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“When I asked people what the heart of Cairo was, everyone gave me a different answer,” Hanafi says, “so I decided to start with my heart of Cairo.” Hanafi, who is half-American and half-Egyptian, designed her project partly in order to fulfill her desire to stay in Egypt for longer than her previous brief trips.

The city, Hanafi said, is usually experienced in a closed matrix determined by one’s regular habits. She breaks this routine through walks whose direction and duration is determined by the whim of another person. Each new walk begins where the last walk stopped. Cairo offers itself up to the walkers, people shouting “Welcome!” to those carrying a copy of Cairo Maps, and saying “sawarini” (take a picture of me) to those wielding a camera, both of which comprise Hanafi’s gear.

Like her walks, her pictures break the recurrent images of Egypt. She says most people returning to other countries carry conventional pictures of Egypt: those by the Pyramids, along the Nile, on a camel, and so on.

Hanafi sends her off-the-beaten-track images to friends in Chicago, almost all of whom have never been to Cairo before, and asks them to comment. In so doing, she takes them on an imaginary walk outside of their regular direction.

Once pushed out of their regular orbit, the city has surprises even for veteran Cairenes. Her walking cohorts are also asked to write about their experience; Hanafi does the same. Each of her walks — six so far — has been colored by the nature of the companion, says Hanafi. One companion who found Cairo a warm, welcoming place interacted with almost everyone and everything crossing her path, while another who found the city’s inhabitants intrusive interacted differently with the city.

With various impressions from walkers here and in Chicago, Hanafi will thus create an amalgam of a city that is rich and multifaceted. While unsure as to the exact end result, she hopes to publish the pictures and writings documenting her walks.

Having no set endpoint leaves every turn to the walker’s fancy. A quaint shop, an ornate wall-hanging, a faraway bridge, the presence of sun or shade, these become determinants of the path rather than deviations from a set route.

As I quiz Hanafi about her artistic project, in other subtle turns I also discover her beginnings as a poet, and glimpse into her mind where she complains, she remains all too often. “That is partly why I decided on this project,” she says, referring to her first walking project in her hometown Chicago, “I wanted to get out of my own head.” She wanted to overrun her mind, overwrought with the same ideas and thoughts, with new stimuli and sensations. Yet, she says, she finds she somehow still returns to similar themes in her work, but she adds, with a stroke of difference.

Hanafi says she perhaps has not been very articulate. “No, that is very articulate,” I answer without fully being able to convey that the moment she expressed her isolation was when I felt most connected to her.

We decide to stop on what we are informed is Muashasha Street, near Qadra Church (which Hanafi later finds dubiously translated as “Marginalized Church”). While it is close to the Ghamra metro station we crossed along the way, we come to an impasse that was bound to occur in Cairo: being unable to find oneself on Cairo Maps. Hanafi says she will figure out how to get here the next day somehow. To find your way around Cairo, you sometimes just need to follow your heart.

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About the Author: Chitra Kalyani is a Cairo-based freelance writer. This piece was originally published in The Daily News Egypt.

The film features an impressive roster of comedians, including Iranian-American Maz Jobrani, African-American Tommy Davidson, German-Welsh-American Whitney Cummings and Egyptian-American Eman Morgan, among others. With such a diverse set of perspectives and backgrounds, the jokes not only keep you laughing, but will keep you curious as to how each audience will react. For instance, Beirut, Lebanon was open to just about any joke about any topic, while in Dubai — politics, the royal family and religion are off limits.

Along with the footage from performances and interviews with the comedians, the film also gives us a personal look at Ahmed’s life and career. I won’t reveal too much, but his father alone is worth spending the time to watch the film.

We are left with a sense that comedy is pushing boundaries in the Middle East and allowing for otherwise uncomfortable conversations to take place. Together with its informative documentary structure, graphics, cinematography, and beautiful still imagery, Just Like Us is definitely a satisfying film to see.

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About the Author: Negin is a producer and fundraiser dedicated to using art and media to engage, interact, and influence broader change. Currently, she is focused on the production and distribution of film about and from the Middle East.

