Mediterranean Studies Forum at Stanford Hosts Lively Events, Discussions and Speakers

Pictures from above event:

Nuray Mert, Lucan Way, Ali Yaycioglu

Lucan Way, Ali Yaycioglu, Lina Khatib

EVENT ON NOVEMBER 8:

Ahmed Benchemsi's New Piece about Feb 20's Rise and Fall: A Moroccan Story

"Feb 20's Rise and Fall: A Moroccan Story" by Ahmed Benchemsi.

Developed as part of Ahmed Benchemsi's Stanford research program, this article is the outcome of a one year-long investigation on Morocco's "Arab Spring" protest movement. It explains how and why young pro-democracy activists rocked the kingdom like never before, but were ultimately outplayed by the autocratic, wily monarchy.

Read more here: http://ahmedbenchemsi.com/feb20s-rise-and-fall-a-moroccan-story/

The article is a short version of a book chapter from “Taking to the Streets: Activism, Arab Uprisings, and Democratization”, a forthcoming collection co-edited by Lina Khatib (Stanford University) and Ellen Lust (Yale University), to be published in 2013 by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Check out Ahmed Benchemsi's blog at http://ahmedbenchemsi.com/

Quelle Revolution: A Short Film by Lina Khatib

Shot on location in 2005 and first screened in 2006, this film ("What Revolution") takes a pessimistic stance towards Lebanon's so-called "Cedar Revolution", commenting on its conflation of patriotism with consumption, and doubting its casting of a lasting legacy on national unity. The film has not been shown in public since its last screening in 2007.  Filmmaker Lina Khatib is making it available to the public now--five years later--as the issues it depicts are sadly still pertinent in today's Lebanon.

The genre of the work is experimental documentary, and it's an almost silent film, save for speech captured off-camera. It has screened at:

- April 2007: Doc à Tunis international documentary festival, Tunis, Tunisia.
- November 5-12, 2006: DocuDays Beirut International Documentary Festival, Lebanon.
- September 2-December 17, 2006: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde and August 31-17th December: Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Coding: Decoding Video Season, Denmark
- August 11 2006: Views from the Middle East: A Kaleidoscope of Identities, Opening Conference of the Images of the Middle East Cultural Festival, The National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0901505/
To contact the filmmaker, Lina Khatib, please visit:http://arabreform.stanford.edu/people/Lina_Khatib/

AMENDS Summit at Stanford Features Variety of Dynamic Speakers

Flyer for AMENDS Summit 2012

AMENDS Team at Stanford (photo credit: amends.stanford.edu)

The AMENDS (American Middle Eastern Network for Dialogue at Stanford) Summit at Stanford University brought leaders from all over the Middle East and United States to the Stanford University campus for a five-day conversation on leadership and the future of the region in the wake of the Arab Spring.

AMENDS is a student-led initiative that seeks to connect and empower youth leaders from the Middle East, North Africa and the United States. Responding in part to the protests and revolutions sparked in 2011, two undergraduates were inspired to create a program that would foster increased dialogue and understanding between the United States and countries across the Middle East. Since then, AMENDS has grown into a diverse team of Stanford students who hail from all across the world. AMENDS is currently in its first year and it is sponsored by the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford.

Day 1 of the AMENDS Summit began on Wednesday April 11, 2012 and was titled “Technology, Social Media, and Innovation” and featured an impressive array of speakers including Aymen Abderrahman, Selma Chirouf, Rawan Da’as, Elizabeth Harmon, Sonya Kassis, Heather Libbe, Ifrah Magan, Sam Adelsberg, Brian Pellot, George Somi.

Day 2 (Thursday April 12, 2012) addressed “Building Civil Society” and included AMENDS Talks Speakers Firyal Abdulaziz, Lubna Alzaroo, Hoor Al-Khaja, Ali Al-Murtadha, Jessica Anderson, Seif Elkhawanky, Micah Hendler, James Hurley, Ram Sachs and Rana Sharif.

