The Institute of the Center of Arab American Studies in Michigan-Dearborn, CAAS, organized an Institute in cooperation with Al-Quds University involving a small class of Palestinian and U.S. participants. They took part in lectures, workshops for the development of epistemological, conceptual and methodological skills, cultural programs, and creative reading and writing. Participants met with policy makers, NGO’s, advocacy groups, Arab American leaders and grassroots activists and faculty, staff and students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. A number of participants who took part in this collaboration were from the United States.
A lively and intellectually challenging week attended by Professors of the Al-Quds University and students of the American Studies Center at Al Quds University as well as the Public Relations Department of An-Najah National University and its Zajel Youth Exchange Program. Presentations were offered by most of the participants on different issues related to the Arab American studies, perceptions of Palestine, the Jewish Question, Post colonialism, global identities, sacred geographical constructions on Palestine, Double consciousness and the veil.
The CAAS study tour included visits to the cities of Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Ramallah where participants got the chance to have field perspective on the realities on the ground. The program included visits to Birzeit University and participating in some sessions of the International Conference on Religion and State. Another visit was paid to the Regional Studies and American Studies of the Al-Quds University in Ramallah, Al-Haq Center, Khalil Sakakini Center, Riwaq Center, Ina`ash Al-Usra Center and Ibda Center besides driving alongside the wall.
Themes of the Institute were varying from American Studies in Palestine and Arab American Studies in the U.S, to Comparative Dynamics of Palestine and U.S, Religion and Politics, national construction, human rights, role of woman, democracy, Issues of Identity and its fragmentation, problems of Palestinian narratives, tourist information and real and imagined geographies of Palestine and Israel.
Speakers and presenters of the institute were Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi, Prof. Basem Ra`ad, Dr. Fadwa Labadi, Vanessa Salvidar, Samia Shoman, Sriya Shrestha, Abdul Hakim Odeh, Prof. Monique Taylor, Dr. Adnan Hussein, Dr. Nabeel Alawi, Dr. Hani Bawardi, Nada Elia, Yousef Habash, Yousef Shaheen, Afrose Ahmad, Ala Abu Dheer, Saed Abu Hijleh, Abdallah Abdallah, Zahira Kamal, Lisa Majaj, Mary Geday, Deborah Alkamano, Kenny Garcia, Vera Baboun, Nazmi Ju`beh, Yousef Natsheh.
At the end of the institute, Rabab Abdul Hadi, Director of the Center of Arab American Studies in Michigan-Dearborn thanked everybody for their dedication to accomplish the goals of the Institute. It is worth mentioning that the second phase of the institute will be organized in October this year in the USA.
During the seminar on “Issues of Identity and its Fragmentation, U.S. and Palestine,” Mr. Saed Abu-Hijleh, Director of the Public Relations Department of An-Najah National University, and one of the participants in the institute, gave a presentation on the spatial and geographic dimensions of identity and the relationship of the concepts of space and place to the process of identity formation. He stressed that there are different kinds of overlapping identities that stem from different sources: nuclear family, extended family, school, friends, role models, religion, social class, and national sentiments. He offered a theoretical framework for analysis the effects of Israeli Territorial practices on Palestinian identity, or identities, and gave examples for the fragmentation of these identities in the different Palestinian communities inside and outside Palestine and also inside the 1948 areas occupied by Israel. The ideas he presented shall be further developed in a forthcoming scholarly article entitled “Palestinian Geography of body and Soul.”
“The representatives of Zajel Youth Exchange program at An-Najah presented their program, where Mira Nabulsi spoke about the Changing of stereotypes on the Palestinian cause and the negative image in which Palestinians are represented as devilish terrorists. The Palestinian young voice must respond to the distorted and manipulated ideas and news spread in the West. As well as educating students and increase their awareness in political, historical and cultural issues plus training them on different media and office skills.
Ala Yousef, The Coordinator of the Program spoke about the documentary efforts Zajel have done over the past few years in the field of documenting the oral history of the eyewitnesses of the 1948 war and the documentation of the Newspapers archive of Palestine since 1925 as well as the other efforts that tries to give another perspective of Palestine and Palestinians that will change the stereotypes and images of the conflict in the Middle East.