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About the Author: Danah Abdulla was not born in Canada but has lived here since the age of two. A Palestinian with a degree from the University of Ottawa in something other than Engineering (Mass Communications, minor Commerce), she lives in Toronto where she works as a Digital Cultivator for a big advertising agency. She’s a freelance writer and a blogger. She likes to doodle, read, make jokes, and dance.

The film becomes vivid and stunning in its simplicity — Fanous makes each shot count (see gallery) in this 25 minute reel. And Mourad’s story about Hadi is refreshing — his inner monologues verge on poetry, giving dimension to the often overlooked, avoided bathroom attendant who becomes self-actualized after an unlikely visit one night to a seedy cabaret finds him cast under the spell of a superstitious belly dancer Nour, played by Farah Youssef. The center of many a lewd reproach, she too longs for more than her bleak future can promise. But you’ll have to watch for yourself to see what happens when Hadi and Nour meet.

Clean Hands, Dirty Soap has claimed the Jury Prize in the Egyptian National Film Festival and Best Short Film Award in the San Francisco Arab Film Festival, among others. The film will be available online soon and fans can look forward to Fanous and Mourad teaming up again for an upcoming feature.

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Levantine Indulgence is fresh and pleasing to listen to, whether it’s the focal point or background music. The Levantine Indulgence ensemble plays well, giving Gaida’s voice a fitting landscape to travel as she improvises. This improvisation takes on a new life when they perform live, as they recently did for the album release at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC. Check out some photos from the concert below…

Listen to “Illak Shi” from Levantine Indulgence

Purchase the album here >>

Photos Courtesy Ali Yasin Beceren

This historical fiction book follows the Abulheja family, Palestinians from Ein Hod, a village ethnically cleansed by Israel in 1948, a process which left over 750,000 Palestinians homeless. The story is narrated by Amal, who recounts a series of events common to many Palestinian families. Amal’s brother, a toddler named Ishmael is lost amidst the madness when the family is expelled from their village and taken by a Jewish family. He is raised as an Israeli named David and goes on to become a soldier, only to find out his real identity through a series of events that brings him and his Palestinian family together. Amal’s mother loses her mind due to several of these misfortunes. Her brother joins the armed struggle prevalent in the camps after the 1967 War, and finally, Amal gets an opportunity to escape her destiny in the camp and realize her dreams by studying abroad.

What Abulhawa manages to do is provide readers with a history lesson that doesn’t flow like a textbook, but more like a touching and often heartbreaking novel that deals with family, love, identity, courage, displacement and a variety of other strong themes close to some, if not all, Palestinians’ hearts. The book travels through time and invites readers to journey through Palestine pre-Nakba; Palestine after the establishment of the state of Israel and the creation of the refugee problem; the Six-Day War of 1967 and its consequences; the Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon; the Lebanese Civil War; up through the 2002 massacres at Jenin Refugee Camp, all via Amal’s storytelling.

Though the book starts off slow, it picks up after the development of the characters and the exile of the Palestinians. While the Palestine-Israel conflict is known to many, detailed accounts of the expulsion of the Palestinians and their continued struggle isn’t. If you know someone who is interested in finding out more about the conflict, let them start with this piece of fiction before moving on to the complicated research. They’ll appreciate it.

This book was also published under the title Mornings in Jenin. Buy on Amazon >>

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About the Author: Danah Abdulla was not born in Canada but has lived here since the age of two. A Palestinian with a degree from the University of Ottawa in something other than Engineering (Mass Communications, minor Commerce), she lives in Toronto where she works as a Digital Cultivator for a big advertising agency. She’s a freelance writer and a blogger. She likes to doodle, read, make jokes, and dance.

A couple weeks ago, a packed Joe’s Pub saw a very special performance by the Bassam Saba Ensemble as they celebrated the release of their long-anticipated CD “Wonderful Land.” Here’s a taste of the kind of energy and spirit Bassam and his ensemble brought to the small — and perfect for intimate shows — NYC venue.

Those who journeyed out on the cold January night were set to listen to Lebanese-born, Paris-based composer and trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, who had performed just two nights earlier at the NYC Winter Jazz Festival. But, what started as a solo performance (only his second—ever—in New York) grew as Maalouf met with old friends and made new ones, and the one-man show ended up a septet, including Sam Kulik (trombone), Kinan Azmeh (clarinet), Rez Abbasi (guitar), Matt Kilmer (drums), Ned Rothenberg (bass clarinet), and Pablo Vergara (piano). It was the first time the seven of them played with each other, were in the same room, or (for some) even met, but that was part of the appeal, both for them and the audience.

