BY: Mary Elbanna/Contributing Writer A Religious Calling Archbishop Theodosios, more commonly known as Atallah Hanna, is a Christian Palestinian known for his political activism in Jerusalem. He is the only Orthodox Palestinian Archbishop in the world and has been highly recognized for his commitment to unifying Christians and Muslims within Jerusalem, and speaking out in … Continued
Press release: Alif Institute ATLANTA – July 28, 2016 – At a time of heightened political focus and continued misunderstanding of Americans of Arab descent, ALIF Institute is pleased to announce that it is bringing the first historical full-length documentary about Arab Americans to Atlanta to make its Southeastern US premiere. A THOUSAND AND ONE … Continued
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Michael Banks
physicsworld.com
Physicists are gathering in Jenin, Palestine, for the first ever Palestinian Advanced Physics School. The two-day meeting starts today at the Arab American University in Jenin (AAUJ), and aims to boost physics in the region and provide students with an overview of recent research developments. Some 40 Palestinian physics students studying for Master’s degrees at the AAUJ, the universities of Al Quds, An Najah and Birzeit, as well as the Islamic University of Gaza, are expected to attend.
Co-sponsored by the CERN particle-physics lab and the Sharing Knowledge Foundation, the school will include lectures on physics from prominent researchers including Philip Argyres from the University of Cincinnati, John Ellis from King’s College London, and Giorgio Paolucci, scientific director of the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) – an international X-ray facility being built near Amman, Jordan. It will also include problem-solving sessions, an applied particle-physics tutorial, as well as a panel discussion about life in academia.
“Physics does not respect borders and international collaborations are the engines of rapid scientific progress,” notes University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking, who is a member of the international advisory board for the school. “I am delighted to see that physics education and research in Palestine continues to grow and strengthen its international connections.”
Boosting science
Science in Palestine is expected to be boosted by a number of recent developments. In December 2015, Palestine signed an agreement with CERN that will let researchers join the ATLAS experiment. Previously, only a handful of scientists had worked at the lab, with some students participating in CERN summer student programmes. Palestine is also a member of SESAME, along with Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey. The 2.5 GeV synchrotron is expected to come online later this year, and as well as boosting science in the region in the Middle East, it will foster scientific collaboration and better relations in the region.
Enrolment in university education [in Palestine] is more than 10% higher than the average for the Arab region, and half the students are women.
Yet the school comes at a time when physics in Palestine faces a lack of funding and travel restrictions for students and academics. Universities and other scientific institutions are also suffering from forced closures. “Despite the difficult challenges Palestinians have faced over the past several decades, they made great contributions throughout the region and the world,” says AAUJ physicist Adli Saleh , who is helping to organize the school. “Enrolment in university education is more than 10% higher than the average for the Arab region, and half the students are women, a ratio among the highest in the world.”
“Remarkable drive”
“Despite obstacles and lack of support for fundamental research, we all noticed the remarkable drive to achieve good physics from both professors and students,” says Mario Martone from the University of Cincinnati, who is on the international organizing committee for the school, told physicsworld.com. “[The school] will be a remarkable contribution to provide international support for the growing Palestinian physics programme.”
The school was created by Scientists for Palestine – a newly founded international group that promotes and supports science in Palestine. It is hoped that it will become an annual event, with the group planning other scientific activities in the coming years. “We plan to hold a similar school next year with a focus on condensed-matter physics, establish a mentoring programme for Palestinian students, as well as try to organize activities in Gaza,” adds Martone.
