Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2007, pages 70, 73

Bulletin Board

Upcoming Events, Awards & Obituaries

—Compiled by Matt Horton

Upcoming Events

Threads of Pride: Palestinian Traditional Costumes will be on view through Nov. 25 at the Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, MI 48126. For more information call (313) 582-2266 or visit <www.arabamericanmuseum.org>.

The American Task Force on Palestine’s Annual Gala will be held Oct. 17 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 1150 22nd St. NW, Washington, DC 20037. For more information or tickets call (202)-887-0177 or visit <www.americantaskforce.org>

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations 16th Annual Policymakers Conference, on “Revisiting Arab-U.S. Strategic Relations,” will be held Oct. 25 and 26 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC. For more information call (202) 293-0801 or visit <www.ncusar.org>.

The Arab American Institute’s National Leadership Conference, on the theme “Our Voice, Our Future: Yalla Vote ’08,” will be held in conjunction with the annual conference of the National Network for Arab American Communities, Oct. 26 to 28 in Dearborn, MI. For more information call (202) 429-9210 or visit <www.aaiusa.org>.

The Friends of Sabeel-New England Conference on “The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel: Issues of Justice and Equality,” will be held Oct. 26 and 27 at the Old South Church, 645 Boylston St., Boston, MA, with special guest Archbishop Desmond Tutu. For more information, or to register, call (503) 653-6625 or visit <www.fosna.org>.

The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s 9th International Conference will be held Oct. 26 and 27 at the National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016. For information call (301) 951-9400 or visit <www.hcef.org>.

The Twelfth Annual Arabian Sights Film Festival will be held Oct. 26 through Nov. 4 at the AMC Loews Dupont Circle 5 Theatres, 1350 19th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. For more information, schedule or tickets, call (202) 274-5613 or visit <www.filmfestdc.org/arabiansights>.

The Friends of the Arab American National Museum Annual Gala will be held Oct. 27 at the Detroit Opera House. For more information, or for tickets, call (313) 624-0205 or visit <www.arabamericanmuseum.org>.

The Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries will host “Rumi at 800: A Sufi Celebration,” with poet Naomi Shihab Nye, Oct. 27 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the National Mall in Washington, DC. For more information, call (202) 633-4880 or visit <www.asia.si.edu>.

United For Peace And Justice (UFPJ) is organizing a day of Regional Actions to End the War in Iraq across the U.S. on Oct. 27. For more information call (212) 868-5545 or visit <www.unitedforpeace.org>.

The Arabian Knowledge Economy Association (AKEA) and Al-Aghar Group will hold a conference on “Building a Knowledge-Based Economy in the Arab World,” Oct. 27 to 28 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. For more information, or to register, call Mr. Talal Al-Madani at +973-17-5842-59 ext. 330, e-mail <[email protected]>, or visit <www.akeame.com>.

The Middle East Institute’s 61st Annual Conference on “The Middle East in 2010,” will be held Oct. 30 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. For more information call (202) 785-1141 or visit <www.mideast.org>.

The Palestine Center Annual Conference will be held Nov. 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Palestine Center, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20037. For more information, or to register, call (202) 338-1958 or visit <www.thejerusalemfund.org>.

The Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund”“Southern California Chapter Annual Benefit Gala, entitled “Healing Hands,” will be held Nov. 3 at the Anaheim Hilton, 777 Convention Way, Anaheim, CA 92802 with special guest Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. For more information, or for tickets, call (562) 432-0005 or visit <www.pcrf.net>.

The House of Lebanon Banquet will be held Nov. 3 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA. For more information, or for tickets, call (909) 612-0612 or (949) 499-1622, or visit <www.houseoflebanon.com>.

The Annual Arab-American Cultural & Community Center Gala, entitled “Unity & Friendship,” will be held Nov. 10 at the Hilton Hotel-Galleria area in Houston, TX. For more information, or for tickets, call (832) 351-3366 or visit <www.acc-houston.com>.

The Arab American Chamber of Commerce 15th Annual Building Economic Bridges Banquet will be held Nov. 15 at the Detroit, MI Marriot Renaissance Center. For more information, or for tickets, call (313) 945-1700 or visit <www.americanarab.com>.

The Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation for Arab-American Leadership will host a leadership training seminar Nov. 15 to 19 in Washington, DC. For more information, or to apply, call (202) 438-7297 or visit <http://halafoundation.org>.

The Network of Arab American Professionals 4th National Conference will be held Nov. 16 to 18 at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 102 North End Ave., New York, NY 10281. For more information, or to register, call (212) 592-4052 or visit <www.naaponline.org/ny/conference07.asp>.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) 13th Annual Banquet, entitled “Let the Conversation Begin,” will be held Nov. 17 at 5 pm at the Marriot Crystal Gateway, 1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA. For more information, or to buy tickets, call (202) 488-8787 or visit <www.cair.com>.

