Dr. Joseph Massad
Associate Professor in Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University; a historian, political scientist, a leading scholar of Arab culture,  and author of several books and articles.

"Semitism and the Palestinians":  A lecture given by Dr. Massad at Rice University last month, addressing questions such as: What is Semitism and what does it have to do with the Palestinians? What is the relationship that Palestinians have to the Semite? Does the history of Semitism have anything to do with Palestinians? If so, what is it?

Dr. Azzedine Layachi
Assistant professor at Saint John's University in New York, Collaborating Researcher at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, and author of several articles and books including The United States and North Africa: A Cognitive Approach to Foreign Policy.

Algeria:  Its history, culture, civilization, the political turmoil that has affected the country for several years, and the recent deadly bombings on the Constitutional Council and the offices of the United Nations that killed many people in the Algerian capital Algiers.

Dr. Joseph Gerson
Director of Programs and the Peace & Economic Security Program at the American Friends Service Committee, who's work focuses on challenging & overcoming U.S. global hegemony: its preparations for and threats to initiate nuclear war, and its military domination of the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. He has authored several articles and books, including the newly released book "Empire and the Bomb: How the U.S. Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World".

Dr. Gerson is author of "The Sun Never Sets", a book about U.S. military bases overseas. We will talk with him about the arrangement made last week between the U.S. and Iraq which will commit the next U.S. president to indefinitely maintaining a 50,000 strong U.S. foreign legion in Iraq, and the impact of such agreement on the region. We will also talk about the real threat of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, and much more.

Laila El-Haddad
Journalist and writer based in the Gaza Strip, a regular contributor to the Guardian Unlimited, and a correspondent for Al-Jazeera Satellite TV Channel's English language website.  She also maintains her own blog "Raising Yousuf: a diary of a mother under occupation", and has just published a new article titled "Annapolis, as seen from Gaza".

A discussion about the Annapolis Conference, and how is it viewed by Palestinians living inside occupied Palestine and over 6 million Palestinian refugees living outside Palestine.  Is this a real attempt at reviving peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, and how is this conference any different than many previous conferences and agreements that are yet to be honored and implemented?

ACC's Annual Gala
The Arab American Cultural and Community Center (ACC) held its 12^th annual “Unity and Friendship” Gala benefiting the ACC and its charitable programs on November 10, 2007. This year's theme was "A Rich Heritage, Foundation for Our Future".

Speeches and remarks made at the Gala by Mr. Ahmad Alyasin, ACC President, Mr. Abraham Nabil, ACC Vice President, City of Houston Council Member Peter Brown, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Ms. Nuzha Petro, Gala Chair, Dr. Abdulrahman Alshaya, Consul General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Houston, Mr. Bill Shepard, General Manager of Riyad Bank Houston Agency, Mr. Imad Abdullah, ACC board member and founding member, Dr. Aziz Shaibani, President of the Arab American Medical Association, Mr. Anan Qaddumi, ACC board member, and Ms. Ruth Ann Skaff, Director of Development for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

Wejdan Jaber
A Muslim Palestinian, awarded a USAID “Clinton Scholarship” in 2000 and a Master’s in Public Administration and International Management from the Monterey Institute for International Studies in California. Born in Gaza, she currently lives in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Abir Kopty
A Christian Palestinian living in Nazareth city, nominated as one of twelve “People of the Year” in Israel in 2005, and served as Media Coordinator & Spokeswoman for Mossawa, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel. She has a Master’s in Political Communication from London.

Hagit Ra’anan
A Jewish Israeli living in Tel Aviv, member of the Bereaved Families Forum and founder of Bridges of Peace, who once served in the Israeli army. Her parents were part of the Irgun, a clandestine Zionist paramilitary organization, and her husband was killed during the 1982 Israeli war on Lebanon.

Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared Vision....  Perspectives on coping with war and building peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Three women, a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim, who are living the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will share their experiences and hopes for a just peace, call for an end to occupation and the ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians, and talk about their work for a peaceful future and what must be done to improve today’s deteriorating situation.

