Author Archives: Arab America

When the president of the University of Oklahoma found out that fraternity members at his school chanted racist slurs, he ordered the fraternity closed the next day and immediately initiated an investigation of the incident. Two fraternity members were expelled from the university within days.

That is how a decisive leader deals with racism and bigotry.

Source: bangordailynews.com

According to a statistic that opens Eran Riklis’s coming-of-age film, which plays as part of this year’s Seattle Jewish Film Festival, “20 percent of Israel’s citizens are Arab.” Drawing from Sayed Kashua’s semiautobiographical novel Dancing Arabs, Riklis (The Syrian Bride, Lemon Tree) focuses on Eyad, a sensitive young man navigating his identity as an ethnic minority in the 1980s and 1990s.

Everyone in Tira considers Eyad a genius, but his future is unclear. When his father, Salah (Ali Suliman), isn’t picking fruit, he’s fighting for Palestinian liberation. Eyad tells people he’s a terrorist, but Salah describes himself as a warrior.

When Eyad (Tawfeek Barhom in an effectively low-key performance) moves to Jerusalem for boarding school, he’s fulfilling a dream Salah couldn’t due to his political activities, but he’s more of a minority than ever: struggling to speak Hebrew (he pronounces Deep Purple “Deeb Burble”), studying the Bible, eating Western foods.

As part of a volunteer program, he also provides companionship to Yonatan (Lebanon’s Michael Moshonov), a punk kid with muscular dystrophy, whose sarcasm contrasts with Eyad’s polite reserve. Yonatan and his mother, Edna (Yaël Abecassis), become a second family.

By the 1990s, Eyad has a girlfriend (Danielle Kitzis), but he has to keep the relationship secret as his ethnicity continues to attract unwanted attention. Riklis follows him from school and beyond, during which time he finds his voice and makes decisions that perplex his parents—just like any free-thinking young man anywhere.

On the surface, A Borrowed Identity isn’t a political film, but Riklis’s decision not to take sides is, in and of itself, a political move. His choice not to judge Salah, for instance, doesn’t excuse or endorse terrorism. He’s simply more interested in his role as a father, but Salah also represents the past, and this guardedly optimistic film pins its hopes for the future on nonviolent assimilationists like Eyad.

Source: www.thestranger.com

Based on the reaction to a video that has gone viral over the last few days, it appears that people are shocked that female Arab presenters are able to shut up rude guests and do their job of moderating discussions.

If you were among those surprised, then you need to watch more Arab television. From Morocco to Qatar female journalists host news shows, interviewing top political, cultural and religious personalities, and have done for years. When necessary they have reminded male guests who is in charge on their show.

If you like what you see learn Arabic, sort yourself out with Arabsat, Nilesat or Hotbird, and feign indignation when massive arguments breakout live on air.

Source: www.alaraby.co.uk

Supporters are mobilizing for Rasmea Odeh on the eve of the Palestinian American community leader’s sentencing.

Odeh, who lives in Chicago, will appear before US District Judge Gershwin Drain in Detroit on Thursday morning to learn her fate.

Odeh is expected to make a statement before the judge and her lawyers hope she will be spared any further jail time for her conviction on immigration fraud charges.

US prosecutors have asked the judge to impose an exceptionally harsh sentence of between five and seven years in prison, to be followed by deportation.

Source: electronicintifada.net

To combat the values of groups like IS and a regime that doesn’t represent them, a group of young Syrians tries to pass its values of non-violence, pluralism and hope to Syrian children. They see them not as a lost generation, but the country’s next generation, reports Lauren Gelfond Feldinger.

Source: www.bbc.com

A Muslim college in Northern California has been given accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, becoming the first accredited Muslim college in America.

The approval letter from the association to the Berkeley-based college states the school has been given “initial accreditation,” adding the institution may confer an accredited “Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Law and Theology” at this time.

The association also commended Zaytuna College for its work to obtain accreditation, saying the label “adds value” to institutions while also providing “accountability.”

Source: www.thecollegefix.com

To most Jewish Israelis they don’t have names or faces — they are at worst rioters and stone-throwers waving Palestinian flags; at best they are a discriminated-against minority.