Maalouf explained his desire to create an evening far different than that of his jazz festival performance, a free-form show where the sounds were inspired by word suggestions from the audience. The night started on a humorous note with “Food,” where what sounded like belches, burps, and the yearnings of an empty stomach slowly followed food’s path through the body. “Warm War” sounded like a scene from HBO’s “Rome,” with the gathering of troops in their regal splendor riding off to defend their leader. “Old Rude Trees” opened with soft notes interrupted by intermittent honks from the trombone, while “Camel Kiss,” the evening’s last “song,” journeyed through courtship’s suspense and climax, ending with the tender caresses that come only after time.

No one musician took center stage, not even Maalouf himself (with the exception of a brief solo at the night’s start), perhaps signaling the evening’s lack of structure. However, for those who stood happily, packed shoulder to shoulder, that was the beauty of it.

Check out our Six Questions with Ibrahim Maalouf >>

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About the Author: Anuja Madar is an editor at Frommer’s travel guides, where she specializes in the Middle East and Africa, and is constantly plotting ways to fill her passport’s pages and/or move to Morocco.

When describing their show Amer says, “The Axis of Evil guys opened up doors for everybody, but their comedy was political, focusing on post 9/11 situations — our style is focused on Arab family life, things that happen every day that people relate to and get a kick out of.” But that isn’t the only thing that sets them apart.

FEN had the chance to sit in on a behind-the-scenes session in San Francisco, where the comedians recently performed. Because producer-comedian Amer believes it’s about more than just doing the show, he arranges to meet with local comedians in each city — recruiting them to join the show’s cast. He plants seeds for the Arab-American comedy scene to grow.

“Even if it is in small cafes or people’s houses, it’s important that [comedy] stays as an art form in every community we go to,” he says.

Each novice comedian takes a turn on a make-believe stage (the back area of a local Middle Eastern restaurant) — the gathering is part tryout, part workshop — Amer listens to each act, then critiques and suggests how these budding comedians can improve their material, their stage presence and finally, their punch lines.

“Stand-up can be very intimidating because you’re up there talking and the only response you get is laughter and it can be a little scary, so it’s important to get them to relax and be confident,” he says. “The real challenge for these comedians is to not sound too scripted.”

One local comedian, Bashar Zikoor, is proof that Amer’s formula works. He nailed his first show and had this to say afterwards: “My debut as a stand-up comedian at 1001 Laughs was a night that I will never forget. I have been watching comedians since I was six-years-old, but I never thought I would end up doing comedy myself…I really appreciate all the advice and pointers I got from the veteran comedians that performed that night. The 1001 Laughs show was my first, but it definitely will not be my last!”

Overall, the tour has been a great success, reaching large crowds all over the U.S. and Middle East. No doubt, 1001 Laughs’s humor hits home no matter where you are. The comedians are headed to Toronto this weekend, details and ticket information here >>

Enjoy these shots from the festival and check out FEN’s favorite films below…

Madinat Jumeirah Cinema

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12 ANGRY LEBANESE
12 Angry Lebanese by Zeina Daccache was a strong contender on the documentary front. The film examines the penitentiary system in Lebanon with 12 inmates of a Beirut prison performing the play “12 Angry Men,” translated into Arabic, as a vehicle for the expression — and confession — of their stories and crimes.

ZINDEEQ
Zindeeq also proved that there is such a thing as an Arab dream team, at least when it comes to film.  From the same team that put Arab film on the map 22 years ago with Urs Jalilee, the story of a filmmaker’s return to his native Palestine after having fled in 1948 showcases the startling reality of the present day conflict that rarely gets brought to light. Here, expressed in light through cinema, the film has already garnered rave reviews as well as an award for the best feature at the festival.

AMREEKA
Cherien Dabis’s Amreeka, the heart-warming story of a Palestinian single mother who moves with her teenage son to America’s heartland immediately following the events of 9/11.  It chronicles the alienation and xenophobia of the times while poignantly capturing the tandem struggle for acceptance and survival that so many first or second-generation Arab families experience first-hand. A truly genuine, funny, and moving film that is at its core an immigrant’s tale.

