinian feminist movements. Join us on Wednesday, March 24 at 12 noon EDT (9 am PST & 6 pm Palestine) to learn what we mean when we say: There is no free homeland without free women! Palestine is a feminist issue.
Co-sponsored by the Palestinian Feminist Collective and Middle East Children’s Alliance
Register today: bit.ly/PalFeminists

If you haven’t had a chance to support the Palestinian Feminist Collective’s pledge affirming that Palestine is a Feminist Issue, sign on today and spread the word near and far!

6 Days | 6 Nights - Revolutionary Arab Women in the Arts
2021-03-25 - 2021-03-30
Join us for our first Showcase of the year, as AFMI’s annual Arab Women’s Showcase goes virtual! 6 Days | 6 Nights – Revolutionary Arab Women in the Arts shines a light on generations of Arab women who challenge the status quo – past, present, future. From March 25th through the 30th discover their inspiring stories through film features, poetry reading, photography, theatrical performance, and discussions.
Here’s how to make the best of this special series of virtual events:

Check out the program
Read all about our opening film
Browse all the events
Buy your pass

NBF Presents: Borders of Belonging
2021-03-25 15:00 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
THURSDAY, MARCH 25 @ 6:00PM EST
National Book Foundation Presents

NBF YouTube Channel

NBF Presents: Borders of Belonging
To question the “other” in American identity, join National Book Award–honored authors Laila Lalami (The Other Americans, 2019 Fiction Finalist), Nafissa Thompson-Spires (Heads of the Colored People, 2018 Fiction Longlist), and Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (The Undocumented Americans, 2020 Nonfiction Finalist) for a conversation on borders, immigration, and outsiders, and what it means to write one’s self into existence. Moderated by Concepción de León, a New York Times reporter.

Movie: MAYOR, followed by a discussion with David Osit and Cherien Dabis
2021-03-26 15:30 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
The Museum of the Palestinian People is excited to screen MAYOR, a captivating portrayal of Musa Hadid, the Mayor of Ramallah. The screening will be followed by a discussion with David Osit and Cherien Dabis.
MAYOR follows Musa Hadid, the Christian mayor of Ramallah, during his second term in office. His immediate goals: repave the sidewalks, attract more tourism, and plan the city’s Christmas celebrations. His ultimate mission: to end the occupation of Palestine.
Rich with detailed observation and humor, MAYOR offers a portrait of dignity amidst the madness and absurdity of endless occupation while posing a question: how do you run a city when you don’t have a country?
Suggested donation: The Museum of the Palestinian People is committed to keeping our virtual programming free, but events like these are impossible without supporters like you. Please consider making a donation to the Museum of the Palestinian People when registering for this event.

The Museum of the Palestinian People is screening MAYOR, followed by a discussion with David Osit and Cherien Dabis

Free Virtual Screening of the Film "Occupied Palestine" Directed by David Koff
2021-03-27 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
To register for this event please click here.
About the Film
This 87-minute documentary film by the late American director David Koff (1939-2014), released in 1981, catalogues the effect of Israeli settlements on Palestinian towns and villages. Talking about “Occupied Palestine” Koff said in advance of its opening at the Palestinian Film Festival in London “it was an effort to give a voice to those people who rarely, if ever, are presented on film.”

Saturday, March 27, 2021
12:00 PM 2:00 PM EST

Zikra: Remembering ‘Abd al-Halim Hafiz
2021-03-27 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
By the end of his career, ‘Abd al-Halim Hafiz was the most popular singer in Egypt. Radio stations received unprecedented numbers of requests of his songs, and he earned more money for his concerts than any other performer of the day. His cassette sales were similarly unmatched. Nor was Halim’s impact limited to the music sphere. As a pop celebrity, he shaped the everyday lives of Egyptians, from the way they dressed and styled their hair to where they spent their wedding night. The event will feature a presentation by Dr. Nicholas Mangialardi on the singer’s musical legacy followed by a live performance of ‘Abd al-Halim hits by Egyptian jazz vocalist Ahmed Harfoush and his band.

