Kill ’em with comedy
Arab American comedian Meena Dimian DEARBORN — "That is a lot of peach fuzz mustaches," said New York comedian Meena Dimian when someone told him that 90 percent of Fordson High School students are Arab. Dimian performed at the school's auditorium on May 16 with three other Middle Eastern comics. He's part of a...Palestinian scarf takes fashion by storm
Young people in her neighborhood, Harlem, were wearing a checker-patterned cloth with tassels around their necks, like a bandana pulled down off the face. A few even came into her clothing store, Connection One Fashion, which specializes in urban apparel, to ask if she carried them. No one knew their name, and several asked for...Muslim youth try humor to rout stereotypes
NEW YORK (IPS) — "There are almost 1.2 billion Muslim people in the world. And at least 15 of us are not terrorists. It could even be more than that. Maybe even a lot more," quipped Obaida Abdul-rahim, 28, owner of the Muslim t-shirt business Phatwa Factory. The Calgary, Canada-born Abdul-rahim runs one of several Middle...Fashion students at university design abayas
RICHMOND, Va. — The assignment for Virginia Commonwealth University fashion students: design an abaya, an enveloping cloak worn by Muslim women, that is stylish yet acceptable in Arab countries. The results: elaborately beaded designs, a flamenco-influenced abaya, a punk rock abaya — and perhaps a better understanding of cultural...Don’t miss Sunday’s PBS special
Just in time for the long Memorial Day weekend, PBS Detroit will air "On a Wing and a Prayer," about an American Muslim taking flying lessons, on Sunday afternoon, May 25 at 3:30 p.m. The hour-long documentary traces the improbable dream of a Pakistani-Muslim living in America who pursues his dream to learn to fly in spite of the...From Ugarit to the world
Perhaps it was inevitable that Syrian composer and pianist Malek Jandali would one day find himself in Ugarit, Syria, creating new music for the world out of the world's oldest. Ugarit is a Bronze Age city the ruins of which lie in a large artificial mound called Ras Shamra, six miles north of Latakia on the Mediterranean...Harold and Kumar offers cheap laughs, light politics, and little else
Just as the movie "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" hit theaters across the country, the reviled American prison camps were in the headlines once again. An Al-Jazeera cameraman detained by the American government in Guantanamo Bay for 7 years was released. The movie, a slapstick comedy, drew large...
Dabke appeals to Westerners, Arabs alike
May 3rd, 20080 TUSCON — Hani Ghaziz has a loud stomp. The dabke instructor stomps his feet forcefully on the ground, kicks his heels forward and pushes them back down on the floor, making the smooth, wooden floorboards shout. He sashays gracefully forward and tip-toes in place, balancing on his left foot while circling his right leg forward....The Visitor: Redeeming images of Arabs
Actor Haaz Sleiman, a Detroit native and co-star of "The Visitor," after a screening of the film in Bloomfield Hills on April 7. Photo: Khalil AlHajal A new semi-mainstream movie in theaters this weekend kills two giant birds with one stone, countering decades of negative imagery associated with Arabs in American...Michigan International Women’s Show opens May 1
NOVI – The 13th annual Michigan International Women's Show rounds up some popular women's favorites at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi Thursday, May 1 through Sunday, May 4. "You and your girlfriends, sisters and moms can enjoy shopping, makeovers, cooking demonstrations, entertainment and much more all in one place,"...Play explores Pakistani culture
In Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner," Baba enthusiastically encourages his son Amir to fly kites and to defend the record he set as a child for cutting down the most opponents' kites in Kabul. But in "Kite on the Wind: A Tale of Pakistan," a collaboration of the Pakistan National Council on the Arts, the Embassy of Pakistan, and...Nothing to laugh at here
Four comedians recently came together in Houston, Texas "to promote peace through comedy" under the banner of the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour. However, rather than promoting a just end to the conflict, their material exploits it in a disturbing manner. "We rely on the conflict; peace would ruin our show," co-founder Ray...Cross-over music good, but lacks anger
One of the most unfortunate drawbacks of the 1979 Iranian Revolution was the suppression of creativity and artistic freedom in the name of Islamic purity, as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini cemented theocratic rule over an increasingly frustrated populace. In recent years, some of the rules governing the purchase of Western pop music and...‘Awraat Exposed’
Rain from F-16 the merciless rocketsU.S. made on Gaza and Deir Al-BalahDates are ripe-day six, on tripsHow many I make to palm treeBring a'saf en-nakhel in green to coverThe dead and how many woundsMust a palm endureAs daflas flowering - not any moreTheir blooms all cutTo honor the dead? A hundred twenty-four killedAmong them...The eye of the beholder
"Art is in the eye of the beholder," as the saying goes. What is deep and profound to one is just a meaningless mess of images to another; or in some cases, smut. The same goes for terrorism — one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, and the distinction is based as much on perception and personal bias as it is......