Dahr Jamail
Award-winning independent journalist, reporter and photographer who visited Iraq and several other Arab countries and has written extensively about the Middle East and especially Iraq, and author of the newly released book Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq.

Dahr's new book Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq which exposes the humanitarian crisis developing in Iraq and the contradictions between most media reporting and the facts on the ground; a book described by Stephen Kinzer, former foreign desk chief at the New York Times as "International journalism at its best".
 

Membership Drive

Robert Fisk's Speech
Audio clip of a speech made by the award-winning British Journalist, Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, and author of several books and articles including The Great War for Civilization: the Conquest of the Middle East, and Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon.
 

Membership Drive

Edward Said's Speech
Audio clip of a speech made by the late professor Edward Said, Palestine's foremost political commentator, an internationally renowned writer and scholar, one of the best-known and respected Arab Americans who was a giant figure in the Arab-American community, and for Arabs in the Middle East and across the world.
 

Membership Drive

Dr. James Zogby
Founder and president of the Arab American Institute, co-founder and served as the Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations and the history of the Arab American community, author of several books and articles, and host of "Viewpoint” TV program.

The upcoming 2007 National Leadership Conference, AAI's Yalla Vote '08 election campaign, the importance of Arab American political participation in the U.S. electoral process, the U.S. Foreign Policy towards the Middle East, and the role Arab Americans should play in making a difference, and much more.

The Growing Iraqi Refugee Crisis
A special report produced by Making Contact (a weekly international radio program) about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been forced to flee their war-torn country to nearby neighboring countries--countries that either don't want them or can't take care of them.  In this special report, correspondent Dahr Jamail takes us to the streets of Damascus, Syria where we hear from the Iraqi refugees themselves and the organizations trying to assist them.

Eman Abdul Rahid, Iraqi woman whose arm was broken in a car bomb; Adhem Mardini, UNHCR public information officer, Damascus office; Abu Noor, teacher; Omar Jassim, laborer; Rathman Shakr, former detainee and torture survivor; Adnan, ex-Army officer; Dr. Omar Al-Khattab, young Iraqi doctor; Sarrah, student of dentistry; Hummam al-Mukhtar, 17 year old Iraqi student; Hussam, 22 year old Iraqi student; Adel Al-Jabbah, Amir Alaby and Abdel Aziz, Syrian shop owners.

Rami Khouri
Internationally syndicated columnist, book author, Director of Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, lecturer at several universities in the U.S. and the Middle East, and Editor at Large of the Beirut based Daily Star newspaper.

"From Baghdad to Beirut: What’s Right and Wrong with American Policy in the Middle East": A lecture given by Rami Khouri at James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy on September 20, 2007, as part of The Arab World, History, Politics, and Culture Lecture Series.

Dr. Alice Rothchild
A Jewish American physician who has worked in the health care reform and women’s movements for many years, but has focused much of her energy on understanding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  She is author of the newly released book Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience.

Dr. Rothchild's new book which records the intimate journey of a Jewish American physician traveling and working within Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, and her unique personal insight into the conflict.

"Let the Conversation Begin"
Speeches made at the 6^th Annual Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR Houston) Fundraising Banquet held on September 8, 2007 in Houston.  The speeches cover various topics, but they all focus on the theme "Let the Conversation Begin".

Speeches for Dr. Tareq Hussein, CAIR-Houston President, Congressman Nick Lampson's Proclamation, Councilman M.J. Khan, State Representative Dora Olivo, Congressman Al Green, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and Hussam Ayloush, CAIR-Southern California Executive Director.

Rick Rowley
Journalist and independent filmmaker with Big Noise Films, and co-producer of the special film documentary "The Ghost of Anbar" which aired on Al-Jazeera English Satellite TV Channel, who just returned to the U.S. from a month and a half stay in Iraq.

The latest situation in occupied Iraq and Rick's account of what he witnessed there, and a discussion about the testimony given Monday before a joint session of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees by Army General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in occupied Iraq.