The event will feature a presentation by Dr. Nicholas Mangialardi on the singer’s musical legacy followed by a live performance of ‘Abd al-Halim hits by Egyptian jazz vocalist Ahmed Harfoush and his band.
About Presenters:
Nicholas Mangialardi:
Mangialardi received his PhD from Georgetown University in Arabic and Islamic Studies in 2020. His dissertation explores the music, life, and afterlife of Egyptian singer ‘Abd al-Halim Hafiz. He has also conducted research in cities throughout Egypt on the development of hip hop culture in the country. As an ARCE Fellow in 2017-2018, Mangialardi co-organized the conference Egyptian Soundscapes: Music, Sound, and Built Environment, held in Cairo.
Ahmed Harfoush:
Harfoush spent his childhood between Washington DC and Cairo, Harfoush was exposed to both worlds at an early age. Once an Egyptologist then an administrator at Chicago House living in Luxor in the late 90s and later as a United Nations staff member in Cairo.
Harfoush was clasically trained as a tenor performing with a few choirs in Cairo, then switched his interest in jazz. He established the Riff (jazz) Band in 2002 and co-founded the Cairo Jazz Festival in 2009 as well as producing jazz shows at esteemed Cairo music venues. After moving to London in 2014, he joined the local jazz scene and, with a taste for experimentation, brought to life a genre everyone loved unconditionally and a concept welcomed by everyone; The Egyptian Jazz Projekt. This music venture is a merge between songs from 1950s Egypt and America in a new fresh jazz arrangements.
Registration will close 24 hours before the lecture starts. Registration does not include any future lectures in this series.

Live from Damascus - A Conversation with Palestinian Artist Khair Alah Salim
2021-03-28 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sunday, March 28, 2021

12:00 PM 1:00 PM

All times are based on the US ET Time Zone
Click here to register for this event.
Bi-lingual Arabic/English event with simultaneous translation
Please join us for a conversation with Damascus, Syria-based Palestinian artist Khair Alah Salim, followed by a virtual exhibition of his artwork.

5.2 Dialogues on the Art of Arab Fashion: Story of A Dress
2021-03-30 09:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Event Description: Dr. Reem El Mutwalli in conversation with Nisreen and Nermeen Abudail from Naqsh Collective on “Story of a Dress”
Date: 30th March 2021
Time: 12 pm NYC, 5 pm London, 8 pm Dubai
Tickets: Donation
Students: If you are a student, or member of academia please register here to receive your complimentary registration links.
Registering will not only give you access to the live session, but also a recorded version to catch up on in your own time.

Land Day 45 Years On: A Day to Resist and Remember
2021-03-30 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Online with Facebook Live

Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 11 AM PDT – 12:30 PM PDT

Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min

Public · Anyone on or off Facebook

Returning Home - A tribute to Mourid Barghouti on Land Day
2021-03-30 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
In wake of the recent passing of Mourid Barghouti, the PYM is hosting a literary panel inspired by his seminal text “I Saw Ramallah” and other works.
Please join us on the 45th Commemoration of Land Day and upcoming anniversary of the Great March of Return for this special virtual event “Returning Home”, co-sponsored by Palestine Writes and the Radius of Arab American Writers.
The panel will feature Dr. Amanda Batarseh, Dr. Salam Mir and Zaina AlSous, facilitated by Dr. Suja Sawafta, a seated judge for the GK Scholarship and a scholar with focus on the themes of exile, commitment and dissent through the work of Abdul Rahman Munif

Online: us02web.zoom.us

From the U.S. to Palestine: End Medical Apartheid
2021-03-31 09:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
JOIN US to know how you can take action to ensure safety for all people — no exceptions.

From the U.S. to Palestine, COVID-19 is revealing longstanding systems of racism and discrimination.

Like all people, Palestinians have the right to live in health and safety. But while the Israeli government rolls out the COVID-19 vaccine to millions of Israeli citizens, Israel is denying the lifesaving vaccine to Palestinians living under its military occupation.

REGISTER using the link in our bio or by going to bit.ly/UStoPalestine

Sa’ed Atshan on “The Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique”
2021-03-31 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
UIC Institute for the Humanities’ Race and US Empire Working Group co-sponsored with the Arab American Cultural Center
Prof. Atshan will speak on his book Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (Stanford University Press, 2020) which traces the rise of the LGBTQ movement in Palestine even as they are subjected to an ’empire of ciritque’ locally and globally.
RSVP here: Zoom Link
For questions, email: huminst@uic.edu

RSVP

Contact
Arab American Cultural Center
(312) 413-3253
arabamcc@uic.edu

Arabic Calligraphy
2021-03-31 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Arabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy based on the Arabic alphabet.
Hajj Wafaa of Kufa, Iraq, is a freelance professional Islamic calligraphist. He has been teaching Islamic calligraphy classes in Boston since 2004. Haff Wafaa will join us on Wednesday, March 31 to teach our Arabic calligraphy workshop.
25 students will receive a free Arabic calligraphy set. You must be able to attend the Wednesday, March 31 calligraphy workshop. If you cannot attend the workshop, please do not register.
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Arabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy based on the Arabic alphabet.

