Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June 1999, page 136

Bulletin Board

Compiled by Janet McMahon

Convenings

The Holy Land Foundation, in cooperation with the American Muslim Council, the American Muslim Foundation, the Success Foundation, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the American Committee on Jerusalem, American Educational Trust and other organizations, is sponsoring “Kosovar Solidarity Night,” a fund-raising dinner to be held at the Afghan Restaurant, 2700 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Alexandria, VA 22301, on Sunday, May 23, 5:30-8:30 p.m. For tickets ($30) and additional information call 1 (800) 909-6822, (703) 725-4833 or (301) 486-0630.

The California Museum of Ancient Art presents a lecture series on “Women of the Ancient World: Their Roles, Status and Accomplishments.” Speakers include Dr. Peter F. Dorman of the University of Chicago discussing “Hatshepsut: Princess, Queen Regent and King of the Two Lands,” May 17; Dr. Betsy M. Bryan of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, presenting a slide lecture on “How to Recognize an Ancient Egyptian Woman”; and Dartmouth College’s Dr. Susan Ackerman discussing “Women at War, Women of the Tent, Women in the Window,” June 7. All lectures are at 7:30 p.m. at the Gallery Theater, Barnsdall Park, 4700 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles. Audiotapes can be purchased through the California Museum of Ancient Art, P.O. Box 10515, Beverly Hills, CA 90213.

The University of Maryland’s Department of Government and Politics is offering a course on “Conflict Resolution: The Israeli-Palestinian Experiment” to be co-taught by Palestinian Prof. Manuel Hassassian and Israeli Prof. Edy Kaufman. The course will meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings from July 13-Aug. 26. For additional information contact Dr. E. Wilson, Director, Center for International Development and Conflict Resolution, 0145 Tydings Hall, College Park, MD 20742-7231, phone (301) 405-7703, fax (301) 314-9256; Professors Hassassian and Kaufman can be contacted directly via e-mail at, respectively, mhassass@bethlehem.edu and msek@mscc.huji.ac.il

The Nazareth Project, Inc. will sponsor Bike Ride ’99, its Eighth Bike Ride for the Nazareth Hospital, Nov. 6-14, 1999. The 250-mile route to Nazareth passes through Jerusalem, the Judean Desert, Jordan Valley, Sea of Gallilee and Mt. Tabor; an optional pre-ride two-day tour in and around Jerusalem, including the Old City, Masada and the Dead Sea, is also available. For complete information send name, address, daytime phone number and how you heard about Bike Ride ’99 to Elise Dormond, Nazareth Project, Inc., 12-B S. Seventh St., Akron, PA 17501-1331, fax (717) 859-1437, e-mail nazproj@redrose.net

As part of the year 2000 celebrations, the Bethlehem 2000 Project, together with Bethlehem University, Lutheran School of Talita Kumi and Guiding Star Ltd., invite youth from around the world to the First International Youth Gathering in Bethlehem, dedicated to discovery and renewal. The 11-day event, from July 6 to 17, 2000, in addition to providing an opportunity to visit the major sites of the Holy Land, will feature a comprehensive program of activities. Cost is $750, excluding airfare; a full package, including airfare, is available at a 5 percent discount if obtained through the Al-Bushra Web site: <http://www.al-bushra.org>. A brochure, reservations and additional information is available from Simon Khano, Director, Guiding Star Ltd., P.O. Box 19421, Jerusalem 91193, phone 972-2-627-3150, fax 972-2-627-3147, e-mail simon@guidingstarltd.com

CONNECTIONS

Birzeit University in Palestine is launching a campaign to establish a “Friends of Birzeit University” organization in the U.S. Its objective will be to set up sisterhood relations with American universities and a program of social and academic activities for Birzeit graduates, students and teachers at Birzeit (formerly Birzeit College and Birzeit High School) since the 1930s. The university is appealing to its graduates and friends in the U.S. and around the world to join “Friends of Birzeit” by providing their names and addresses to the Ad Hoc Committee, FOBZU, c/o Dr. Munir K. Nasser, phone (703) 250-1326, fax (703) 250-2787, e-mail mknasser@patriot.net

The editors of Mizna, a journal of Arab-American writers, are seeking prose, creative non-fiction, essays, performance pieces and scripts for future issues. (Poetry they have.) Writers may submit their work (2 double-spaced copies on an Arab-American theme, maximum 2,500 words) to Mizna, P.O. Box 14294, Minneapolis, MN 55414, e-mail Miznalnc@hotmail.com Visual artists interested in illustrating on a contract basis are invited to contact Mizna; subscriptions to the journal are $15 yearly for three issues.

PEOPLE

Christopher Ross, former U.S. ambassador to Algeria and, most recently, Syria, has been named executive director of Search for Common Ground’s Middle East project, which has offices in Gaza and Amman and projects throughout the region.

DEATHS

Proctor Patterson Jones, a San Francisco lawyer, author and honorary consul for Tunisia since the 1970s, died at his home April 2 at the age of 82, after a brief illness. A descendent of William Whipple of New Hampshire, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, he was born in Cleveland and graduated and earned his law degree from Western Reserve University there. He served in North Africa and Italy in World War II, when his lifelong interest in the Mediterranean began. He later founded the Proctor Jones Publishing Company of San Francisco, which published fine arts books and mystery novels. He himself was the author of At the Dawn of Glasnost, which President Ronald Reagan presented to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on his first trip to the U.S., and of Napoleon, An Intimate Account, which received the 1992 Literary Award of the Napoleonic Society. A memorial service will be held at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral at 3 p.m. on May 24.