Dr. Shaza Ismail
A specialist in early Christian art and architecture, a lecturer at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management at Helwan University in Cairo, Egypt, faculty teaching at Ain Shams University and the Higher Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management at both Cairo and Nasr cities in Egypt, and a Fulbright and visiting Scholar at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Egypt: its history, culture, civilization, tourism, and much more.

Dr. Ussama Makdisi
Associate Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University, a leading expert on Arab and Ottoman history, comparative colonialism, American involvement in the Middle East, and the Arab-Israeli conflict, and author of many books and articles who just returned to Houston from Lebanon.

The fighting between the Lebanese Army and Fateh Al-Islam group at Nahr Al-Bared Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon and the status of the Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave the camp, the current situation in Lebanon after one year of the Israeli war on it, the internal Lebanese politics, and much more.

Peter Mandaville
Co-director of the Center for Global Studies and associate professor of Government and Islamic Studies at George Mason University, author of Global Political Islam (2007) and Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma (2001), and editor of several volumes of collected essays.

The Islamist groups in the Middle East, especially in the Arab World... their participation in politics, and their affect on the political system in their own countries and the world in general, mainly the West.

Ali Abunimah
Palestinian-American, Vice-president of the Arab-American Action Network, a well-known media analyst, writer and commentator on Middle East and Arab-American affairs, and co-creator and editor of Electronic Intifada and Electronic Iraq.

The latest situation in occupied Palestine, the Fateh-Hamas conflict, and much more.

Trina Zahller
Campaign associate with Oil Change International who said Tuesday "The Bush administration and Congress need to recognize that virtually all sectors of Iraqi society are opposed to the proposed oil law, and immediately cease pressure on the Iraqi government to pass it."

The proposed Iraqi Oil Law and the U.S. occupation government's involvement with the oil law, and the new poll just released which shows the majority of Iraqis oppose plans to open the country's oil fields to foreign investments.... what it means and will that make any difference for the Iraqi government and the U.S. occupation government.
 

Membership Drive

Ambassador Edward Peck
Former U.S. Chief of Mission in Iraq and former U.S. Ambassador to Mauritania, who also served as Deputy Director of the White House Task Force on Terrorism and as a Foreign Service Officer in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.

The U.S.-led war on Iraq, the latest developments in Gaza (Ambassador Peck had visited occupied Palestine several times and met high Hamas officials), the U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East especially the Arab World, and much more.

Laila Al-Arian
A freelance journalist based in New York who currently works for The Nation magazine where she focuses on the Iraq War.  She has also worked for USA Today and has written for United Press International, the Dupont Current newspaper and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

New disturbing information revealed in an article to be published in the July 30, 2007 issue of The Nation magazine titled “The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness”, in which Laila Al-Arian, co-author of the article, details interviews with fifty U.S. combat veterans. Laila's article says "These combat veterans, some of whom bear deep emotional and physical scars, and many of whom have come to oppose the occupation, gave vivid, on-the-record accounts. They described a brutal side of the war rarely seen on television screens or chronicled in newspaper accounts. Their stories, recorded and typed into thousands of pages of transcripts, reveal disturbing patterns of behavior by American troops in Iraq. Dozens of those interviewed witnessed Iraqi civilians, including children, dying from American firepower.

Dr. Dina Khoury
Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at Georgetown University, an expert in history of the Middle East, who offers courses in Islamic and modern Middle Eastern history.

"Understanding the Sunni-Shi'i Divide in Iraq": A lecture made by Dr. Dina Khoury at Rice University in November of 2006.

Greta Berlin
A U.S. peace activist, member of Women in Black Los Angeles, an Israeli-women's peace group, and volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, who has visited the occupied Palestinian territories several times, and was shot by the Israeli occupation forces.

Greta's upcoming trip to Gaza via a sail boat. Greta's intension is to challenge Israel's claim that "Gaza is no longer occupied and its people are free".  We will also talk to her about her experience in occupied Palestine during her past visits.