Online Taste of Morroco with Sur La Table
2021-03-31 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Menu
Click here for prep packet and shopping list

Braised Chicken with Dried Fruit and Couscous
Carrot Salad with Harissa, Feta and Mint

Instructor: VanessaC

Virtual Delegation to Tent of Nations
2021-04-03 09:00 - 10:30, 2021-04-08 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
For this Virtual Delegation, we will visit the Nassar family at their farm. The farm has been in the family since 1916 and is located 6 kilometers from Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. The one-hundred acre farm is surrounded on three sides by Israeli Settlements, and below by the Palestinian village of Nahalin. The family has also been in the Israeli courts since 1991 seeking to maintain their claim to this land. Join members of the Nassar family to learn about their story and understand more about the work of their farm.
Saturday, April 3rd: 12 – 1:30pm EDT
Thursday, April 8th: 2 – 3:30pm EDT
Sunday, April 11th: 2 – 3:30pm EDT
Friday, April 16th: 12-1:30pm EDT

Virtual Arab Cooking Class
2021-04-03 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join us this Saturday for our first cooking class! Follow along as our lovely chef Lida teaches us how to cook Hummus and Tabouleh!
Ingredient list is below:
Hummus ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of tahini
Pinch of salt
Tools:
Food processor
Tabouleh ingredients:
2 parsley bunches
3 medium tomato
1/4 cup chopped green onion or TBSP regular onion
Salt to taste
2 tbsp bulgar wheat
Juices of 2 lemons
Tools:
Sharp chopping knife
Medium bowl

Puget Sound to Palestine: Indigenous Struggles for Sovereignty & Climate Justice
2021-04-04 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
SUPER-UW and ICA-UW invite you to Puget Sound to Palestine: Indigenous Struggles for Sovereignty and Climate Justice, a panel on the Indigenous-led struggles for environmental justice in the U.S. and Palestine.
The panel will be on Zoom from 10-11:30am PST on Sunday, April 4.
Click the event link to register!
Panelists include Zena Agha, a Palestinian-Iraqi writer and poet who focues on climate change, Palestinian environmental resilience, and settler-colonial cartography; Cody O’Rourke, a Human Rights Observer with the Good Shepherd Collective which works to educate and incite action on structural violence in Palestine; and Paul Chiyokten Wagner, an internationally performing artist and the founder of Protectors of the Salish Sea, an Indigenous climate justice group in the Pacific Northwest.
There will be time for each of the panelists to discuss themselves and their work; a moderated discussion focusing on current issues impacting indigenous communities here in the Pacific Northwest and in Palestine, and the broader struggle for climate justice worldwide; and a question and answer session.

Film Screening and Discussion: “We’re Not White”
2021-04-06 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join us for viewing and discussion of the film We’re Not White by by Arab American comedian, speaker, writer, academic, and adjunct Professor, Amer Zahr.
What does it mean to be invisible in racial categories but distinct and hyper visible as a ‘feared’ and ‘enemy’ minority? Let’s talk about our experiences, the tensions that exist in this statement of disavowing white supremacy while at times benefiting from proximity to whiteness, how do we see ourselves and what we want to change?
Event is co-sponsored by the Honors College.
Live Transcription via zoom will be available.

RSVP

Egyptian Voices from the Past: An Overview
2021-04-07 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Since the Greek historian, Herodotus wrote about the ancient Egyptians, Egypt has fascinated those looking in from the outside. Come with me as we explore the major sites of ancient Egypt from the late Pre-dynastic era (4500 BCE) through the New Kingdom (1090 BCE) including Abydos, the cult city of Osiris; Memphis, the ancient capital; the temple complex of Karnak in Thebes; Valley of the Kings; Deir el-Medina, the village of the workmen who built and decorated the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings; and King Tutankhamun’s birthplace, Amarna, Akhenaten’s new city.

(This class is the first in a series of 8 classes.)

Arab Movies at SIFF: Captains of Zaatari
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
Captains of Zaatari
Egypt | 2021 | 75 minutes | Ali El Arabi
Opens April 8, 2021
SIFF Channel
A rousing, heartfelt tale about two soccer-obsessed Syrian friends living in Jordan’s Zaatari Refugee Camp who, upon learning that a famed Qatari sports academy is visiting the camp, may have finally found their ticket to a bigger, brighter future.

Arab Movies at SIFF: The Unknown Saint
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
The Unknown Saint
Morocco | 2019 | 100 minutes | Alaa Eddine Aljem
Opens April 8, 2021
SIFF Channel
An absurdist, droll, entertaining fable about a criminal who returns to the hill where he stashed his stolen goods, only to find that a well-guarded shrine to a “missing saint” has been built over it.