CITY OF LIFE
And rounding out the festival was Dubai’s own gem, City of Life. Shot entirely in the fledgling city, with its culturally schizophrenic growth at the very heart of the film, the city itself becomes a sprawling post-modern character, and first time director Ali Mustafa doesn’t shy away from showing us the grimy as well as the glitzy elements of this character. Read more about City of Life here >>

CEDAR BOYS
A  gritty look at the disenfranchised youth of a major urban center, marginalized by their ethnicity and forced into a life of hard choices, harder drugs and back alley crime deals. Serhat Caradee’s gem from Australia, the poignant look at the growing Lebanese-Australian immigrant culture, Cedar Boys.

MY FATHER. MY UNCLE.
My Father. My Uncle. by Christoph Heller was another strong contender on the documentary front. The film follows the story of German-raised Sinan and his reunion with his long-lost Iraqi family, with Dubai making an interesting backdrop both visually and culturally.

The parties were no slouch either. The galas were a veritable mash up of the who’s who of the region. Celebrities like Gerard Butler and Mandy Moore were spotted on the red carpet alongside international stars like Omar Sharif and Christophe Lambert. And of course, in true Dubai fashion, champagne flowed endlessly in defiance of the economic crisis and foie gras was served right next to the hummus and tabouli. Recession? What recession? This humble reporter wonders if the sheikh ponders these same questions as the sun finally dips into  the ocean and away from sight. Dubai is far from perfect, but it can add a growing film culture and fledgling superstar status to its long list of real estate and financial laurels.

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About the Author: Fajer Al-Kaisi is Iraqi born, and French Canadian raised, but otherwise he’s your everyday average American. He lives in Washington Heights, NYC, the last affordable refuge in Manhattan. He enjoys cooking, sketching people on the subway, and DVD marathons. He freelances as an actor, writer, web designer, illustrator and graphic artist, and though he loves the hours, the benefits are crap. (Don’t do it kids. Stay in school…) He has appeared on the hit shows “Nurse Jackie” and “30 Rock,” as well as “Delocated” and “Law and Order,” and could most recently be seen on NYTW’s stage as Shahid, the translator for NY times critics pick Aftermath.

Zakia Tahiri’s

Tahiri presents this social change through the lives of Aziz and Soraya (acted by the lovely Nezha Rahile). Aziz orders their world with his machismo attitude, and it becomes apparent that despite the progressive law, dark spaces continue to exist between the law and reality, husband and wife, employer and employee. Desperate to change her circumstances, Soraya employs a little magic, transforming Aziz and the community through a series of events bordering on the absurd. Best of all, Aziz’s new antics influence his nargile-smoking buddies and shows everyone just how unfulfilling life as Number One really is.

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About the Author: Lori Goode keeps the dream alive moonlighting as a reviewer, while passing her days (and nights) near the nation’s halls of power in Washington, D.C. Her experiences ranges from research to education but she’s always had a keen eye for the arts, particularly film.

This book has recently been adapted into a film directed by Eyad Zahra. “The value of this this story is that it tackles American-Muslim issues in a very sincere and genuine manner. It’s honestly the most straightforward American-Muslim work that I have ever come across,” Zahra said.

“The cool thing with The Taqwacores is that actually translates to many people outside of Islam as well.  The story of disenfranchised youth is universal to all peoples. I got involved with the film because I felt very drawn to it for this very reason.” Zahra’s film is the official selection for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Punk is the best understood counter-culture in America today. And to contrast that with Islam in order to bring out hidden truths behind social tendencies is the reason why Michael Muhammad Knight put the two together. If he had written a story of a kid growing up with questions and philosophical anomalies about himself, who would listen? Instead he uses a group of radically different Muslim punks, and with these characters Knight paints a setting for all things Islam to be questioned, and that is exactly what happens.

These ideologically charged young vagabonds are as drastically varied as their belief systems, all living under one roof with the narrator: Umar, the straightedge hardliner with tattoos, who is morally opposed to the drinking and partying that happens in the house; Fasiq the hashishiyyun, who could always be found chillin on the roof, Qur’an in hand, blazing; Jehangir, the idol of our narrator and a philosophical-intellectual who drinks and smokes too much; and Rabeya, a burqa-wearing feminist.

