Activists, artists, writers and members of the general public are invited to participate in a community roundtable discussion on the events of 9/11, including the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, the passing of the USA Patriot Act, the "war on terror," Islamophobia, the Green Movement in Iran in 2009, and this year's Arab Spring and just what we can look forward to in the months and years ahead.

For Immediate Release [Los Angeles May 20] The wave of revolutions that has swept over North Africa and the Middle East has come as a shock to many people in the world. These revolutions that spread over the region have been coined the term Arab Spring. What exactly is the Arab Spring and what does it hold in store for the future? In "Rocking the Casbah: Morocco and the Arab Spring," writer and professor Laila Lalami will discuss the North African uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, before focusing on the case of Morocco, which has experienced its own unique response to this unexpected era of change. The lecture will happen June 2, 2011, at the Levantine Cultural Center, 5998 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, 90035.

In "Rocking the Casbah: Morocco and the Arab Spring," writer and professor Laila Lalami will discuss the North African uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, before focusing on the case of Morocco, which has experienced its own unique response to this unexpected era of change.

The United Arab Society at UCLA presents its Annual Arab Culture Show featuring a live performance by the Sultans of Satire, with Mike Batayeh and Noel Elgrably. Join the general public and UCLA students for a night of Arab music, poetry, dance, theater and comedy—the largest event of the year put on by members of the United Arab Society who have been rehearsing for months.

In a letter titled "Ruh Jedida: A New Spirit for 2011," published on the Mideast web site 972mag.com, young Jewish descendants of the Arab and Islamic world living in Israel posted the following letter to their peers in the Middle East and North Africa on April 24, 2011.

We, as the descendents of the Jewish communities of the Arab and Muslim world, the Middle East and the Maghreb, and as the second and third generation of Mizrahi Jews in Israel, are watching with great excitement and curiosity the major role that the men and women of our generation are playing so courageously in the demonstrations for freedom and change across the Arab world. We identify with you and are extremely hopeful for the future of the revolutions that have already succeeded in Tunisia and Egypt. We are equally pained and worried at the great loss of life in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and many other places in the region.