Arabs Jews, a Critical PresentationVisiting Author Rachel Shabi Presents Her Book We Look Like the Enemy: the Hidden Story of Israel's Jews of Arab Lands

Jordan Elgrably introduces the evening with personal stories and a visual presentation.

Reviewed by Afsaneh Ashley Tabaddor

What does it mean to be "White" in America today?

East/West
CONVERGENCES
Artists from Syria and Lebanon

Levantine Cultural Center in association with The Writing Studio^TM offers ongoing classes in creative writing,

He who has faith will never get lost. He who is at peace won't lose his way. —Bab'Aziz.

"Bab'Aziz" poster: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural CenterWatching "Bab'Aziz" reminded me of how much I had become accustomed to Western cinematic conventions such as linear temporality and narrative structure. Akin to the dance of a whirling dervish (i.e. a Sufi Muslim ascetic), this film blends together a kaleidoscope of tales with breathtaking dreamscapes shot by celebrated Iranian photographer and cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari and an original musical score by Israeli composer Armand Amar. (The film costars Golshifteh Farahani.)

Co-written by Tunisian director Nacer Khemir, "Bab'Aziz" (2006) is the third and final installment of his "Desert Trilogy," and loosely follows the story of blind dervish, Bab'Aziz, and his granddaughter, Ishtar, as they embark on an eventful journey through the desert. Much like "A Thousand and One Nights," in which Scheherazade entertains the Prince with her tales and postpones her death by prolonging the ending until the following day, in order to keep Ishtar entertained on their search for the gathering of the Dervish that occurs once every thirty years, Bab'Aziz spins the story of a prince who one fateful day leaves his kingdom and becomes transfixed by his reflection.

Arabic instructor Dina Abou-SalemRegister Today To Learn Conversational Levantine or "Shami" Arabic Using Dive

When Tupac Shakur spit tracks in the ‘90s about American racism, poverty, social injustice, and life in the hood, he probably had no idea that he would later become one of the most revered cultural icons for thousands of young Palestinians.

Slingshot Hip Hop, the DVD: $25 per copy for personal home use only"Slingshot Hip Hop," a 2008 documentary from the New York-based director, producer and editor Jackie Reem Salloum, follows the burgeoning Palestinian hip hop scene from the mixed (Arab and Jew) cities in Israel to the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. The documentary focuses on the members of the first Palestinian hip hop crew, DAM, who describe how they learn English by translating 2Pac's lyrics into Arabic. [Levantine Cultural Center was the first organization to bring DAM to Southern California for a live performance, back in 2007.]

A Country Called Amreeka by Alia Malek: your purchase in part benefits Levantine Cultural Center

By Alia Malek [from the Washington Post]

Arabs—both Christian and Muslim—began emigrating to the United States in appreciable numbers from the Arabic speaking world in the late 1800s. But too often their lives here are invisible, absent from national conversation, except in moments like the one we are living through right now in the wake of the tragedy at Ft. Hood. We tend to check in with this diverse community only when something goes "BOOM" in America or when someone of Arab or Muslim descent does something criminal.