DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL, THIS SCREENING HAS BEEN CANCELED. A special interfaith opportunity to view a film and dialogue on the relationship of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The Levantine Center's New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema series and the Muslim Public Affairs Council's Hollywood Bureau are pleased to announce a special screening of Joel Fendelman's feature debut David, followed by a cast/crew Q & A with star Maz Jobrani, Pastor Craig Peterson, and LCC executive director Jordan Elgrably, on Wed., Jan. 18, 6:30 pm, at the Woodland Hills Community Church, 21338 Dumetz Rd., Woodland Hills CA 91364. Children 12 and under may enter free with parent or guardian. General admission is $10, members, students and seniors, $8. RSVP early to 310.657.5511 to save your seats.
The Levantine Center's New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema series and the Muslim Public Affairs Council's Hollywood Bureau are pleased to announce a special screening of Joel Fendelman's feature debut David, followed by a cast/crew Q & A with director Joel Fendelman and producer Stephanie Levy, and others to be announced, on Sunday, Jan. 15, 4 pm, at the Covina Women's Club, Covina. Children 12 and under may enter free with parent or guardian. General admission is $10, members, students and seniors, $8. RSVP early to 310.657.5511 to save your seats.
The arts help create a safe space for exploration of potentially difficult issues. The Middle East is the birthplace of our civilization. It is where Judaism, Christianity and Islam-three faiths with much in common-originate. The Middle East is also the primary resource for our energy needs and where we have many strategic partners, from Turkey and Israel to Saudi Arabia.
"The Art of Stepping Through Time" is a poem from the eponymous collection by H. E. Sayeh and translated by Chad Sweeney and Mojdeh Marashi. See introduction by poetry editor Sholeh Wolpé.
"Red Dawn" is a poem from The Art of Stepping Through Time by H. E. Sayeh and translated by Chad Sweeney and Mojdeh Marashi.
"House of Ghazal" is a poem from The Art of Stepping Through Time by H. E. Sayeh and translated by Chad Sweeney and Mojdeh Marashi. See introduction by poetry editor Sholeh Wolpé..
What love is this love? We don't know what it is.
It's sane and insane, yet neither sanity nor insanity.
Much of what Americans think of the Middle East and our foreign policy toward it over the past ten years has been a response to 9/11. This is understandable. President Bush's neoconservative approach to the "War on Terror" was advocated by those who believed spreading democracy was essentially spreading peace. In a 2003 speech, Bush assessed that "Stability at the expense of freedom, has brought us neither stability nor freedom." In other words, supporting corrupt dictators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) did not create friendlier or stronger economic partners (except when that partnership centered around oil.)
Note from the Editor: Trust between Americans and Iranians remained eroded for many years as a result of the Iran hostage crisis, in which Americans were held by militant students at the US Embassy in Tehran for 444 days (1979-1980). Then came the 2009 Green Movement, when many in the U.S. were sympathetic as they watched millions of protestors flood the streets throughout Iran, contesting that summer's presidential election results.
In Halal Pork and Other Stories, Cihan Kaan projects an avant garde, post 9/11 world, from the perspective of a young Muslim New Yorker. It's a place where Coney Island meets Mars; where hijabi girls are punk rock dervishes; where identity salesmen count pigeons at insane asylums as a cream cheese conspiracy brews in gitmo; where rich boys pay to be Muslim for a day; where the transgendered are holy; and where the bacon is halal. Kaan offers up five urban Sufi tales in the swirling graffiti of Brooklyn.