Levantine Cultural Center seeks the support of prominent entrepreneurs and visinaries.

Why We Are Advocates for Middle East Peace
and Seek Your Participation as Stakeholders

By Pedram Moallemian & Jordan Elgrably

So an imam, a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar—or in this case—a comedy show called The Sultans of Satire. Do you know the punchline? Yes, we had several religious leaders in the crowd for our big comedy beneft at USC earlier this year, along with all of you great individuals, who turned out in such large numbers on behalf of peace and cross-cultural unity. Thank you for supporting the event and for continuing to attend these shows.

The feedback we receive thus-far has been mostly excellent, and we are extremely grateful to our superb emcee, Fariborz, and to all the fine comedians, who entertain us with their humor and stories.

However—this is the fun part—while we reached half of our intended fundraising goal of $50,000, to benefit Levantine Cultural Center's programs and operations for the first half of 2007 (acquisition of a new office and part-time staffing, supplies, new outreach activities), we are writing you now to ask for your further involvement in our work. Help us reach our 50K goal—we can do it!

You see, we view ourselves as advocates for peace, and we believe that achieving peace is indeed the "defining struggle of our time." But we need you to be stakeholders in this work. The Sultans of Satire is just one of the numerous initiatives we undertake to present the arts and cultures of the Middle East and North Africa in a more positive light. Early in January, we had a full house for What's So Funny?, the roundtable discussion among comedians about why and how they do what they do after 9/11. On January 20, it was standing-room only for The Art of Resistance: Arabs, Blacks & Jews Culture Jam, and January 31st's Combatants for Peace event at the Skirball, which we were so pleased to cosponsor, was also packed to the brim. Other programs have included Middle East Women Poets on March 11 and Covering Lebanon on April 3.

Clearly there is a hunger for peace, friendship, diversity and unity that Levantine Cultural Center programs are addressing. In fact, we do not accept the false "clash of civilizations" argument, which has intensified since 9/11, and we feel that we can have a demonstrable influence on the media, the entertainment industry and the general public, by gently yet persistently offering alternative messages about the Middle East.

The artists, activists, scholars, donors and volunteers who work with Levantine Cultural Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, are advocates for peace and cross-cultural dialogue. We need people like you to be stakeholders in this work. We invite you to send your check to Levantine Center, 8424A Santa Monica Blvd., N. 789, West Hollywood CA 90069-4712, or to use one of the buttons below, so that we can meet our urgent $50,000 fundraising goal:

Includes invitation to sit on the Board of Trustees and free admission to all events during the year. You will receive a receipt for your taxes within two weeks.	Includes invitation to sit on the Board of Trustees and free admission to all events during the year. You will receive a receipt for your taxes within two weeks.
Includes invitation to sit on the Board of Trustees, 10 tix (up to $300 value), a free book or CD & event discounts all year. You will receive a receipt for your taxes within two weeks.	Includes 6 tix (up to $200 value), a free book or CD & event discounts all year. You will receive a receipt for your taxes within two weeks.
Includes 4tix (up to $120 value), a free book or CD & event discounts all year.	Includes 2 tix (up to $80 value), a free book or CD & event discounts all year.

We'd like to thank you in advance for taking a moment to consider how you can contribute to our effortsówith a financial contribution; by becoming a member of this center; by volunteering; by helping us move forward with a capital campaign, because the truth is, we're nomads here, if you haven't noticed: Levantine Cultural Center programs happen throughout Los Angeles, but we no longer have our own space. We've been as resourceful as Bedouins, finding sustenance in this desert. However, there comes a time even for Bedouins when wandering from one oasis to the next is exhausting. This is that time.

Please help us reach our goal.

Call us if you have any questions: 310.559.5544 at the office.

On behalf of our Board of Directors—thank you.Pedram Moallemian, Nile El Wardani, Shari Rezai, Noora Elkoussy, Jordan Elgrably, Elio Zarmati