An Afternoon of Palestinian Culture

Enjoy these exemplars of Palestinian culture, an important source of resilience.

• Speakers/Artists Rev Sari Ateek – Welcome (5 min)
• Kirk Campbell – Intro (2 min)
• Nizar Farsakh, Museum of the Palestinian People – History and Culture (10 min)
• Zeina Azzam – Poetry (15 min)
• Fuad Foty – Oud (20-25 min)
• Lema Bashir-Boulghassoul – Tatreez (15 min)
• Malikat al-Dabke – Dabke (20-25 min)
• Jenin Pastries – Reception (25 min)

Palestinian Culture Event in Washington DC | Poetry, Oud, Dabke & Tatreez Night

• Nizar Farsakh, Museum of the Palestinian People (MPP) Palestinian-American political analyst and educator. A former member of the Palestinian negotiating team (2003–2008), he later advised the Palestinian diplomatic mission in (2011–2017). He is a Lecturer of International Affairs at George Washington University and a founding member and advisory board member of the MPP, which opened in 2019.
• Zeina Azzam, Palestinian American poet, writer, editor, and community activist, is Poet Laureate Emerita (202225) of the City of Alexandria. Her poetry books include Some Things Never Leave You and Bayna Bayna, InBetween. She serves as Poetry Editor for We Are Not Numbers, a writing program for youth in Gaza.
• Fuad Foty, Highly accomplished oud instrumentalist, captivating vocalist, esteemed musical instructor, and a co-founder of Quartertonez music, a platform dedicated to promoting and preserving the rich cultural heritage of Arabian music.
• Lema Bashir-Boulghassoul, Palestinian background and influences, surrounded and fascinated by elaborately detailed Middle Eastern fabrics. Tatreez, the intricate Palestinian embroidery designs with distinct patterns identifying each village, passed down mother-todaughter from generation to generation.
• Malikat al-Dabke (Queens of Dabke), The first all-women’s dabke dance troupe in the DMV, specializing in performing and teaching Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi dabke/chobi, zaffe wedding procession and tabals (bass drum). They also incorporate singing, ululations and aweeha, and teach the history, cultural significance and percussion beats related to dabke.