Source: physicsworld.com
BY: Clara Ana Ruplinger/Contributing Writer The Occupation of the American Mind is a sophisticated and in depth analysis of how Israel’s public relations manufactures misguided support for its occupation of Palestine in American media. The documentary featured scholarly commentators who have become experts on the Israeli propaganda machine. It is conceivable to think that Israel’s occupation of … Continued
By Mnar Muhawesh Mint Press News MINNEAPOLIS — Following the Holocaust, the world community — led by the United States and Britain — sought to create a European Jewish-only state. This humanitarian move, though, utterly failed in respecting the humanity of the land’s indigenous inhabitants — Christian and Muslim Palestinians. Starting in December of 1947, … Continued
BY: Kristina Perry and Clara Ana Ruplinger/Contributing Writers In the U.S. today, Arabic is a language that has been highly stigmatized. Individuals speaking Arabic have found that using the language, or even looking Arab, can make a person seem so threatening that they can be thrown off of planes, harassed, or even attacked. In the climate of … Continued
BY: Clara Ana Ruplinger/Contributing Writer Edward Said, notable academic and scholar of post-colonial criticism, was born on November 1, 1935 in Jerusalem, which was then part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Born to a Lebanese mother and Christian Palestinian father, he became an American after his father gave military service to the U.S. during … Continued
BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer The Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a list of twenty ways to prevent and respond to hate incidents against Arab Americans in schools. The report also applies to Muslim and Sikh students, who are often targeted for their religious head coverings. The DOJ released … Continued
Mondoweiss Editors
The following press release was sent to us by Scientists for Palestine:
From July 26th to 28th Palestinian physicists and the international group “Scientists for Palestine,” are organizing the first ever “Palestinian Advanced Physics School” at the Arab American University in Jenin. At the school, advanced Palestinian master students in physics from several Palestinian universities (Al Quds University, Birzeit University, An Najah University, the Arab American University in Jenin (AAUJ), and the Islamic University in Gaza) will listen to lectures and engage in scientific discussion with internationally leading physicists in topics at the frontiers of physics research. Lecturers at the school will include Philip Argyres, professor of theoretical particle physics at the University of Cincinnati in the United States; John Ellis, the Clerk Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics at King’s College London and visiting scientist at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland (home of the Large Hadron Collider, where the Higgs boson was discovered in 2012); and Giorgio Paolucci, Scientific Director of SESAME (a synchrotron light-source laboratory in Jordan established by a group of Middle Eastern countries including Palestine and scheduled to begin operation in 2017). The school is organized by physicists from the universities of Amsterdam, AAUJ, Birzeit, Cambridge, CERN, Cincinnati, and Southampton.
Professor Stephen Hawking, University of Cambridge, member of the International Advisory Board for the “Palestinian Advanced Physics School”, expressed his support for the school:
I am very glad to see the first Palestinian Advanced Physics School being organised in Jenin. The school provides an opportunity for Palestinian master students to learn more about the mysteries of the universe, and perhaps some of the students will become inspired and help unravelling them in the future. Physics does not respect borders and international collaborations are the engines of rapid scientific progress. I am delighted to see that physics education and research in Palestine continues to grow and strengthen its international connections. I wish the students the best of luck!
Physics has a strong tradition in Palestine. For example, the bi-annual “Palestinian Conference on Modern Trends in Mathematics and Physics”, organized by Palestinian academics since 2008, bring together scientists, engineers, and mathematicians not only from Palestine but also from around the world. This year the conference will be held at AAUJ, immediately following the “Palestinian Advanced Physics School”.
Flyer for the Palestinian Advanced Physics School
However, physics higher education and research in Palestine faces many challenges, including some common to many countries, such as lack of funding and heavy teaching loads for professors, as well as unique challenges from the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, including restrictions on mobility of students and academics, international isolation, raids and forced closures of Palestinian universities and other scientific institutions, and indictment or imprisonment without trial of individual academics.
Nevertheless, interest in physics education and research in Palestine continues to grow rapidly not only within Palestine but also throughout the international scientific community. In December 2015, Palestine signed an International Cooperation Agreement with CERN, signaling Palestine’s increasing involvement in cutting-edge scientific research at one of the best laboratories in the world.
The organization of the school has benefited tremendously from the contribution of a Palestinian based organizing committee. Adli Saleh, associate Professor at the Arab American University expressed his optimism for the years to come:
“The Palestinian people, while they continue to yearn for freedom from the heavy weight of the occupation, place a very high value on education, particularly in the areas of science and technology to realize their full potential. Despite the difficult challenges Palestinians faced over the past several decades, they made great contributions throughout the region and the world. Enrollment in university education is over 10% higher than the average for the Arab region, and half the students are women, a ratio among the highest in the world”.
