Films to be featured at the Middle East Film Festival in January 2009

The following films will be featured in the 2009 Middle East Film Festival at The Evergreen State College....

Meeting Resistance
VIEW TRAILER
What would you do if America was invaded? MEETING RESISTANCE raises the veil of anonymity surrounding the Iraqi insurgency by meeting face to face with individuals who are passionately engaged in the struggle, and documenting for the very first time, the sentiments experienced and actions taken by a nation's citizens when their homeland is occupied. Voices that have previously not been heard, male and female, speak candidly about their motivations, hopes and goals, revealing a kaleidoscope of human perspectives.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad
VIEW TRAILER
A documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition but after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. From 2003-2006, Iraq disintegrated around them while Acrassicauda struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.

As'ad posts about his visit to Evergreen...
I spoke yesterday at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. I only realized yesterday that this was the college where Rachel Corrie was a student. The lousy cowardly university of the college has not even dedicated a memorial for her. This is a really leftist college with very leftist student body, and where people do "get" the significance of Palestinian struggle. This is a campus where students don't consider voting for the Democratic ticket as the ultimate act of leftism. I met a Palestinian student from Chicago whose baby brother was treated by Rahm Imanuel's father back in the 1990s. She said that when her mother discovered that he was an Irgun terrorist, she immediately discontinued his services. One thing disturbs me: almost always when I give a talk in the US, there is somebody in the audience who believe that Sep. 11 was "an inside job" to quote a member of the audience from yesterday. I always, of course, disapoint believers in those kooky conspiracy theorists when I tell that I don't buy those theories and that I am certain that Al-Qa`idah was indeed behind Sep. 11. The person yesterday (who was highly offended by the use of the world "kooky" in my answer) even believes that 11 of the hijackers are still alive--somewhere with Elvis no doubt. And a Syrian student from Aleppo got me Za`tar from Aleppo: I love Za`tar from Aleppo. But it must have seemed odd as I put the jar of Aleppo Za`tar near me on the table during my talk. I had to tell the audience to resist the urge to make some generalization about Arab culture and jars: I assured them that Arab culture does not dictate that Arab should always address a public with a jar of Za`tar next to them. But I did confirm to them that shoes are highly offensive in Arab culture, assertions to the contrary on this blog notwithstanding.

As'ad AbuKhalil Speaking at Evergreen

As'ad AbuKhalil will be speaking at the Evergreen State College on Nov 13th at 7pm in Lecture Hall 5.

As'ad AbuKhalil's blog the Angry Arab News Service (www.angryarab.blogspot.com) receives between 30,000 and 35,000 hits per month. AbuKhalil is from Tyre, Lebanon and grew up in Beirut. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for US media mainstream, which he believes displays "more than a tinge of racism" towards Arabs.

He is the author of Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (1998), Bin Laden, Islam & America's New "War on Terrorism" (2002), and The Battle for Saudi Arabia (2004). He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, visiting professor at UC, Berkeley and his favorite food is fried eggplants.

AbuKhalil is vocally pro-Palestinian, describes himself as an anti-Zionist, and supports one secular state in Palestine. He is an opponent of the Iraq War. He is critical of Israeli government, of United States foreign policy, of Saudi Arabia, of both Fatah and Hamas in Palestine, and of all rival factions in Lebanon.

Politically, AbuKhalil describes himself as "a former Marxist-Leninist, now an anarchist", a feminist, and an "atheist secularist".