Day 3 (Friday April 13, 2012) broached issues related to “Peace and Conflict Resolution” and included Sherihan Abdel-Rahman, Sherif Maktabi, Mohammad AlJishi, Abdulla Al-Misnad, Yahya Bensliman, Ilyes El-Ouarzadi, Sandie Hanna, Priya Knudson, Megan McConaughey and Gavin Schalliol. Also featured were Speakers/Panelists Sami Ben Gharbia (Tunisian political activist, Foreign Policy Top 100 Thinker), Professor Allen Weiner (Co-Director of Stanford Univeristy Center on International Conflict and Negotiation), Thomas T. Riley (Former Ambassador to Morocco) and Radwan Masmoudi (Founder and President of the Center of the Study of Islam & Democracy).

Day 4 (Saturday April 14,2012) was billed as “The New Middle East” and showcased speakers Firas Al-Dabagh, Abdullah Al-Fakharany, Marwan Alabed, Cole Bockenfeld, Nadir Ijaz, Selma Maarouf, Matthew Morantz, Alaa Mufleh, Fadi Quran, and Nada Ramadan. Speakers/Panelists were Rami Khouri (Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut), Huda Abu Arqoub (Co-Executive Director of Abraham’s Vision), Professor Aaron Hahn Tapper (Co-Executive Director of Abraham’s Vision), Nasser Weddady (Civil Rights Outreach Director, American Islamic Congress) and Ahmed Benchemsi (Moroccan journalist and pro-democracy activist whom I interviewed earlier last year on my radio show Arabology--click here to listen).

The success of AMENDS is primarily due to its Executive Team which is comprised of Elliot Stoller (Co-Founder, Co-President,Chicago, IL), Khaled Alshawi (Co-Founder, Co-President,Saar, Bahrain), Meredith Wheeler (Co-President,Fort Collins, CO), Matthew Colford (Director of American Outreach,Palo Alto, California), Misha Nasrollahzadeh (Director of Conference Management and Programming,Bloomfield Hills, MI), Marwa Farag (Deputy Director of Conference Management and Programming, Abu Dhabi, UAE/Cairo, Egypt), AJ Sugarman (Director of Mentorship Program, Beverly Hills, CA), Imani Franklin (Director of Recruitment and Delegate Relations, Atlanta, GA), Otis Reid (Advisor, Stanford in Government Chair,Chapel Hill, NC), Sahar Khan (Advisor, Co-founder of Avicenna, Stanford Journal on Muslim Affairs, Muscat, Oman), Mariah Halperin (Director of Social Media and External Relations ,San Francisco, CA), Yassamin Ansari (Director of Marketing, Scottsdale, AZ), Izzah Farzanah (Bander Seri Begawan, Brunei), Ariella Axler (Atlanta, GA), Shannon Schweitzer (New Orleans, LA), Adnan Razzaque (Oak Lawn, IL), and Perth Chaternwattangaul (Bangkok, Thailand). To read more about the AMENDS leadership, click here.

The AMENDS Board of Advisors is equally impressive, featuring Professor Coit Blacker, Professor Larry Diamond, Prince Moulay Hicham ben Abdallah, Dr. Lina Khatib, Professor Abbas Milani and Judge Abraham Sofaer. To read more about AMENDS’ board of advisors, click here.

AMENDS believes in the power of youth leaders to create positive social, political, and economic change, the necessity of sharing their ideas and experiences with the world, and the profound potential of collaboration and understanding between the Middle East, North Africa, and the United States. For more info, see amends.stanford.edu

Here are some of my pictures from the 2012 AMENDS Summit:

Dr. Ramzi Salti (yours truly) at AMENDS (Day 1)

Ahmed Benchemsi during Day 4 

Ramzi Salti and Ahmed Benchemsi

Dr. Rami Khouri (American University of Beirut)

Ramzi Salti with Rami Khouri

Marwa Farag, Deputy Director of Conference Management and Programming

AMENDS attendee Ahmad Qousi with Fadi Quran (speaker) and Dr. Ramzi Salti

Ahmad Qousi and Ramzi Salti with Dr. Lina Khatib

With Imani Franklin, Director of Recruitment and Delegate Relations

Ramzi Salti, Elizabeth Harmon, Ahmad Qousi

Elizabeth Harmon who unveiled her site babsharqui.org on Day 1 of Summit

Elizabeth Harmon, RIfrah Magan, Meredith Wheeler, Sam Edelsberg

Ahmad Qousi, Ram Sachs (Speaker), Ramzi Salti, Elliot Stoller (AMENDS Co-Founder, Co-President)

For more on AMENDS, see http://www.stanford.edu/group/amends/cgi-bin/

To read more about the AMENDS leadership, click here.