Wafaa Khater, Birzeit University Physics Department chair, also stressed how the school could help students to be successful in academia:
“Being one of a few female faculty members in physics in Palestine, I am so happy to see such large number of excellent female students participating in ‘the Palestinian Advanced Physics School’. I am hopeful that they will be able to pursue a career in physics either in academia or research. And this school is an excellent opportunity for all participating students to meet scientists from the international community and learn from them. This opens up new windows for our students to continue their higher education in prestigious universities and research centers around the globe.”
To help meet the rapidly-increasing demand for high-level scientific education and collaboration in Palestine, physicists from around the world created “Scientists for Palestine,” an international group whose goals are to promote and support science in Palestine and to help integrate Palestine into the international scientific community. The group’s first action was to establish the Palestinian Advanced Physics School as an annual event, with plans for many further schools, conferences, workshops, and other scientific activities in Palestine in the coming years. In the words of John Ellis, “these are promising times for physicists in Palestine, I’m excited to participate in this School, and we welcome support from other members of the international physics community.”
Source: mondoweiss.net
By BEN RAWLENCE
New York Times
THE WAY TO THE SPRING
Life and Death in Palestine
By Ben Ehrenreich
Illustrated. 428 pp. Penguin Press. $28.
“It is perhaps unavoidable and surely unfortunate that any book about the region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea requires introduction, and some small degree of defensiveness on the part of the author.” So writes Ben Ehrenreich, a journalist and novelist, in the (avoidable) introduction to his love letter to Palestine, “The Way to the Spring.”
I say avoidable because, as Ehrenreich acknowledges on the same page, the current debate about Israel-Palestine is virulently partisan. His exposition of the politics of storytelling (“choosing certain stories and not others means taking a side”) and the task of the writer (“to battle untruth”) is eloquent, though I fear more likely to deter than move those who have already made up their minds on the issue. His cause would be better served by letting his stories do the talking, for they are both heartbreaking and eye-opening.
The book begins with Bassem Tamimi, whom Ehrenreich met in 2011. Bassem is a resident of the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank, which had been holding weekly demonstrations against the Israeli occupation — protesting the grabbing of the village spring (its water supply) and the arrest and detention of villagers, as well as the death of one of them, a 13-year-old boy. The intimacy of Ehrenreich’s reporting domesticates the violence and injustice, thus rendering it more shocking: A fragment of a tear gas grenade and broken lawn furniture mingle beneath a fruiting mulberry tree in the garden. Children proudly show where an Israeli bullet scarred one of the rooms. Bassem’s wife, Nariman, reads Dan Brown in Arabic translation outside, at night, watching the brake lights of cars at the checkpoint down the hill.
The people of Nabi Saleh are among the few who still regularly protest and resist the occupation, and Ehrenreich accompanies them on marches, getting tear-gassed more times than I can count. But this is not the story he has come for, not the only one he is interested in. He spends enough time among the family of Bassem and others to realize that “the people of Nabi Saleh were crafting a narrative of their own struggle.” They needed “to see themselves a certain way.” And this is the heart of the book: the stories people tell themselves to survive.
Next we meet Hani Amer, whose farm lay on the route of the infamous wall. After a long struggle, Amer won the right to have his house and some of his land preserved but enclosed like a bubble with the wall divided into two loops. The Israeli Army built a gate that they opened for 15 minutes every 24 hours. Nonetheless, within the space, he has planted olive, fig, apple, peach and plum trees, vegetables of all kinds. “Instead of seeing the wall,” he says, “I try to see the garden.”
The narrative doesn’t linger for long with any one character. Like an overeager tour guide, Ehrenreich has too much to show us and too much to say. He pulls us back to Ramallah to see the incremental theft that is the process of a new settlement going up. Then to the refurbished muqata’a, the official residence of the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to illustrate how the building works as a “palimpsest of 80 years of colonial and now neocolonial rule,” designed to create the impression of a state without the substance. Most disturbing is “planet Hebron,” where the list of abuses considered normal includes soldiers firing tear gas at schoolchildren to mark the beginning and end of each day of school.