Ambassador Turki Al-Faisal
Former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States, and former head of the Saudi Foreign Intelligence.

Dr. Tariq Ramadan
Professor of Islamic Studies, and President of the European think tank: European Muslim Network.

Speeches made by Ambassador Turki Al-Faisal and Mayor Bill White at the U.S.-Arab Economic Forum held in Houston last year, and a speech made by Dr. Tariq Ramadan to the Muslim Public Affairs Council Convention about the Muslim identity in western societies.

James Paul
Executive Director of Global Policy Forum, which has just released a 117-page independent report titled "War and Occupation in Iraq".  He is a prominent figure in the NGO advocacy community at the UN, and a well-known speaker and writer on the UN and global policy issues.

"War and Occupation in Iraq". A newly released independent report on Iraq prepared by Global Policy Forum that highlights the enormous violence of the occupation forces and covers many issues such as the destruction of cultural heritage, indiscriminate and especially injurious weapons, unlawful detention, abuse and torture of prisoners, attacks on cities, killing of civilians, murder and atrocities, displacement and mortality, corruption, fraud and gross malfeasance, long-term bases and the new U.S. embassy compound, Iraqi public opinion and the occupation, and cost of the war and occupation.

Dr. Robert Jensen
Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, Director of the College of Communication Senior Fellows Program and author of the book "Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity".

"Iraq, Iran, Israel: Current Crisis in a Historical Context", a speech made by Dr. Robert Jensen at the IIT Alumni of Greater Houston on April 7, 2007.

Dr. Mona El-Farra
Palestinian physician, women's rights activist, educator, mother, internationally-recognized human rights leader, vice president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Director of Gaza projects for the California-based Middle East Children's Alliance, who lives in Gaza.

Life in the occupied Palestinian territories, the situation for women and children, health conditions and how Palestinians are struggling to survive and build a future while enduring military attacks, economic sanctions, and isolation over the past 40 years of brutal Israeli military occupation, and how the international community can join Palestinians in their efforts to secure justice.

Pacifica
National
Special:

Cages and Dreams: 40 Years of Occupation, 60 Years of Dispossession in Palestine

photo by Nora Barrows-Friedman

Sunday, June 10^th marks four decades of Israel's illegal military occupation of Palestine, against a backdrop of nearly sixty years of ethnic transfer and displacement.

On this special, Pacifica investigates the cause and effect of Israel's continuous military occupation. Hear Palestinian voices from the older generation and youth movements, from refugee camps and the diaspora.

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh
Member of the Steering Committee of the US Campaign to End the Occupation, member of the board of the Association for One Democratic State in Israel/Palestine, member of the executive committee of the Palestinian American Congress, and co-founder of Triangle Middle East Dialogue, Carolina Middle East Association, and Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition.

The 40^th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and the Syrian Golan Heights, and the 59^th anniversary of Al-Nakbah or the Catastrophe.

Samar Assad
Executive Director of The Palestine Center, a Washington, DC-based think tank dedicated to analysis of U.S. policy toward Palestine and the Middle East, and former communications advisor to the PLO Negotiations Support Unit in the West Bank.

The fighting in Lebanon between the Lebanese Army and Fateh Al-Islam organization, the conditions of the Palestinian refugees inside Lebanon, and the situation in occupied Palestine with the latest escalation of the daily Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip as we approach the 40th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights.

Selective audio excerpts from interviews and speeches made by:
 
Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, born to a Jewish mother and an Iraqi father who put her medical career on hold to visit with family members in Iraq
 
Tariq Ali, long-time anti-war activist and author
 
Dr. Edward Said, Palestine's foremost political commentator

 

Membership Drive

Membership Drive

Dr. As'ad AbuKhalil
Arab-American scholar, professor of political science at California State University-Stanislaus, visiting professor at UC-Berkeley, and author of many books and articles including America and the New "War on Terrorism": Who Split the World into Two?, and Bin Laden, Islam, and America's New "War on Terrorism".

Dr. Abukhalil's participation in the upcoming Houston Palestine Film Festival, and his views on the current crisis in the Middle East.
 