To read more about AMENDS’ board of advisors, click here.

Women's Role in the Arab Spring by Dr. Lina Khatib

This event took place at Stanford University on Thursday April 12, 2012 at noon.  See pictures below.

Pictures from the event featuring Dr. Lina Khatib:

My Feb 23 Podcast ft. Interv with Dr. Lina Khatib, Co-Founder of Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford

The sixth episode of 'Arabology' (2/23/12) features my interview with Dr. Lina Khatib, co-founder and Program Manager of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford. This show also includes interviews with Stanford students of Arabic Omar Ezzine, Aleena Syed and Melanie Nacouzi.

This episode also features music by Charbel Rouhana (Ft Tania Saleh), Maryam Saleh, Anouar Brahem Trio, Emel Mathlouthi, El Gusto Orchestra of Algiers, Tamer Ashour, Ilham Al-Madfa'i, Toufic Farroukh and many more.

To LISTEN to PART ONE:  http://www.radio4all.net/files/author30@gmail.com/4294-1-Arabology_S1E6P1.mp3

To LISTEN to PART TWO: http://www.radio4all.net/files/author30@gmail.com/4294-2-Arabology_S1E6P2.mp3

To Download the show go to:  http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/58047

  

Ramzi Salti, Ph.D.                                           الدكتور رمزي سلطي

Lecturer, Author & Radio DJ            كاتب،مذيع ومحاضر في اللغة العربية وآدابها

Stanford University                                             جامعة ستانفورد

Playlist for Arabology	Thursday, 23 February 2012  4pm - 7pm	DJ: Ramzi S.

Artist	Track		Album/Label
Toot Ard	Kl El Nas		Nuri Andaburi Island Def Jam Digital Distribution
Interview with Lina Khatib	Interview		Arabology KZSU
Salma & Ziad Rahbani	Wallat Ktir		Un Verre Chez Nous EMI Latin
Mido Zahair (Feat Maryam Saleh)	Islahat		Beirut Hotel LFP Les Fims Pelle'as
News Report	News Report		KZSU News KZSU
Ajram, Nancy	Alf Layla Wa-Layla (A Thousand And One Nights)		Sahret Tarab (A Night Of Ecstacy) New Sound
Interview with Omar and Alina	Interview		Arabology KZSU
Brahem, Anouar Trio	Astrakan Cafe		Astrakan Cafe Ecm Records (Jazz)
Ajram, Nancy	Law Ouyounak		Best Of Nancy Ajram Self/Songcast
Interview with Melani Nakouzi	Interview		Arabology KZSU
Diab, Amr	Banadeek Ta'ala (I'm Calling You, Come)		Banadeek Ta'ala (I'm Calling You, Come) Laser
Mathlouthi, Emel	Ma Lkit (Not Found)		Kelmti Horra World Village
Khoury, Suhail	Raqs (Dance)		Al-Quds Ba'd Muntasif Al-Layl (Jerusalem After Midnight) Edward Said National Conservatory Of Music & Birzeit University
News Report	News Report		KZSU News News
El Gusto Orchestra Of Algiers	Ya Rayih Wayne Misafer (Where Are You Going, Emigrant?)		El Gusto Quidam Productions/Remark Music
Alama, Ragheb	Saharony Elleil		Saharony Elleil (Up All Night) Mondo Melodia
Rouhana, Charbel	Ya Ghosna Naqa		Art of the Middle Eastern Oud Arc Music Inc.
DJ Nader	Zity Hal Marule		Arabic Club Mix Vol 2 Level Up Recordings
Offendum, Omar	Finjan		Syrianamericana Cosher Ink, Llc
Farroukh, Toufic	Lili S'en Fout		Sahara Lounge Putumayo World Music
Banna, Rim	Ma Lik (What's With You?)		Al-Rawa'i (Greatest Hits) Laser
Ashour, Tamer	Ya Ahlan (Welcome)		Leayah Nazra (I Have A Point Of View Rotana
Al-Madfa'i, Ilham	Bein El Assir Wa'l-Maghrib (Between Afternoon And Susnset)		Dishdasha Rip Cat Records