By Sarah Burke

Sadder Than Water: poems by Samih al-QasimMaps

Several years ago I traveled in Tunisia with a friend. We felt pretty cool: we avoided the resorts, took local transport, ate local food, practiced our languages. One day we rolled into a town by the edge of the Sahara that is the starting point of many coordinated journeys into the desert—camels, sunset over the dunes, dinner cooked on a fire, etc. We had compared the reviews of several tour agencies in Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, volumes stored like talismans in our respective backpacks. As we emerged from the shared van into this new town, a man approached us and began talking about the agency he represented. It was the best, he said, the number one agency for trips into the desert.

On January 31, 2009, Levantine Cultural Center and the University of California, Irvine, the Middle East Studies Student Initiative (MESSI) will present “Whither the Levant? The Crisis of the Nation-State: Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. This conference includes documentary and feature film screenings, panels and a symposium.

A conference including documentary and feature screenings, panels and symposium, organized by Levantine Cultural Center and the University of California, Irvine, the Middle East Studies Student Initiative (MESSI). Cosponsored by the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies/UCI, American Friends Service Committee, LA Jews for Peace and supported by Diane and Jeanette Shammas, Lawrence Joseph, Kanan Hamzeh, Casey Kasem, Bana Hilal, Asad Farah and the Salaam-Shalom Educational Foundation.

UC Irvine Student CenterThis conference takes place at the UC Irvine Student Center in the Crystal Cove Auditorium and Pacific Ballroom. [Map].

The book Who really speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really is based on the largest and most in-depth study of its kind conducted by the Gallup Organization. Levantine Cultural Center presented the remarkable findings of the six-year poll of the Muslim world—the first ever data-based analysis of the points of view of more than 90% of the global Muslim community, spanning nearly 40 countries and representing 1.3 Billion Muslims.

On Tuesday, April 29, 2008, co-author Dalia Mogahed discussed "Who Speaks for Islam?" with "24" executive producer Howard Gordon in a public forum moderated by KPFK's Nile El Wardani. Gordon is an American screenwriter and producer who graduated from Princeton; his writing/producing credits include "The X Files," and "24." The forum took place at the Los Angeles Central Public Library, Mark Taper Auditorium.

An extended version of “Who Speaks for Islam?” is available from Levantine Cultural Center and Global Voices for Justice.

The artwork for the New LATC's "Jihad Jones" productionWhether or not Arabs and Arab Americans are represented in their genuine diversity in Hollywood films and television remains an open question—one which author Jack Shaheen, to be sure, has addressed in his book (and eponymous documentary) Reel Bad Arabs. As well, a number of recent forums in Los Angeles have looked at just how Arabs/Muslims are depicted in film/TV. [Levanine Cultural Center, SAG and MPAC will present a roundtable on the topic in January 2009, “Broadening the Scope, Roles for Arab/Muslim Actors in Film/TV”; we invite you to stay tuned or sign up to receive our email blasts.]

By Rachel Donadio

From the war in Iraq to the rumblings in Iran to the heightening tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, there are few bright spots in the Middle East these days. But one boutique Jerusalem press has cleared a space for conversation in a contentious region. Started in 1998 by a husband-and-wife team, Ibis Editions has published English translations of works in Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, French, German and Judeo-Spanish—all relating to the Levant.

Reviewed by Jordan Elgrably

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East: your purchase benefits LCC programmingFor years, the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians has galvanized our attention with sensational headlines and stories of bloody conflict. Frequently lost in media reporting are the human stories of individuals and families on both sides. In Sandy Tolan’s The Lemon Tree, an intimate portrait of a Palestinian and an Israeli family emerge, both sharing a history in the same house in al-Ramla, once a town in Palestine, now an Israeli city south of Tel Aviv.

3arabawy

Egyptian blogger and activist Hossam el-Hamalawy is an outspoken proponent of human rights, labor movements, and free speech. His blog, 3arabawy, features daily updates in English about the ongoing struggle for equality and human rights in Egypt.

In an op-ed he wrote for the Los Angeles Times, he addressed the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq:

The fall of Baghdad, as President Bush had expected, sent shockwaves throughout the region. Some say, however, that if the American president thought the domino effect would be one of democratization, he is likely to be mistaken. Many Arabs across the region are not savoring America's triumph and instead, they argue, Muslims are more likely to rally around the Qur'an and the Kalashnikov to provide an answer to the American tanks on the streets of Iraq's capital.

The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the Jewish/Arab DivideA Jewish-Israeli activist for Israeli-Arab coexistence, Susan Nathan will present her book in Los Angeles, October 16-18, 2008, with dates at the Skirball, UCLA and the Beverly Hills Library Auditorium. Her visit is sponsored by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Ethics and the American Friends Service Committee, with support from several other local organizations.

The Lemon Tree, The Olive Grove: celebrate the time of the Palestinian olive harvest with real storiesA coalition of Los Angeles arts and peace organizations will present “The Art of Coexistence: The Lemon Tree & The Olive Grove” on Wednesday, October 15, 2008. This public program is free to the public and features Deborah Rohan, author of The Olive Grove: A Palestinian Story (Saqi 2008), and Sandy Tolan, author of The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East (Bloomsbury 2006) at the Beverly Hills Library Auditorium. Coincidentally, October is the month of olive harvesting for Palestinian farmers.

The Olive Grove and The Lemon Tree are books that show the human face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the genuine possibility of coexistence.