Arab Movies at SIFF: Too Far Away
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
Too Far Away
Germany | 2019 | 89 minutes | Sarah Winkenstette
Opens April 8, 2021
SIFF Channel
A mutual love of soccer provides the basis for a blossoming friendship between a bullied German boy, struggling to fit into a new school after his family’s relocation, and a young Syrian refugee in desperate need of family. Ages 8+

Arab Films at SIFF: Al-Sit
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
Sudan | 2020 | 20 min. | Suzannah Mirghani

Opens April 8, 2021

In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have arranged her marriage to a young Sudanese businessman living abroad and her matriarchal grandmother Al-Sit has her own plans.

Director:Suzannah Mirghani
Principal Cast:Mihad Murtada, Rabiha Mohammed Mahmoud, Mohammed Magdi, Haram Bashir, Alsir Mahjoub
Country:Sudan, Qatar
Year:2020
Running Time:20 min.
Producer:Suzannah Mirghani, Eiman Mirghani
Screenplay:Suzannah Mirghani
Cinematographers:Khalid Awad
Editors:Kattab Abdelrahim, Suzannah Mirghani
Language:Arabic
Has Subtitles:Yes

Arab Films at SIFF: 200 Meters
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
Palestine | 2020 | 96 minutes | Ameen Nayfeh

Opens April 8, 2021

Upon learning his son has had an accident, a desperate Palestinian construction worker at wit’s end attempts to smuggle himself past the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank to see him.
*Restricted to audiences in WA state.

Arab Films at SIFF: The Big Hit
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
Perhaps best known for Welcome to the Sticks, the highest-grossing film of all time in France, Kad Merad [French-Algerian] stars as Etienne, a prickly out-of-work actor who makes ends meet by leading exercises at corporate retreats and running a theater workshop in a prison. In his work at the prison, he is struck by the rhythm of pause and postponement that defines the prisoners’ lives, prompting him to stage a production of Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot.” It’s more than anyone has asked of these men before, and perhaps more than anyone has thought them capable of. But able to recognize themselves in the characters and their circumstances, the prisoners rise to the occasion and the production is a great success, for them and Etienne, too. When they are invited to take the play on the road—all the way to the Odéon Theater in Paris—their world expands, transforming the way they see themselves and their future. The story is inspired by remarkable true events in Sweden in 1985, when Swedish actor Jan Jönson staged a public performance of “Waiting for Godot” with a group of inmates from a high-security prison in the historic Gothenburg City Theatre. Upon hearing of the events that transpired, Samuel Beckett himself observed, “That’s the best thing that happened to this play since I wrote it!”
— Justine Barda
Director Biography
Emmanuel Courcol graduated the l’École Nationale des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre in 1984 as a trained actor. He acted in about 30 plays and as many movies but gradually moved to writing, working with Philippe Lioret on four screenplays. After Ceasefire (2017), The Big Hit (2020) is his second feature film.

Arab Films at SIFF: The Perfect Candidate
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
Saudi Arabia | 2019 | 105 minutes | Haifaa Al-Mansour

Opens April 8, 2021

Dr. Maryam is an overworked medic at an underserved Saudi clinic. In order to improve safety measures and working conditions, she decides to run for a seat on the municipal council despite the rampant misogyny within her community.

Arab Films at SIFF: The Translator
2021-04-08 - 2021-04-18
Syria | 2020 | 105 minutes | Rana Kazkaz, Anas Khalaf

Opens April 8, 2021

A riveting thriller about an Arabic-English translator for the 2000 Olympics in Australia, forced into exile after a fateful mistranslation, who must return to Syria after his activist brother goes missing during the Arab Spring.

Arabic Conversation Hours Spring 2021 جلسة الحوار بالعربية
2021-04-08 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
Join us for a fun hour of conversation in Arabic. Do you want to practice your Arabic without being judged? Do you want to learn some new words or ways of saying things? Do you want to meet other people who are trying to learn or strengthen their Arabic?
Pour You coffee or tea and let’s talk
You will receive a zoom link after you RSVP
March 9 @ 2:30-3:30
April 8 @ 1-2
For assistance or accessibility, email us at arabamcc@uic.edu

RSVP

Streaming: Oscar Nominee, Best International Feature: The Man Who Sold His Skin
2021-04-09 - 2021-05-31
Sam Ali, a young, sensitive and impulsive Syrian, left his country for Lebanon to escape the war. To be able to travel to Europe and live with the love of his life, he accepts to have his back tattooed by one of the World’s most sulfurous contemporary artist. Turning his own body into a prestigious piece of art, Sam will however come to realize that his decision might actually mean anything but freedom.
