IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
Palestinians speak a distinct dialect of Arabic, and have their own traditions, cuisine, and folklore. While most Palestinians feel strong connections to the Arab world, their primary political affiliation is with other Palestinians, with whom they share defining experiences of exile, military occupation, and other dimensions of the conflict with the Zionist movement and Israel.
Ramadan is a sacred time of year for devout Muslims. The holy month began days after the Israeli military killed 62 protesters in Gaza’s Great Return March. Despite the sorrow over the killings, and despite the ongoing suffering Palestinians in Gaza experience due to the Israeli-imposed blockade, four hours daily of electricity, lack of drinking water, and chronic unemployment — families in Gaza still mark Ramadan with devotion, and with dignity.
on June 14, 2018
After 40 years of entrepreneurial work in employee benefits, magazine publishing, and software development, Saleh decided to focus his determination on creating an institution where, in his words, “Palestinian artistic achievement is celebrated as part of the rich diversity of people and cultures that make up the United States.”
on April 18, 2018
Roger Waters teamed up with Palestinian band Le Trio Joubran to record “Supremacy,” a rebuke to the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and eventually move the U.S. embassy there. The move was considered a major setback to the Middle East peace process.
on March 14, 2018
Dr. Farouq Ahmad Zuaiter passed away on February 15, 2018. “Abu Abbas” as he was referred to often was a highly respected financial executive, investment manager and a significant contributor to the economic growth of the Palestinian economy in the face of Israeli occupation.
on February 26, 2018
We write in support of Lorde, who made public her decision not to perform in Israel and has now been branded a bigot in a full page advertisement in the Washington Post. Shmuley Boteach, the author and promoter of the advert, supports Israel’s illegal settlements and wrote last month on Breitbart to thank Donald Trump for “electrifying the world” with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in defiance of international law.
on January 5, 2018
Sometimes the way to really figure out who you are, what you’re supposed to be, where you go next, is to drop everything and find your way back home. With apologies to Mr. Wolfe: You can and should go home again—back to the beginning, to the place that made you and set you on your course. If you’re lucky, like Bay Area chef Reem Assil, it’s a journey that might even touch a place inside you that you couldn’t have reached on your own.
on January 2, 2018
As a new parent, I’m now alert to a substratum of media that passed below the radar of my younger, less narcissistic, self. In the space of mild leftist parenting, this means acquiring board-book samizdat such as Click Clack Moo (cows striking for workplace benefits), and A Rule is to Break (inculcating anarchist principles in pre-literate children.) Of course, the post-colonial space of this genre (Babar notwithstanding) is pretty unpopulated, so I was excited to spot P is for Palestine by Golbarg Bashi at my local Book Culture.
on December 20, 2017
Reem Assil on her Muhammara dip: “Muhammara is my homecoming. I discovered this addicting dip as an adult and fell in love with it when I went back to Syria in 2010. At the time, I was soul-searching in my father’s homeland and started to open my eyes to all the richness of my Syrian identity, particularly through the food and hospitality."
on December 18, 2017