Author Archives: Arab America

On October 23, 2014 a 1,760 foot art installation will open on the National Mall in Washington DC displaying paintings of over 1,000 Syrian refugee children. The art installation is a non-political cultural diplomacy initiative aimed at educating the public about the plight of Syrian children and youth. “Peace & Hope” shares firsthand stories of … Continued

As dusk falls, the guitarist and producer Abed Hathout sits in his apartment in Acre, northern Israel. “It is said that this was the only city that Napoleon couldn’t conquer. It’s the only good thing that ever happened here,” he says with a laugh. I remind him: What about your band, Khalas? “Good point,” he … Continued

The first Arab-American novel, Ameen Rihani’s The Book of Khalid (1911), has grown in visibility in recent years as people have returned toward it in exploring and considering the past and present encounter between the United States and the Arab world. A philosophical work that relates the migration of two young men from Baalbek, Lebanon … Continued

National Geographic Channel’s adaptation of Bill O’Reilly’s book “Killing Jesus” will star Kelsey Grammer, Stephen Moyer and a Lebanese-American actor, Haaz Sleiman, portraying Jesus. “Traditionally Jesus has been played by a white man and I think the fact that this is a Middle-Eastern actor is significant,” Matthew Belloni, executive editor of The Hollywood Reporter, told … Continued

Bravo to Ben Affleck and Nicholas Kristoff for telling Bill Maher off about his chronic case of Muslim-hating bigotry. (He would say he doesn’t hate Muslims, only their religion, but then those who hate gays say much the same sort of thing). Maher and Sam Harris like to demonize Islam and by association Muslims. Ben … Continued

The Taybeh Brewing Company regrets to announce that the harsh conditions of Palestine have led to the decision to cancel the 10th Annual Taybeh Oktoberfest 2014. The Taybeh Beer family expresses solidarity and prayers for all the suffering people of Gaza, the West Bank and the communities in the Middle East and grieves the tragic … Continued

An armed rebellion in Iraq. Debate at Westminster on how to counter the insurgency. The deployment of RAF bombers to defeat the uprising. With British planes once again in the skies over Iraq, it sounds like a story from the last few days. But Britain first tried to exercise control over Iraq from the air … Continued

When Marcello Di Cintio began teaching at the Palestine Writing Workshop in Ramallah, he avoided making reference to the occupation in his assignments at first–to see if his students addressed it on their own–and he soon learned that it touches all aspects of Palestinian life. Curious how Palestinian literature could operate with its people so … Continued

Welcome to the Arab Festival of the Washington DC Area brought to you by the heirs of the former Turkish Empire. It is ironic that as soon as I walked through the gates into the festival grounds I see the main sponsor’s logo all over: Turkish Airlines. It seems that the irony is lost on … Continued

A vote by the University of Illinois board of trustees to void a tenured position offered to Dr. Steven Salaita at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC) over his tweets criticizing Israel’s devastating bombing of Gaza leaves him with only one option – a legal action against the university and the individuals who rescinded … Continued

Sweden announced that it will recognize the state of Palestine, becoming the first member of the European Union to do so. Stefan Lofven became the prime minister of a new center-left government this month and used his inaugural address to parliament to say that a “two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful … Continued

Theatres of erasure: Syria and Iraq The violence in Iraq has killed nearly 6,000 civilians since the start of 2014, according to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. In Syria, over 100,000 lives have been claimed and some two million persons displaced since the start of the civil war in March 2011. Media coverage has … Continued