Membership Drive

Raed Jarrar
Iraq Project Director for Global Exchange, an Iraqi analyst and contributing writer for Foreign Policy in Focus, member of the steering committee of the NY-based coalition United For Peace and Justice, Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee, and an Iraqi blogger and architect who lived in Iraq through the U.S.-led invasion.

The current situation in occupied Iraq, the U.S. escalation of attacks, the increased call within the U.S. for the Bush Administration to end its military occupation, and what might be the solution now to end the tragedy in occupied Iraq.

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi
Palestinian scholar, author, politician, activist, member of the Palestinian Legislative Assembly; recipient of the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize; and founder and chair of MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy.

The current situation in occupied Palestine under the Israeli military occupation, Israeli colonies, the Apartheid Wall, military check points; the new Palestinian national unity government and the boycott and international pressure imposed on the Palestinians since Hamas won in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections; the role the U.S. is playing towards occupied Palestine; the Arab initiative for peace with Israel; and Dr. Ashrawi's vision for a comprehensive and acceptable peace to the Palestinians.

Dr. Mohamed Rabie
Professor of International political economy who taught at several Arab and American universities, publisher of numerous books including The Politics of Foreign Aid; A Vision for the Transformation of the Middle East; The Middle East Peace Process, and The US-PLO Dialogue, who also drafted the original document that guided negotiations and coordinated secret contacts between the US and the PLO.

The Politics of Foreign Aid, the US Foreign Assistance and Aid to Israel, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process and what it takes to revive it, the situation in Iraq, the US Foreign Policy towards the Middle East, and much more.

Huda Abu Arqoub, Palestinian Muslim from Hebron and Educational Consultant with the Palestinian Ministry of Education, Tal Dor, Israeli Jew from Haifa who's work urges her society to critically examine both its past and its present, and Amal Nassar, Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem, a physiotherapist for infants and a nurse.

Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared Vision....  Perspectives on coping with war and building peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Three women, a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim, who are living the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will share their experiences and hopes for a just peace, call for an end to occupation and the ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians, and talk about their work for a peaceful future and what must be done to improve today’s deteriorating situation.

Rostam Pourzal
An Iranian-American political analyst, independent researcher, human rights activist, and president of the Campaign Against Sanctions & Military Intervention in Iran, who has written extensively on U.S.-Iranian relations and co-authored "Don't Iraq Iran".

The rising tension between the U.S. and Iran, the siege Washington and London intent on imposing on Iran, Tehran's capture and release of the 15 British sailors, the war on Iraq and its impact on Iran, and how all this affects the Gulf region including relations with Arab countries in the Middle East.

Dr. Samer Shehata
Assistant Professor of Arab Politics at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he teaches courses on Arab and Middle East politics, comparative politics, U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, Egyptian politics, culture and politics in the Arab world and other subjects.

Egypt's new controversial constitutional amendments, the large opposition block within Egypt to the constitutional changes, the major boycott of Monday's vote on the  referendum, the decision of Egypt's judges to reject the referendum results, and a discussion on whether or not external governments were pressuring Egypt to amend its constitution.

Aseel AlBanna
An Iraqi peace activist, co-founder and active member of Iraqi Voices for Peace.  Born and raised in Baghdad, Ms. AlBanna studied architecture and urban studies and is currently based in Washington, D.C.

The fourth anniversary of the devastating war on Iraq, the current situation inside Iraq under the U.S. foreign military occupation, the Iraqi refugees problem, the impact of war on Iraqi women and children, the role of Iraqi women in rebuilding their country, and possible solutions to the problem to achieve peace in Iraq.

Nidal Ibrahim
Executive Director of the Arab American Institute in Washington, founder and former publisher of the Arab American Business Magazine, and winner of the 2003 “Ethnic Pulitzer” for best international affairs story.

Ralph Nader
Prominent Lebanese-American, political activist, two-time presidential candidate, consumer advocate, lawyer, one of the most unique, important, and controversial political figures of the past half century, author of countless books and publications, who was honored by Time magazine as One of the 100 Most Influential Americans of the Twentieth Century.