We meet a new cast of characters in Hebron, and another in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Kheir, including the unforgettable vegetarian pastoralist Eid Suleiman al-Hathalin, who makes model bulldozers out of scrap and whose ambition is to have one of them exhibited at the Caterpillar company’s museum in Peoria, Ill. In between are set-piece “interludes” examining the mechanics of the occupation — the “humiliation machine” of the checkpoint at Qalandia, the apartment blocks of Rawabi, near Ramallah, not, as the promotional materials and newspaper reports would have you believe, a “city of hope,” but in fact a tangle of financial interests tying Palestinian elites to Israeli developers and Qatari financiers.
Ehrenreich’s vivid, lyrical, sometimes snarling prose overwhelms the attempt at formal structure, however. The reportage motors forward, propelled by Ehrenreich’s wonder at the outrageous curiosities of the occupation. In Umm al-Kheir the Israeli Army dispatches a platoon to confiscate a portable toilet and demolish a bread oven. In Hebron, a settler scales a wall and snares himself in barbed wire to request that his Palestinian neighbor remove a Palestinian flag. “The citizens of each city are trained from infancy to unsee the other city and its residents,” Ehrenreich writes, citing a work of science fiction.
The book is not a polemic, Ehrenreich says in the introduction. This is argument by way of anecdote. The French writer Jean Genet also wrote a passionate homage to Palestine (“Prisoner of Love”) and also pondered the question of how the battle for truth is waged: “It’s not enough just to write a few anecdotes,” he warned. “What one has to do is create and develop an image or a profusion of images.” In those terms, Ehrenreich’s haunting, poignant and memorable stories add up to a weighty contribution to the Palestinian side of the scales of history.
Source: www.nytimes.com
By Andrea Blum
Press and Guide
Olympic boxer Sadam Ali is one of 10 prominent Arab Americans being immortalized in a permanent exhibit at the Arab American National Museum. Photo courtesy of AANM
A world-renowned engineer, a comic book icon and an Olympic boxer are among the 10 prominent Arab Americans being immortalized in a permanent exhibit at the Arab American National Museum.
The innovators are being recognized for their ambition, talent and vision with spots in the “Making an Impact” exhibit, which pays tribute to Arab Americans who have made lasting impacts in their field and forged enduring legacies by influencing people on a global scale.
To close its 10th anniversary year, the museum welcomed the 10 new members to the permanent display.
A highly interactive gallery that tells the story of hundreds of Arab Americans and organizations, “Making an Impact” opened in 2005 and since has inducted everyone from activists, physicians and politicians to athletes, entertainers and labor leaders.
Within the exhibit, visitors can see multimedia displays as well as a plethora of artifacts signifying each member’s achievements.
Palestinian American comedian and actress Maysoon Zayid visited the museum May 7 as she officially became a part of the “Making an Impact” exhibit. Her visit included a night of two comedy performances in the museum’s Aliya Hassan Auditorium, where more than 200 guests enjoyed an evening of laughter.
The 2016 inductees also feature Egyptian American engineer Rana El Kaliouby, Palestinian American comedian and politician Dean Obeidallah, Egyptian American designer Karim Rashid, Syrian American hip-hop artist Omar Offendum, Jordanian American poet Suheir Hammad, Lebanese American DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns, Yemini American boxer Sadam Ali, Syrian American National Hockey League All-Star Brandon Saad and Sudanese American activist Dr. Nawal Nour.
“It’s important to recognize the significant contributions Arab Americans have made throughout the past century that have resonated across so many different industries,” AANM Director Devon Akmon said. “Many of the recent ‘Making an Impact’ inductees are young and still very active. Being inducted at this point in their lives speaks volumes to the hard work and innovativeness of these individuals. There is so much potential and endless possibilities for what the future holds.”
Since 2005, the “Making an Impact” exhibit has spotlighted world-renowned surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, consumer advocate and presidential candidate Ralph Nader, White House journalist Helen Thomas, Indy Car racing legend Bobby Rahal, celebrated woodworker Sam Maloof, multiplatinum recording artist Paula Abdul and Professional Football Hall of Famer Bill George among others.
The exhibit is free to view with museum admission. The Arab American National Museum is at 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn.
