Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2005, page 77

Bulletin Board

Sabeel Events, Study Tour, Music Seminar, USS Liberty Reunion, Film Award, Death

—Compiled by Janet McMahon

Sabeel Events

Friends of Sabeel”“North America will hold two conferences in February. “Working for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel: In Word and Deed,” scheduled for Feb. 4 and 5 at the Columbia Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia; and “American Churches and the Palestinians,” Feb. 11 and 12 at the Austin, Texas Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Sabeel will sponsor two witness trips to the Holy Land in 2005: March 4-11, and Oct. 28-Nov. 3. Participants will bear witness in Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah and other West Bank cities, worship in local churches, tour the Old City, and participate in advocacy workshops and other activities. For trip information and registration, visit <www.sabeel.org>, call 011-972-2-532-7136, or e-mail < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > or < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. >.

Study Tour to Israel and Palestine

The UK branch of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is accepting applications for a 10-day spring study tour to Israel/Palestine. In addition to meeting with people on both sides of the divide—Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Christians and Muslims—tour participants will have the opportunity to meet ICAHD staff members and to visit the Beit Arabiya Peace Center, where they will enjoy a meal hosted by Salim Shawamreh, as well as the Daila Center, ICAHD’s new civil society empowerment and cultural project in West Jerusalem. ICAHD founder Jeff Halper will address participants and lead the “Greater” Jerusalem tour, including the Separation Wall, the Ma’ale Adumin settlement and the Israeli “matrix of control” road system. For additional information, e-mail < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. >

Arabic and Eastern Music Seminar

Xauen Music, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of classical Arabic, Sephardic, Turkish, and Armenian music, announces The Heartland Seminar on Arabic and Eastern Music, to be held March 19-23 at the DeKoven Center in Racine, Wisconsin.The five-day residential program is designed both for people who wish to begin their study as well as those who seek to improve their skills through individualized instruction, lectures, and workshops. Special sessions will be devoted to topics such as music marketing and promotion, composition, technical issues, and education. The instructors are Hicham Chami of Chicago on qanun, Hanna Khoury of Philadelphia on violin, Scott Marcus of Santa Barbara on ney, Naser Musa of Los Angeles on vocals, Karim Nagi Mohammed of Boston on percussion, and Kareem Roustom of Boston on oud. All have extensive background in education and workshop-conducting in addition to being recording artists and performers. Cost, which includes lodging, meals, and instruction, is $495 for five days or $315 for the weekend only. For additional information, visit <http://www.xauen-music.com/events/a_20050319_hsam_1y/a_20050319_
hsam_1y.html>; call (847) 830-8277 or (312) 927-2746; or e-mail < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. >.

USS Liberty Reunion

The USS Liberty Veterans Associaion will hold its annual reunion June 9-12 in Washington, DC. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hotel Washington, located at 15th and Pennsylvania Aves., with a double rate of $139 per room. This rate is available for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Reservations may be made by calling (800) 424-9540, or on the hotel’s Web site, <hotelwashington.com>. Be sure to say you are with the LVA to qualify for the special rate. On Sat. evening, June 11, the LVA banquet will be held at the Army/Navy Club, 901 17th St. Tickets are $75 per person and must be prepaid no later than two weeks before the event. Send checks to and request additional information from Pat Blue-Roushakes, 1819 Horseback Trail, Vienna, VA 22182, (703) 938-4670.

Chicago Palestine Film Festival Award

Emerging Palestinian-American filmmaker Jacqueline Salloum was named the recipient of the first Chicago Palestine Film Festival completion fund award, given to filmmakers of Palestinian origin or filmmakers working on Palestine-related films to assist them in completing a film in the making. This first award will go toward the completion of Salloum’s “SlingShot HipHop: The Palestinian Lyrical Front,” a documentary focusing on the daily life of Palestinian rappers living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside the Green Line. For more information on the film, which is slated for a 2005 release, visit <www.slingshothiphop.com>. Information about the Chicago Palestine Film Festival and its upcoming fourth annual film festival is available on its Web site, <www.palestinefilmfest.com>.

Death

Walter Paul White, 74, a retired foreign service officer with the U.S. Information Agency, died of cardiac arrest Jan. 13 at an Alexandria, VA hospital. A native of Mentone, AL, he graduated from the University of Georgia in 1952 with a degree in journalism, then worked for a year at the Atlanta Constitution. He served in the Marine Corps from 1953 to 1955 and retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1967 with the rank of major. He also graduated from the National War College in 1972. From 1956 to 1986, he served in eight countries—Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Iraq and Morocco—and in several capacities, including press attaché, public affairs officer and cultural affairs officer.While stationed in Washington from 1964 to 1967, he was deputy chief of the Near East Division of the Voice of America and its acting chief in 1982. In 1995, he was the American representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s mission to Tajikistan. While there, he helped monitor human rights violations and progress toward democratic processes by the Tajik government. Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Colleen Kelly White, three children, a brother, and two grandchildren.