Upcoming Events, Announcements & Obituaries

—Compiled by Matt Horton

Upcoming Events

“Palestina 1948,” an exhibition on Palestine and the Nakba, remains on view through January 2009 at the Tropenmuseum, Linnaeusstraat 2, 1092 CK, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. For more information call +31 (0) 20-568-8200 or visit <http://www.tropenmuseum.nl/smartsite.shtml?ch=FAB&id=18261>.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Michigan Chapter Annual Banquet will be held April 5 at the Islamic Center of America, 19500 Ford Rd., Dearborn, MI 48128. For more information, or to purchase tickets, call (248) 559-2247 or visit <www.cairmichigan.org>

Chicagoans Against Apartheid in Palestine will host a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Conference April 18 to 20 in Chicago, IL. For more information, e-mail <chi_anti_apartheid@yahoo.com>.

Friends of Sabeel in Philadelphia will host a conference entitled “In Search of a Homeland: Seeking Peace in the Middle East,” April 25 and 26 at Villanova University’s Connelly Center. For more information, or to register, call Rev. David Yeaworth at (610) 525-2766, e-mail him at <D.Yeaworth@worldnet.att.net>, or visit <http://fosna.org>.

Friends of Freedom and Justice Bil’in will host the Third Bil’in Conference on Popular Struggle April 30 to May 2 in Bil’in, near Ramallah, Palestine. For more information, call +972-547-847-942 or visit <www.ffj-bilin.org>.

The Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPRCI) Israeli-Palestinian Workshop on Education for Peace will be held April 11 and 12 in Tantur, Jerusalem. For more information, or to register, call +972 (2) 676-9460 or visit <www.ipcri.org>.

The Arab American Institute (AAI)’s 10th Annual Kahlil Gibran “Spirit of Humanity” Awards Gala will be held April 23 at the JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC. For more information, or for tickets, call (202) 429-9210 ext. 25, or visit <www.aaiusa.org/foundation/kahlil-gibran-awards>.

The National Committee for the Commemoration of Nakba-60 is organizing a “Return Tent-Camp” next to the Muqata’a in Ramallah, Palestine from April 25 to May 25 as a site for cultural events and coordination of activities in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Nakba. The committee will also host the Fourth Popular Refugee Conference for a One-State Vision and Popular Activation in mid-April. For more information, call +972-559-255584 or e-mail either <camp@badil.org> or <uyac@uyac.org>.

The Wheels of Justice Spring Tour will stop in Manhattan, KS from April 10 to 14 and Lawrence, KS from April 15 to 17. For a complete schedule, or to arrange for a stop in your town, visit <www.justicewheels.org>.

Announcements

The deadline for submissions to the 12th Annual Arab Film Festival, to be held in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Los Angeles from Oct 9 to 19, is April 15. For more information visit <www.aff.org/call.html>.

Obituaries

Hajj Imad Fayez Mughniyah, 45, was killed by a car bomb Feb. 12 in the Kfar Suseh neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. Born in Tair Debba, Lebanon, he moved to Beirut’s southern Shia suburbs and attended the American University of Beirut for a year. During the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war, he joined Fatah’s “Force 17,” responsible for the security of Yassir Arafat, Abu Jihad and other top Fatah leaders, and became a sniper. After Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, he became a key link between the PLO and the Lebanese resistance in the south. After the PLO was expelled from Lebanon, he joined the Shia Amal movement. Mughniyah subsequently joined the military wing of Hezbollah, the Islamic resistance, rising in its ranks from intelligence officer to chief security officer, charged with the protection of its spiritual leader Sheikh Hassan Fadlallah. Wanted on terrorism charges in countries including the U.S., France and Israel, Mughniyah lived underground for much of his adult life, averting numerous attempts on his life and plans to kidnap him. He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Saada Badreddin; daughter, Fatima, and son, Mustafa. His brother Jihad was killed in a southern Beirut car bombing in 1985. Another brother, Fuad, was killed in a southern Beirut car bombing in 1994.

Mazen Afifi, 63, died Feb. 3 of cancer at his home in Vienna, VA. An active member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), he had recently returned from a trip to Lebanon to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. He is survived by his wife, Mary Louise Dunford Afifi; son, Jamal Dunford Afifi; brothers Basim of Tangiers, Morocco and Sherif of Dubai, UAE; sisters Taghrid of Ramallah, Palestine, Abla of Tripoli, Libya and Suhad of Phoenix, AZ.

Arif Ali, 46, died Jan. 31 of cancer at his London home. Born in Pakistan, in 1982 he became a field service technician for the Associated Press (AP) London bureau, where he worked until his death. As a technical expert, Ali made it possible for AP reporters to continue reporting from Somalia during the 1990s civil war, and helped manage AP operations for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He served as manager for AP Server from 1995-2003, project manager for AP Photo Archive from 1995-1999, director of photo technology from 1999-2003 and product manager for eAP and eDistribute from 2003-2004. His work was honored in 2007 with a Gramling Award, the news agency’s top staff award for overseeing the creation and implementation of new AP services. In the year before his death, as regional product director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, he was a central force in creating the AP’s Arabic text service. Ali is survived by his wife, Hina.

Capt. Wissam Eid, 31, was killed in a Jan. 25 car bombing in Beirut’s eastern Hazmieh neighborhood. Born in Deir Ammar, a town north of Beirut, he was a senior officer in the Lebanese intelligence agency and was responsible for investigations into recent politically motivated assassinations. He had survived two previous assassination attempts, including a bomb targeting his house. The bomb also killed his bodyguard and three civilians, and wounded 37 people.