Palestine + 100 poses a question to twelve Palestinian writers: what might your country look like in the year 2048—a century after the tragedies and trauma of what has come to be called the Nakba? Will a lasting peace have been reached, or will future technology only amplify the suffering and mistreatment of Palestinians?
What if all the Palestinians in Israel simply disappeared one day? What would happen next? How would Israelis react? These unsettling questions are posed in Azem’s powerfully imaginative novel.
Twenty-five paintings by world-renowned artist Helen Zughaib accompanied by text based on her favorite stories told by her father about life in Syria and Lebanon in the 1930s and during World War II. Helen Zughaib will have a book talk at MEB on Nov. 14th at 6 pm that you won't want to miss.
Sophie Halaby became the first Arab woman to study art in Paris and lived as a professional painter in Jerusalem. Her life was marked by violence and war, including the Arab Revolt from 1936 to 1939, the Nakba in 1948, and the Six-Day War in 1967. Laura Schor’s compelling biography shines new light on this little-known artist and enriches our understanding of modern Palestinian history. If you're in the DC area, don't miss the book launch with Dr. Schor at MEB on Oct. 16th at 7 pm.
Today, Jews face a choice. We can be loyal to the ethical imperatives at the heart of Judaism—love the stranger, pursue justice, and repair the world. Or we can give our unconditional support to the State of Israel. It is a choice between Judaism as a religion and the nationalist ideology of Zionism. Mark your calendar for Oct. 30. Editor, Carolyn Karcher, and six of the book's contributors will be at MEB for a talk at 6 pm to discuss the book and their own personal narratives.
In case you missed the exhibit at the National Geographic Museum this summer, you can read up on when women ruled ancient Egypt. Cooney’s riveting narrative explores the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra—women who ruled with real power—and shines a piercing light on our own perceptions of women in power today.
Hiba Bou Akar shows how urban planning in Beirut plays on residents’ fears and differences, rumors of war, and paramilitary strategies to organize everyday life. She argues war, in times of peace, is not fought with weapons of violence but involves a more mundane territorial contest for land sales, zoning and planning regulations, and infrastructure projects.
Banking on the State reveals the history of Lebanon’s financial foundations in relation to the rest of the decolonizing world and how the set of arrangements that governed Lebanon’s central bank were dictated by the dynamics of political power and financial profit rather than market forces, national interest or economic sovereignty.
What makes hundreds of listeners cheer ecstatically at the same instant during a live concert by Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum? What is the unspoken language behind a taqsim (traditional instrumental improvisation) that performers and listeners implicitly know? How can Arabic music be so rich and diverse without resorting to harmony? Why is it so challenging to transcribe Arabic music from a recording? The authors answer these and many other questions of a performance culture that is largely passed on orally.
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