Their new activism is partly the result of generational divides and new technologies that have connected them to the rest of the Arab world that had been shut off since the birth of the State of Israel. In part it is the result of recent Israeli attacks against their relatives in the West Bank and Gaza, discriminatory police violence and a long history of political repression.

No small number of factors has helped shape this new generation of Palestinian activists in Israel. They go by different names, define different identities for themselves and have different political tactics and goals. They fight for Palestinian national liberation and Israeli civil rights, prioritizing each based on strategic and tactical considerations, and have varying approaches to mainstream politics.

Most of the young activists describe themselves as Palestinian, and when they take to the streets they wave the Palestinian flag, something that was almost unheard of in previous generations inside Israel. Their national identity and its expression, however, are greatly influenced by living in the Jewish state.

Source: 972mag.com

Some are heartbreaking. Some others, invigorating. But these Instagram pictures all have one thing in common: they offer an opportunity to genuinely peak into Palestinian people’s resilience in overcoming life under occupation.

Source: www.barakabits.com

A Gaza novelist who was shortlisted for a prestigious Arabic literature prize but couldn’t attend the announcement ceremony because of alleged Hamas harassment says he learned story-telling from his refugee grandmother, who recounted happier times.

Source: www.utsandiego.com

Two talented Arab musicians and their bands played unique Arabian influenced jazz at the Royal Opera House Muscat on Tuesday, impressing the audience with their innovative music.

The concert featured Tunisian violinist, Yasmine Azaiez and Syrian clarinettist, Kinan Azmeh, both of whom turn to their Arab roots to add different rhythms and melodies to their jazz compositions.

Azaiez took to the stage for the first half of the concert, accompanied by her band which included Peter Godart on piano, Steve Langone on drums, Phil Aelony on guitar, Brad Barrett on electric bass and Mohammed Abdelkather Bel Haj Kacem on percussion.

Though she is a classically trained violinist, Azaiez clearly has a passion for improvising and her music is an adventurous exploration of Arab, Latin and jazz rhythms. While it doesn’t always sound like jazz, it is upbeat, interesting and new. The real strength in her music is the play between the jazz drummer and Arab percussion, whose rhythms blend together beautiful.

Azaiez is loaded with talent and plays with obvious joy. Her weaknesses, which perhaps can be attributed to her youth, included neglecting to introduce her band and prompting the audience to clap for the other musicians, rather than letting them decide when to applaud based on their own reactions to the performances.

Following the intermission Azmeh and his ‘Cityband’, which includes guitar player Kyle Sanna, drummer John Hadfield and bass player Josh Myers, played a set of smoother, mellower jazz. Azmeh’s music is sensual and seductive, laden with emotion and experiences of being Syrian, from being detained in airports for carrying a Syrian passport to happy memories of wedding celebrations.

Azmeh, who is based in New York City, has been deeply affected by the four-year conflict in Syria, and paid tribute to those suffering with his music. He dedicated one of the songs to Syrian refugees and one to the Syrian people who have still found love despite the ongoing war.

Subdued mood
Though the overall mood of the evening was subdued, as the concert was good but not great, there were a couple of highlights. Azaiez delighted the audience with her rendition of a traditional Tunisian song Sidi Mansour. Azmeh and his band also played a song composed by their guitar player, Kyle Sanna, called Woods, a dreamy piece that begins with a bass intro, followed by gentle percussion, soft guitar and finally smooth clarinet, which was simply sublime.

The concert, called ‘A Night of Arabic Jazz,’ was an example of how two seemingly different genres of music can be united to create something moving and beautiful.

Source: www.timesofoman.com

  A docu-reality show on MBC channel (Lebanon) is looking for Arab Americans in the U.S. who are interested to take part in an inspiring & adventurous reality show that fulfills bucket lists around the world! If you had no obstacles or limits today, what would you do? What would you try for the first … Continued

Documentary casting Arabic-accented English speakers. 4 Males and 1 Female. Accent must be light enough to be easily understood by an American audience. Non Union. Based on a Memoir which takes place between about 1917 – 1922 in the Middle East. Mostly in what today is Syria, Jordan, Jebel Druze. Ideally the accent is similar … Continued