Since the tragic events of 9/11, there has been an upsurge in ethnic comedy by Arabs/Muslims in America. More and more Arab/Muslim individuals and groups such as "Allah Made Me Funny," the "Sultans of Satire" and "Axis of Evil" are appearing on stage with comic routines and they are attracting larger and larger non-Muslim audiences. Paradoxically, a tragedy that triggered widespread Islamophobia in American society seems also to have opened the field for Arab/Muslim comedy.

This panel discussion and lecture series, sponsored by The Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania, will explore the landscape of American Middle Eastern ethnic comedy and its intricate relationship with Islamophobia.

Panel Members: Mucahit Bilici (Professor of Sociology at John Jay College-CUNY), Jordan Elgrably (Founder of Levantine Cultural Center, and the Sultans of Satire: Middle East Comic Relief) and Rahim Armat (of Kodoom.com, Cultural Events Search Engine).

Roles for Arab/Muslim Actors in Film and TelevisionEven as the United States finds itself increasing enmeshed in the Arab/Muslim world politically, Hollywood exports a great deal of film and television programs watched in the Middle East. We are indeed the dominant cultural force in many Arab/Muslim countries. Meanwhile, Americans are finding more and more Arab/Muslim characters in their film and TV programming…

Read Andrew Gumbel's L.A. Weekly feature, Arab Adventures in Hollywood.

INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR SHORT FILMS
Short-shorts and shorts: docs and features: 1m-15ms

After decades of war in the post-colonial Middle East, statesmen and women of the region—particularly the battle-fatigued Israelis-have finally understood something about war and peace that most of us have known all along: there is no military solution to our problems. Lines will be drawn and peace will be achieved through negotiated agreements—or there will be no lasting peace for anyone...

Christopher Caldwell on "What is the West's Problem with Islam?"

Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West: your purchase benefits LCC programming Europe has received a wave of immigration from the global south in recent decades, similar in scope to the US-but very different in its results. Many immigrant and second-generation communities have astronomical unemployment rates and a thin connection to European identity. Some have produced terrorists. The problems are particularly severe among newcomers from the Muslim world.

If Europe has an Islam problem, whose fault is it? Is Islamic belief and culture incompatible with Western institutions? Or is there such a thing as "Islamophobia," poisoning immigrants' efforts to integrate on European terms?

Christopher Caldwell, who writes for the Financial Times, The New York Times Magazine and The Weekly Standard, visits Zócalo to talk about themes from his upcoming book, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West.

The eclectic Al-Fareed aka Alfred Madain is a deejay, musician and ethnomusicologist in Los Angeles. A walking encyclopedia of traditional, folkloric and contemporary music of the Arab/Islamic world and Africa, he intimately “gets” and analyzes music ranging from ancient traditions to modern world techno, hip hop, western new wave, heavy metal and punk. Al-Fareed’s attuned feel for rock gives him the ability to reflect on the west from an eastern perspective and on the east from a western perspective. As a music historian he can explain the history and influence of ziryab (a musician of the Baghdadi and Andalusian courts) as well as the history and influence of Woody Guthrie, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Black Flag, Blind Lemon Jefferson, the Velvet Underground and more.

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.

Produced by Famous Stage Entertainment, Beirut Nights is a regular monthly feature in Los Angeles. Advance cover is $20, available online, or $25 at the door, and includes free mezze appetizers, premium hookah, international dj mixes, a live band and belly dance shows. Upscale dress code and reservations required. For info/RSVPs call 818.378.7550 or email Famous Stage.

At the Mirage,16925 Ventura Blvd., Encino CA 91316.

Beirut Nights

Language for a New Century: your purchase benefits LCC programmingKudos to Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond. This handsome new anthology (Norton 2008) celebrates the artistic and cultural forces flourishing today in the East—gathering an unprecedented selection of works by East Asian, Middle Eastern, South Asian and Central Asian poets as well as poets living in the diaspora. The volume is organized around nine themes—including childhood, politics and oppression, identity, war, homeland and love—and includes more than 400 unique voices from 59 countries. Each section of the anthology—organized by theme rather than national affiliation—is preceded by a personal essay from the editors that introduces the poetry and invokes the readers to examine their own identities in light of these powerful poems.

“We play heavy metal because our lives are heavy metal.” —Reda Zine, one of the founders of the Moroccan heavy-metal scene

“Music is the weapon of the future.” —Fela Kuti

Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam: your purchase benefits LCC programmingMark LeVine is the author of Why They Don't Hate Us, Unveiling the Axis of Evil. In his new book, Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam, you'll find an eighteen-year-old Moroccan who loves Black Sabbath. A twenty-two-year-old rapper from the Gaza Strip. A young Lebanese singer who quotes Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” They are as representative of the world of Islam today as the conservatives and extremists we see every night on the news. Heavy metal, punk, hip-hop, and reggae are each the music of protest, and in many cases considered immoral in the Muslim world. This music may also turn out to be the soundtrack of a revolution unfolding across that world.