The narrator, a Pakistani student named Yusef, the least punk of all the kids in the house, sits mainly as an outsider, observing and listening to all the ideas and seemingly far-flung beliefs these counter-culture individuals seem to expound. Fatima, one of the feminist Muslim friends of the house, tells Yusef the hidden truth that lives through the novel: “There is a cool Islam out there, Yusef. You just have to find it. You have to sift through all the other stuff, but it’s there.”

Support The Taqwacores film at Sundance >>

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About the Author: Abigail Johnson lives in New York City where she is currently working on her graduate degree in economics at The New School University. She lived in Cairo, Egypt for three years where she studied at the American University in Cairo. She enjoys those terrible crime shows on television, and innovating new ways to avoid doing her homework.

The Narcicyst, a.k.a. Jamal Abdel Narcel, a.k.a. Yassin Alsalman, a.k.a.

His latest, self-titled album The Narcicyst is a memoir of sorts–especially on tracks like “P.H.A.T.W.A.” and “The Narcicyst”– but in many ways, it’s not a memoir specific to the artist but to being an Arab in North America. The album deals with the portrayal of Arabs in the media and the newscast-type lyrics are accompanied by samples from television shows and the news. Yassin has an M.A. in Media Studies from Concordia University, the entire scope of his work make this evident. He has built his own niche in educated, creative, and political hip-hop while still being entertaining instead of preachy (unlike some yawn worthy conscious hip-hop artists).

Narcy collaborates with Arab artists like Syrian-American rapper Omar Offendum on “The Last Arabs”, whose softer voice are a good balance to Narcy’s more aggressive tones, and Shadia Mansour on “Hamdulilah”, a song which sends shivers down your spine with its power. The albums’ beats touch on a variety of eras and instruments. The violin consistently returns throughout the album as it invites us into the album and escorts us out. Many of the tracks evoke memories of REAL hip-hop, not the homogeneous, commercial stuff that fills our ears today, the same goes with the Arabic type beats he uses. The sound in “No More Mr. Nice Guy” is a little like Metronomy’s “The End of You Too”–if that song was on Egyptian steroids.

Narcy utilizes the power of creativity in hip-hop to its full potential, “Lie of the Century (Untrulude)” is an homage to the Arabic national anthems sung by children in the madrasah where the lyrics describe how Arabs are not a source for oil. Serious subject matters are lightened with fun beats and quirky song names. If you’re too lazy to pick up the newspaper or the latest current affairs book, pick up The Narcicyst instead, you’ll do fine in a political argument afterwards.

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About the Author: Danah Abdulla was not born in Canada but has lived here since the age of two. A Palestinian with a degree from the University of Ottawa in something other than Engineering (Mass Communications, minor Commerce), she lives in Toronto where she works as a Digital Cultivator for a big advertising agency. She’s a freelance writer and a blogger. She likes to doodle, read, make jokes, and dance.

I just can’t see Palestinian brothers and sisters immune to the power of choosing rhyme over rocks. And that point is obvious when Tamer Nafar recalls seeing a music video of Tupac’s “Holler if Ya Hear Me.” To Tamer, his hometown of Lyd and South Central L.A. were mirror images.

Salloum introduces DAM through use of a rock bottom, low-budget version of MTV’s Cribs. Using this format pinpoints two important elements to the film’s accessibility: the universality of hip hop, and a view of young, politically active, Palestinians as anything other than militants or fanatics. And now for the understatement of the year: the soundtrack helps too. You can’t help but enjoy it.

The movement’s members alternately charm the camera over some sheesha, and break hearts with their struggle to maintain communication and inspire school children amidst military and cultural occupation. These young men and women defy Western stereotypes of Arab men as misogynists, anger management-deficient, religious hypocrites, and of Arab women as voiceless wall-flowers swathed in hijab. The obvious support these artists provide one another provides evidence that the women are not the only ones confounding preconceived notions of Arab culture.

