global citizenship conference

march 10, 2015: just taught a class at nazareth college on “religion in media and popular culture.” i chose to focus on islam as it’s particularly distorted by the use of selected images in mainstream media, which are then repeated ad nauseam. this was part of the global citizenship conference at naz which is meant for high school students. i introduced myself as an activist filmmaker and asked them the meaning of activism. they were more than familiar with the concept. one of the girls was involved with an anti-capitalist/pro-social justice group and another with indigenous peoples’ rights. they understood the meaning of media oligarchy and therefore the importance of independent filmmaking. we listened to edward said explaining orientalism, we looked at images of muslims as they appear mostly in the media and then i showed them images of the narcycist and shadia mansour. i showed them beautiful photographs from iraqi photojournalist tamara abdul hadi’s “picture an arab man” and stills from “the speed sisters.” we also discussed “american sniper” and the problematics of seeing the iraqi people (their villages and neighborhoods and streets and children) thru the scope of a loaded gun (what a perfect metaphor for racism). finally, we talked about the recent wave of killings in chapel hill, kansas city, kentucky and dallas. i wanted to end on a serious note, to show the students how the consequences of stereotyping are v real and tragic. we concluded the class with chimamanda adichie’s ted talk about “the danger of a single story.” i teach this class every year and every time i’m amazed by the responses i get from students – they’re bright, open-minded and up to any mental exercise i dare them to in order to declutter their minds. there’s hope for the future.

Meet the Muslim man who is a member of a Synagogue Council

my new film “a thin wall,” which is about the partition of india, will be screened in bradford on may 17th, as part of the bradford literature festival. seems like a wonderful city.

Bradford’s Synagogue Council has just appointed Jani Rashid as its first Muslim member. The appointment strengthens well-established bonds between the two communities in the city. In 2013, the Bradford Council for Mosques came to the rescue of the Grade II-listed synagogue, making a donation that helped save it when dwindling funds put its future in danger. “The local Muslim community has been an unfailing partner in the fight to keep the building open and flourishing,” said a spokesman. More here.

22 years of marriage and life in rochester

feb 12, 2015: this morning i had a wonderful meeting with carlie from post magazine – we talked about collaborating in multi-media ways. what i didn’t know was that carlie has worked closely with the native american community in upstate ny. she offered to get me connected to local activists, which is what i’ve always wanted. as i came back from java’s, i got a call from my friend heather who gave me heartwarming feedback on my participation yesterday in tino sehgal’s “this situation,” a live-work (at the hartnett gallery) in which 6 “interpreters” compose a series of tableaux while discussing philosophy, economics, aesthetics and the difference between desire and passion (those were some of the topics that came up during our 4-hour performance). the piece is so inspiring that one cannot help but come up with other versions of it. later in the afternoon, i met chuck, the owner of NXT media and a dear friend. i handed over “a thin wall” for post production. the last time chuck polished up a film of mine was in 2011, when i saw the final version of “pakistan one on one” and almost wept with joy. on my way back i got a call from my friend michael who’s trying to figure out a date to visit the one and only jalil muntaqim. this evening we are going out for dinner to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary. it seriously doesn’t seem that long. i have so much to be grateful for – my family, my friends, my work, my community, and last but not least, rochester. i’ve lived here for more than a decade now and i’m still stunned daily by the awesome people who call rochester home. who cares about the snow.

a thin wall

February 10, 2015: “partition stories” was the working title of our film. the final title has now been locked down. it’s “a thin wall” – words from john siddique’s “six snapshots of partition” in which he says:

Partition: sounds like a thin wall made of simple materials between rooms that can easily be taken down. Take the word in your left hand and feel its weight. It is nothing – a few sheets of paper.

we are working on our closing credits right now. the film will be handed over to NXT media and west rush productions for the final polishing up and sound engineering in a couple of days! pls “like” our fb page and feel free to “share”!

Tino Sehgal’s This situation

first rehearsal today at the sage art center for “this situation,” a live work by contemporary artist, tino sehgal. each performance involves 6 “interpreters” or participants who produce a series of collective tableaux. the piece is meticulously choreographed yet supple in how it revolves around extemporaneous conversations between the 6 interpreters and interactions with visitors. trying to get a hang of all the quotes we are supposed to know by heart and all the positions we have to fall back into and all the rules of how this live piece works. fascinating. more here.

the muslims i know at OASIS

screened “the muslims i know” at an OASIS class today. the room was jam-packed with people who introduced themselves as christians, jews, atheists, and even “confused.” a lot of great questions. a jewish woman told me how her iranian neighbor called her after the paris attacks to tell her that she didn’t support them. “why would she think she needed to do that,” she asked, “we’re best friends.” it was a rhetorical question. i told her that is indeed the burden we must bear as muslims these days, especially those of us who live in the west. even tho we have nothing to do with free agents who sometimes claim to be muslim and have all kinds of political agendas and behave in all sorts of bizarre ways, we are supposed to identify with them, explain them, apologize for them. we didn’t elect them. there was no referendum on who we’d like to represent us, as a major world religion. but each and everyone of us is forced to speak for 1.6 billion people. it’s obscene. 14 years after 9/11, i am tired of explaining. i am tired of debating the humanity of muslims. frankly, the debate itself is offensive. another woman told me she felt heartened by the paris march: “finally, we can come together and say no more.” no more of only one kind of violence tho, i told her. “of course,” she said, “no one is going to push back against american violence.” there u go i said, u just articulated the hypocrisy of the march. all in all, it was a great audience – curious, open-minded, respectful. if only msm would cover such honest, heartfelt conversations rather than closed door tête-à-têtes with the duck dynasty.

