IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding

Blanche Araj Shaheen: Making Middle Eastern Food Easy

“A tool of mass cultural preservation”—that’s how Blanche Araj Shaheen describes her new cookbook. Feast in the Middle East (2020) features an array of dishes from across the Levant with detailed instructions and histories behind each recipe.

The Vagrant Trilogy: A Play About Palestinian Displacement

Even in the arts, it can be rare to see Palestinian stories and identities shared, especially with mainstream audiences. THE VAGRANT TRILOGY, a three-part play by award-winning playwright Mona Mansour, offers just that. Opening in March at The Public Theater in New York City, the play is about Palestinian displacement set in the context of the 1967 Six-Day War.

Quick Facts: Alan Dershowitz

Susan Muaddi Darraj: Fiction Writer and Creator of #TweetYourThobe

Born in Philadelphia to Palestinian immigrants who moved to the United States in 1967, Susan Muaddi Darraj has always loved books. She describes herself as a quiet child who found a lot of herself through reading.

Remembering the Gaza War

Quick Facts: Shimon Peres

Shimon Peres

Amer Zahr: Comedian

If you’re a Palestinian and you want to find reasons to be sad, it’s not difficult,” says Zahr. “I believe that no matter who we are, and no matter what sort of situation you’re in, there are at least 5 to 10 funny things that happen to you every day. Or if you’re a Palestinian, it’s more like 50 or 100 things. We live in a surreal universe, and we see a lot of weird stuff.”

‘Palestinian Children Live in Trauma Without End’

Ismail Abu Shebab, a shy 11-year-old taking a break from school, opened his mouth to speak - but the overhead roar of Israeli warplanes made his words nearly inaudible. As the aircraft came closer, Abu Shebab grew silent. "I'm ready to talk," he said after a few moments. Abu Shebab suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of Israeli bombing during the 2014 Gaza war.

Fact Sheet: Israeli Government Support for the Extremist Temple Mount Movement

Over the past decade, the messianic Temple Mount movement has grown rapidly, gravitating from the margins of Israeli society to the mainstream. The IMEU offers the following fact sheet providing an overview of Israeli government support for the extremist Temple Mount movement, whose provocations in occupied East Jerusalem are one of the main causes of the current crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.