Nader's newly released book The Seventeen Traditions that offers insight into his past and the impact it has had on him today, and the new film documentary "An Unreasonable Man" that traces the life and career of Ralph Nader, currently running in theaters around the country, including Houston.

Robert Fisk
Award-winning British Journalist, Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, and author of several books and articles including The Great War for Civilization: the Conquest of the Middle East, and Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon.

Current State of the Middle East, Media, Government and the re-shaping of the Middle East. Topics covered by Robert Fisk during a  recent speech at the sixth annual convention for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Long Beach, California.  Arab Voices will air the entire speech on February 28 (we had aired a short audio clip from Fisk's speech back in January).

Bert Sacks
Peace activist and member for the Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq, who visited Iraq nine times and was fined $10,000 by the U.S. administration for carrying medical supplies and toys to Iraqi children. Mr. Sacks plans to continue to bring aid to the people of Iraq in violation of U.S. laws he believes are wrong.

The situation in occupied Iraq especially the humanitarian crisis witnessed by Mr. Sacks, and the petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by Mr. Sacks to take up his case.

Laila Halaby
Arab American writer and author of the new novel Once in a Promised Land. Laila was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a Jordanian father and an American mother. She speaks 4 languages and has a Master’s degree in Arabic literature. Her first novel West of the Jordan won the prestigious PEN Beyond Margins Award. Her newly released novel Once in a Promised Land weaves Arab folklore and aching honesty to portray the lives of a Jordanian American couple living in Arizona in the days following Sept 11. Barnes & Noble has selected Laila’s novel for its Discover Great New Writers series. Laila says "I have always believed that if other people could see my world, could see a Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim family/person/story, from the inside, then they couldn’t have such ridiculous and negative stereotypes."

Edward Said's Speech
Audio clip of a speech made by the late professor Edward Said, Palestine's foremost political commentator, an internationally renowned writer and scholar, one of the best-known and respected Arab Americans who was a giant figure in the Arab-American community, and for Arabs in the Middle East and across the world.
 

Membership Drive

Robert Fisk
Award-winning British Journalist, Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, and author of several books and articles including The Great War for Civilization: the Conquest of the Middle East, and Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon.

Current State of the Middle East, Media, Government and the re-shaping of the Middle East. Portion of several topics covered by Robert Fisk during a recent speech at the sixth annual convention for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Long Beach, California.
 

Membership Drive

Suheir Hammad
Palestinian-American Poet and Political Activist. Her unique style led her to join the debut episode of HBO’s Def Poetry, using words to confront and inform about the Palestinian American experience. Born in Amman, Jordan to Palestinian refugee parents, growing up in Brooklyn, Hammad has performed from Ivy League universities to Brooklyn street corners, and is published in anthologies, periodicals, books, and zines. Her new book of poetry Zaatar Diva (Cypher Books) is currently available in bookstores.
 

Membership Drive

Dr. George Sabra
Academic Dean and an Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon, a lecturer in Cultural Studies at the Lebanese American University, and Editor of the Theological Review (a semi-annual journal of theology).

"Arab Christians and Christian Zionism".  A lecture given by professor George Sabra at Rice University in Houston on April 24, 2006.  Arab Voices will air the entire speech on January 17, 2007 at the request of many listeners.

Chris Toensing
Editor of Middle East Report and Executive Director of the Middle East Research and Information Project.

The U.S. administration's pending proposal to escalate the war in Iraq, the so called "new strategy in Iraq", and the proposed addition of at least 20,000 more U.S. troops to the occupying force in Iraq despite increased opposition to it in the United States.

Mumin Barre
Board Member of the Somali Diaspora Network and a long time peace activist.

Somalia:  The fighting between the Transitional Federal Government and the Union of Islamic Courts, the Ethiopian military troops inside Somalia, the roles of the U.S., U.N. and League of Arab States in this conflict, and possible solutions to the problem.