oasis

last films in the witness palestine film series 2014

nov 24, 2014: attorney brad parker (defence for children international – palestine) at a teach-in at the u of r, talking about the rights of palestinian children under occupation.

brad parker
brad parker

nadia ben-youssef via skype and brad parker in person at the little theatre, nov 24, 2014, discussing “from al-araqib to susiya” and “stone cold justice.”

nadia ben-youssef and brad parker
nadia ben-youssef and brad parker

witness palestine related events

after a wonderful screening of “when i saw u” (we skyped with director annemarie jacir) and a screening of “on the side of the road” (followed with a skyped conversation with director lia tarachansky) we have 4 more events coming up this weekend.

these are: conversation and dinner with filmmaker alice rothchild on nov 22 (organized by jewish voice for peace – rochester, ny chapter), screening of alice’s film along with Q&A on nov 23 at the little (part of witness palestine film series), teach-in with attorney brad parker who specializes in the rights of palestinian children on nov 24 at 4pm (organized by university of rochester students for a democratic society) and then screening with Q&A of two short films at the little theatre on nov 24 at 6.45pm. get all the details here and pls join us!

also, check us out on facebook: witness palestine rochester.

liberty screams: reflections in poetry and prose on mass incarceration and parole reform

oct 25, 2014: the flying squirrel’s “stop mass incarceration” programming continued today with “liberty screams: reflections in poetry and prose on mass incarceration and parole reform.” the panelists were poets paulette swartzfager and pat schwartz (co-founder, with jalil muntaqim, of the auburn correctional poetry group) and activists jean douthwright, emily good and michael argaman. agape towns and his friend dave were able to participate on the phone from attica. so lovely that i received a letter from jalil today telling me about a new, expanded collection of poems to be published in canada, with a 20 page intro by ward churchill. i got to listen to some of his poems this evening and they blew me away with their brilliance and power. free jalil muntaqim! more about jalil’s case here.

poet pat schwartz
poet pat schwartz
activist michael argaman
activist michael argaman
poet paulette swartzfager
poet paulette swartzfager
activist jean douthwright
activist jean douthwright
activist emily good
activist emily good

cultural competence panel at summit business conference

attended a business conference organized by rochester women’s network today. i was on a panel that discussed cultural competence. it was amazing to me how much overlap there was in what i had to say as a muslim woman, what gabrielle had to say as a trans-woman and what margie had to say as an african american woman. the things that we stressed were: openness, respect, immense diversity within any group and therefore the irrelevance of stereotypes, the toxic nature of dehumanization and condescension (i quoted wade davis: every culture that’s different from u is not a failed attempt at being u) and the richness of learning by allowing new information to seep in and affect beliefs and behavior.

i reminded everyone that identity is too porous and complex to contain w/i the narrow confines of religion, ethnicity or culture. the words that i liked most in the definition of cultural competence were suspension of judgment and discomfort. only if we’re willing to be intellectually and emotionally uncomfortable, do we find it possible to be truly open to other human beings. it’s much riskier than staying put, in one’s comfort zone.

of course, i had to make it broader and asked people to think about openness, respect, risk-taking and growth and apply these to nation-states: what kind of interruptions should we allow to our sovereignty, how can we rethink our politics on immigration and national borders, on the meaning of citizenship and universal human rights, on the narrative of us vs them, and the assumption of immutable identities that we are supposed to be at war with. discomfort is good if it can help us open up to our fellow human beings and our environment. more about the conference here.

here i am with fellow panelists margie lovett scott (left) and gabrielle hermosa (center).

margie lovett scott, gabrielle hermosa and mara ahmed
margie lovett scott, gabrielle hermosa and mara ahmed

“the muslims i know” screened at suny brockport diversity conference

oct 2, 2014: the diversity conference at suny brockport was most excellent! enjoyed the multicultural food tasting. my favorites: south african masala pineapple, caribbean meat patties and ethiopian lamb kebabs. the screening went v well. great audience and good intro by dr james spiller, who’s the dean of the graduate school. he asked me the last question during Q&A: “what does it feel like to see extremists commit acts of violence in the name of one’s religion? isn’t it the ultimate desecration?” i told him it was a good question but it doesn’t apply uniquely to muslims. after all, violence is being committed all over the world, by all kinds of people, in the name of all kinds of ideologies. does it make us feel better if we proclaim that the violence we’re committing is in the name of democracy? i talked about iraq: one million killed, 10-12 million people displaced, chemical weapons used extensively in fallujah with devastating results to this day. is it less of a desecration because it was done in the name of democracy? or capitalism (which is a religion in america, according to naomi klein), or oil, or some kind of ethno-religious ideology (such a zionism)? shouldn’t we start being objective, ignore all the window dressing and condemn violence for what it does – inflict pain and suffering on other human beings? dr spiller thought i was being “provocative” but i was just being sincere. more about the conference here.