‘The Band’s Visit’ serves no useful purpose
Arab culture is notorious for its hospitality and emphasis on good manners, among other things. Israeli culture is equally known for its rudeness and bad manners, among other things. These two phenomena collide in "The Band's Visit," a film about the Alexandria Police Orchestra getting lost in Israel on its way to a concert. The...Films to premiere in Michigan
An Oscar-winning documentary investigating detention and interrogation policies in the war on terror, and a winner of eight Israeli Film Academy Awards about an Egyptian police band's journey when lost in Israel, are opening in local theaters this weekend. "Taxi to the Darkside" will be showing at the Main Art......
Film: ‘They Call Me Muslim’
Film depicts tale of two women struggling for their individual freedom – one wants to wear hijab, other wants it off. TEHRAN — As she opened the door and welcomed me into her home on a snowy morning in Tehran, "K" (her name is withheld to protect her anonymity) — a 33-year-old mother — appeared to me as an unexpected...
Sundance Channel to premiere ‘On the Road in America’
February 23rd, 20080 12-part series looks at U.S. through lens of 4 young Arabs during 10-week cross-country journey NEW YORK — Sundance Channel will premiere "On the Road in America," the 12-part documentary series that follows four young Arabs as they travel across the United States, on June 4, 2008. Created by Academy Award-nominated...PBS special to premier in Detroit
International pop star Chantal Chamandy is no ordinary international pop star. She speaks six languages, has released hit songs in Canada and throughout Europe and has recorded a grand concert at the Pyramids in Egypt to be aired on U.S. television in March. Chantal Chamandy She's a very international pop star. Her father is...‘Persepolis’ provides window on lives of Iranians
In recent years, there's been a crop of memoirs from young to middle-aged Iranians recounting their experiences growing up under the Shah and witnessing the revolutionary transition from a monarchy to a theocracy. These stories vary, but many of them contain similar themes: Life was good under the Shah, the revolution happened for no......
New exhibit at Museum of Contemporary Art
DETROIT — Holy Hip Hop! Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Common and Russell Simmons are coming to the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). Twelve paintings featuring the royalty of hip-hop music will make their world debut at MOCAD in the exhibition Holy Hip Hop!: New Paintings by Alex Melamid, from February 8 to April 20,...Classic Arabic music in Ann Arbor
The golden age of Egyptian music has returned on "The Music of the Three Musketeers," (al-Fursan at-Talatha) by the Arabesque Music Ensemble. The three endearingly-labeled composers — Zakariyya Ahmad, Muhammad al-Qasabji, and Riyad al-Sunbati — wrote a large majority of pieces performed by the Arab world's most famous singer, Umm Kulthum......
Movie preview gets high praise
An excited crowd of moviegoers flocked to the Uptown Palladium in Birmingham Wednesday to get an early look at Academy Award nominated Lebanese film "Caramel." Director, co-writer and lead actress Nadine Labaki attended and heard roaring laughter from the largely Arab American crowd. She received intense praise afterward from Arabs...Dearborn High graduate stars in drama at local theater
DEARBORN — It's not often that a young actor receives the opportunity to work with theater professionals, yet 18-year-old Sean O'Reilly is now appearing in a drama being produced at Meadowbrook Theater. The Dearborn High School graduate is starring in "Rabbit Hole," David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize winning play, which is coming......