Salloum’s editing choices appear to favor chronology over story arc, making the artists’ efforts appear more nascent and unfocused. So the film jumbles segments focusing on everything from community reactions to checkpoint fatigue in Gaza. Restructuring the film around a series of longer vignettes would give the film a stronger sense of cohesion. But given the momentum DAM, PR, Arapeyat and Mohammad Shalabi are building, Salloum’s next report might look like 2007’s Democracy in Dakar. Such an achievement would be well worth the effort.

Visit the film’s official website and lookout for a FEN exclusive interview with Director Jackie Salloum soon…

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About the Author: Lori Goode keeps the dream alive moonlighting as a reviewer, while passing her days (and nights) near the nation’s halls of power in Washington, D.C.. Her experiences ranges from research to education but she’s always had a keen eye for the arts, particularly film.

Barely ten pages into the novel, Erian sets the stage for the main character, Jasira’s inability to make good choices and say, “no.”  Also apparent, is that Jasira’s mother would make a far more interesting case study for psychological study than Jasira herself. That fact seems to be a running gag that almost every adult seems laden with more psychological problems than the budding and deeply damaged Jasira.

While Erian makes light and dark humor of these psychoses, I found myself feeling that the humor at times betrayed the wretchedness of Jasira’s experience. My primary point and case: her next door neighbors, the Vuoso’s frozen cat. But sometimes, the best metaphors are the most pungent ones. And that cat drives the point home whether you can find humor in it or not.

New York Times reviewer, Jeff Giles, suggested that Erian’s choice of Towelhead as her novel’s disturbing title fails to point to the novel’s primary focus, teenage sexuality. He writes, “… the novel isn’t primarily, or even secondarily, about race and politics. As much as anything, Jasira’s being an Arab-American … seems a metaphor for the annihilating loneliness of being 13.” I don’t have an issue with Giles, simply the quickness to which he and other such reviewers have been to disregard the importance of race and politics in making Jasira so vulnerable to the adults around her.

Being Arab-American clearly defines the cultural circumstances which incapacitate her parents’ attempt to assist her in exploring womanhood. Both parents’ interpretation of Jasira’s identity places a mirror to Jasira. So reflected to Jasira is jealousy towards the beautiful,  blossoming and threatening Arab otherness (from her mother) and a stereotypically conservative view of unspeakable and shameful sexuality (from her father). Both reflections send the distinct message that she should feel shame and trap Jasira in a constant conflict that anyone who’s experienced puberty can recognize while making it a distinctly Arab-American experience.

Jasira’s being an Arab-American girl also acts as the catalyst for all her negative sexually charged encounters. The most egregious example, Jasira’s rape at the hands of her neighbor (Mr. Vuoso), highlights the importance of the girl’s identity in how men perceive her. Vuoso’s inner struggle over Jasira’s age and vulnerability disappear. He stops seeing Jasira’s age and a sweet girl subject to repression by an imagined Arab tyrant of a father. In Vuoso’s eyes, Jasira transforms into a towelhead, an object that he can manipulate and lay all of his hatred upon in a most brutal manner.

But it’s too easy and unfair to the complexities of Erian’s work to paint Jasira as a victim of incompetent and sometimes hateful adults. I feel sorry for Jasira, but it’s impossible to do so without noting that her horrifically painful experiences are both thrust upon her and sought out by her. And the book’s resolution, after a heart-wrenching, difficult scene, can reaffirm as well as elicit questions as to the origins and effects of Jasira’s journey.

For readers who have experienced Nabokov’s Lolita, Towelhead will cover familiar, yet distinctive, territory. Erian’s ability to toy with her readers’ perceptions evokes pity, pain, frustration and horror in ways that repulse and compel. The further you delve into the book, earlier scenes shift and change masks, inviting investigation and reinterpretation of the clouded waters of sexual violence, exploration and racial identity disturbed in its pages.  I recommend you read Towelhead and investigate these questions for yourself.

Towelhead has since been adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Alan Ball.

Buy Towelhead on Amazon

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About the Author: Lori Goode keeps the dream alive moonlighting as a reviewer, while passing her days (and nights) near the nation’s halls of power in Washington, D.C. Her experiences ranges from research to education but she’s always had a keen eye for the arts, particularly film.