The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) 2007 Annual Meeting will be held Nov. 17 to 20 at the Palais des congrès de Montreal in Quebec. For more information, or to register, call (520) 621-5850 or visit <www.mesa.arizona.edu>.

The Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information will hold a Walk the Green Line walk-a-thon and march from Nov. 27 to 29 commemorating the 20th anniversary of U.N. Resolution 181 partitioning historic Palestine. For more information visit <www.walkthegreenline.org> or <www.ipcri.org>.

Awards

The Second Deir Yassin Remembered Scholarship of $2,500 was awarded to Reem Ibrahim Ali Khalifa of Al-Walajah, a small village near Dier Yassin, who plans to study medicine at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. For more information, call (315) 891-3418 or visit <www.deiryassin.org>.

Obituaries

Afghanistan’s King Mohammad Zahir Shah, 92, died July 23 in Kabul. The only son of Mohammed Nadir Shah, and a descendent of Ahmed Shah, founder of the Durrani dynasty in the 18th century, he was educated at the Pasteur Institute in France, where his father was living in exile before returning in the late 1920s to take control through a coup. After finishing his studies in France, Shah returned to Afghanistan in 1930 and continued his education at the Kabul Infantry College, after which he served in the country’s defense and education ministries. On Nov. 8, 1933, Shah witnessed his father’s assassination, and assumed the throne at the age of 19. Under his rule, Afghanistan remained neutral during World War I, courted both the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War, and adopted a constitution in 1964. While out of the country in 1973 he was overthrown by his cousin, Gen. Mohammed Daud Khan, who ruled until being killed shortly before the 1978 Soviet invasion. Shah lived in Italy until 2002 when, following U.S. regime change, he returned to Afghanistan to become the ceremonial “father of the nation.” His wife of 71 years, Queen Homaira, died in 2002. His son, Crown Prince Muhammed Akbar Khan, died in 1942 and another son, Prince Shah Mahmoud Khan, died in 2002. He is survived by two daughters, Princess Bilqis Begum and Princess Maryam Begum, and four sons, Crown Prince Ahmad Shah, Prince Muhammed Nadir Khan, Prince Muhammed Daoud Pashtunyar Khan and Prince Mir Wais Khan.

Former Iraqi President Abdel Rahman Aref, 91, died Aug. 24 at King Hussein Medical Center in Amman, Jordan. A career soldier, he participated in the 1958 overthrow of the monarchy, supported his brother Abdel Salaam Aref’s coup against Abdel Karim Qassim to become president in 1963, served as army chief of staff under his brother’s presidency, and was named president himself in 1966 after his brother died in a helicopter crash. Aref remained president until 1968, when he was overthrown by Iraq’s Ba’ath Party, led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. After receiving a phone call in the early hours of July 17 from then-Defense Minister Hardan al-Tikriti informing him of the coup, Aref boarded a plane to London. He remained in exile, living in Istanbul for 11 years, before retuning to Iraq in 1979, where he lived until the 2003 U.S. invasion forced him to move to Jordan. His sister, Sabiha, was killed by a car bomb near her Baghdad home in 2004. Aref is survived by his wife and five children.

Nadim K. Makdisi, 86, died Sept. 1 of a cardiovascular disease in Washington, DC. Born in New York to Selma Khoury and Prof. Anis Makdisi of the American University of Beirut (AUB), he attended that institution before completing his education at Columbia and earning a Ph.D. in mass communications at American University. He served in World War II and went on to become a renowned journalist, working for the Christian Science Monitor,the BBC and TeleLiban in Lebanon. He was the founder, editor and publisher of Alam Attijarat magazine, and continued writing editorials until the day he died. His wife, Pauline Cowan, died of cancer in 1990. Makdisi is survived by his sons, Aneese, Richard and Nadim, six grandchildren and a great-grandson.

Alice Bollus Najemy, 85, died Sept. 3 in her hometown of Worcester, MA. Born in 1922 to Namy and Martha Bollus, immigrants from Masghara, Lebanon, she married Robert E. Najemy in 1945, with whom she had four children. In 1958 the family moved to Lebanon, where Robert worked as the American University of Beirut’s dean of students. He was killed in his office in 1976 by a student. She is survived by her children and their spouses: Robert Najemy of Athens, Greece, Joseph and Bonnie Najemy of Worcester, Thomas and Sarah Najemy of Wilbraham, MA, Mary and Moustafa Fathallah of Beirut; and by her sister, Olga Batbouta of Worcester.