The 2016 Making an Impact inductees are:
Sadam Ali (sports)
At age 8, Yemeni American Sadam Ali was inspired to start boxing by Yemeni British boxer “Prince” Naseem Hamed. When he was 17, Ali won the featherweight division of the 2006 National Golden Gloves Championship and a year later won the lightweight division. He represented Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. As a professional in the welterweight division, Ali remained undefeated for the first six years of his career.
Suheir Hammad (creative arts)
Born in Amman, Jordan, as a Palestinian refugee, Suheir Hammad’s poetry and writing often focus on the struggles of fitting in as an immigrant and as a woman in a sexist society. She has won several accolades over the years, including a Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event as a writer and performer for “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam” on Broadway. Her poem “First Writing Since” gave voice to Arab Americans following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2009, she received the George Ellenbogen Poetry Award from the Arab American Book Awards for her poem “Breaking Points.”
Geoff Johns (creative arts)
Growing up in Grosse Pointe, Johns’ interest in comics began when he found a stash of them in his grandmother’s attic. He wrote dozens of books for iconic characters including Superman, The Flash and Aquaman. As chief creative officer of DC Entertainment, Johns created the first Arab American superhero, Simon Baz. Introduced as a Dearborn native, the character became a new Green Lantern in 2012. Johns has since expanded DC’s reach into film and television. In 2012, AANM’s Russell J. Ebeid Library & Resource Center established a graphic novel collection in his honor.
Rana El Kaliouby (science)
Rana El Kaliouby pioneered emotion-recognition technology with her app Affectiva. Her interest started while working on her doctorate at Cambridge University. Away from her family and friends in Egypt, El Kaliouby wished her computer could better convey her emotional state. Her technology accurately reads minute changes in facial expressions that convey emotions. El Kaliouby worked as a research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a member of the Women in Engineering Hall of Fame.
Dr. Nawal Nour (activism)
Born to a Sudanese father and an American mother, Dr. Nawal Nour created the African Women’s Health Practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The Harvard-affiliated facility provides services to immigrant women affected by female genital cutting — a harmful practice Nour dedicated her obstetrics career to ending. In 2003, she received a MacArthur “genius grant” in recognition of her work.
Dean Obeidallah (entertainment)
Born in New Jersey to a Palestinian father and an Italian mother, Dean Obeidallah created a career as a comedian and political satirist. Obeidallah was featured in the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour and co-founded the annual New York Arab American Comedy Festival with fellow “Making an Impact” inductee Maysoon Zayid. In 2013, he co-directed and co-produced the award-winning documentary “The Muslims are Coming!” with comedian and filmmaker Negin Farsad.
Omar Offendum (entertainment)
Hip-hop artist, poet, designer and activist Omar Offendum’s music frequently speaks to events in the Arab World, including several songs that went viral during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. His collaborators include hip-hop artists The Phillistines, Mr. Tibbz and The Narcicyst. Born in Saudi Arabia to Syrian parents, Offendum has raised money for various humanitarian relief organizations through his performances.
Karim Rashid (creative arts)
“Time” magazine once called Karim Rashid “the Poet of Plastic” and “the most famous industrial designer in all the Americas.” Born in Cairo and raised in Canada before moving to the U.S., Rashid has designed for many products and brands, including luxury goods, furniture, lighting and even a New York City manhole cover. His work is in museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Brandon Saad (sports)
Brandon Saad is one of the few Arab Americans to play in the National Hockey League. He grew up playing hockey in Pittsburgh and after high school he quickly advanced through the amateur ranks. At 18, he was drafted to play with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011. As a Blackhawk, Saad won two Stanley Cups in 2013 and 2015. He started playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2015-16 season and made his first NHL All-Star Game appearance.
Maysoon Zayid (entertainment)
Maysoon Zayid once described herself as “a Palestinian Muslim virgin with cerebral palsy from New Jersey, who is an actress, comedian and activist.” Zayid’s acting career began on the long-running soap opera “As the World Turns.” She appeared in Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” and in 2003, she co-founded the New York Arab American Comedy Festival with Dean Obeidallah.
Source: www.pressandguide.com
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