It’s 10:00 pm and Checkpoint 303 is setting up for the night’s show. But as the screen behind them indicates, this isn’t going to be the usual set…

The one-of-a-kind electronic experiment that would become Checkpoint 303 kicked off in 2004 when Tunisian sound cutter, SC MoCha teamed up with Bethlehem-based Palestinian sound catcher, SC Yosh. The idea was to cut, track, fragment and reconstruct the audio soundscape from daily lives in the Middle East, creating new audio reporting on injustice.

Checkpoint 303’s music and visuals are an emotional journey, with audio that will surely shake you like the shells that shatter in Palestine and footage that ranges from a man carrying a sack marked “propaganda,” to officers directing hectic traffic, a debkeh troupe dancing, and wrinkly, handkerchief-ed Palestinian women clapping their hands to to an old 1920s song by a Jewish-Tunisian singer–reminding us of a more peaceful time. They succeed in creating an alternate reality. Taking you through the heart-pounding experience of coming face-to-face with Israeli soldiers, and the indignation of Palestinians at the cement walls that surround them.

But emotions aside, 303 also masterfully manages to engage the audience’s mind as well as heart. Using the visual effects of multiplication and black and white filters on their footage, the words “25 feet high, 5 feet thick, 35 km long” in juxtaposition with an iconic photo of Edward Said and the title of his memoir, Out of Place, preceded by clips of a vintage Atari video game with the text, “my life is not a video game,” you can’t help but think of the impact scholars, organizers and politics have on the lives of Palestinians everywhere, whether it be positive or negative. The subtle (yet, acoustically loud) delivery of 303’s message is what makes them effective as both artists and champions of injustice.

After the set, FEN sat down with Paris-based SC MoCha who reworks the field recordings made by SC Yosh in the occupied territories into rhythmical transcriptions that range from raw acoustic aggression to synthetic soothing tunes with everything in between. This is what he had to say about how it began and where they’re at:

“When I met SC Yosh in Tunisia there was an immediate connection due to our common interests in music and Palestine. We decided to mix our interest in music with the feeling that something has to done about the injustice and the breaches to human rights in Palestine.

“After we produced a couple of tracks, people responded so positively that we had to put it online. There was an overwhelming interest, with over 1000 downloads immediately. So we produced new tracks and added visuals for our live performances.”

Despite the positive feedback they have received he says,

“We’re not naive, so we know the music won’t change the situation on the ground. It’s just a new way to express what’s going on in Palestine without the biased, sensational, mainstream media crap.”

While navigating that fine line between naivete and idealism, he still believes artists can have a positive impact,

“Artists can support hope by creating music that speaks about hope.”

As their innovative sound and visuals gain popularity, they are sticking to exactly what gives them their creative freedom. “Several people have tried to pull us into the mainstream,” he says, “but at this point we are making a deliberate choice to remain as independent as possible, so that we can continue to make the music we want and spread the message we want.”

Checkpoint 303 has taken their message to England, Belgium, France, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan and the list goes on. For downloads and more on them, visit Checkpoint 303’s official website.

Here’s one of our favorite tracks: “Gaza Calling”

Check out their video, “Streets O Ramallah” here >>

Suheir Hammad’s breaking poems breaks ground (for Arab-American writers), breaks rules (of language), and breaks bonds (with outdated notions of identity).

When I first opened the pages of breaking poems, I knew to expect brilliance, knowing Suheir’s previous works Born Palestinian, Born Black, Drops of This Story and ZaatarDiva, but I wasn’t prepared to actually see the lines moving, breaking and being pieced together again as Arabic flowed fluently into English and back again.

As displayed in this excerpt from the poem “break (clear):”

(here)

is the poem
lived in one fractured poem
a relic of war
ana no one’s soldier
khalas
ana no one’s instrument
ana own music
ana own muse
khalas all this breaking

After my Six Questions with Suheir, I had to ask how the use of language for breaking poems had come about. She said simply: “I decided I wanted to write more like I speak and think.”

The form these poems take on paper somehow legitimize that hybrid, half-English half-Arabic, ‘Arabi mikasar (broken Arabic), that generations of Arab-Americans have come to speak. It is an eye-opening collection, break into it here. ]]> http://www.fenmag.com/2009/11/22/suheir-hammad-breaks-ground-with-breaking-poems/feed/ 0