October/November 1995, pg. 121

Bulletin Board

Compiled By Janet McMahon

Convenings

The Middle East Policy Council presents "Contemporary Oman and U.S.-Oman Relations," with participants including Omani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yousef bin Alawi Abdullah, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Robert Pelletreau, columnist Georgie Anne Geyer and others, Oct. 12, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building, 2nd and Constitution Aves. NE, Washington, DC. For reservations call the MEPC at (202) 296-6767.

The Masjid Ansar-Allah will sponsor "The Islamic Family Life Center: Community Development Through Education," Oct. 14, 7 p.m., at the Dallas Pkwy. Hilton, 4801 LBJ Fwy., Dallas, TX 75244. Featured speakers will include Dr. Abdullah Idris Ali, president of the Islamic Society of North America, and Imam Yahya Abdullah of the Dallas Masjid of Al-Islam. For tickets ($25 adults, $12 children) and information contact the Masjid Ansar-Allah, 3455 Roberts Ave., Dallas, TX 75215, (214) 565-9225.

The University of South Florida's Committee for Middle Eastern Studies presents Bishop Youssef of the Diocese of the Southern United States Coptic Orthodox Church speaking on "Copts in Egypt and Around the World," Oct. 16, 4 p.m., in the Grace Allen Room on the 4th floor of the Tampa Campus library; and U.N. Ambassador Rolf Ekeus, speaking on "Iraq and U.N. Sanctions," Oct. 23, 2 p.m., in Room 270 of the Marshall Center. For additional information contact the committee at USF, 4202 East Fowler Ave., SOC 107, Tampa, FL 33620, phone (813) 974-4090, fax (813) 974-2668.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will hold a seminar entitled "Between Families and Tribes: Saddam Hussain's Tribal Policies, 1991 to 1995," with Amatzia Baram, chair of the University of Haifa's Department of the Modern History of the Middle East, Oct. 20, 4-5:30 p.m. in the Library of the Woodrow Wilson Center, 1000 Jefferson Drive SW, Washington, DC 20560. To confirm the seminar, call Cynthia Ely at (202) 357-2115 on the morning of the event.

Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies presents Fateh Azzam, director of the Palestinian human rights organization Al Haq, speaking on "Primary Human Rights Concerns in Palestine," Oct. 24, 6 p.m., in Room 107 of the International Cultural Center on the Georgetown Campus. For complete information, contact CCAS at Georgetown University, 37th and O Sts. NW, Washington, DC 20057, (202) 687-5793.

Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding and the Fuller Theological Seminary are co-sponsoring a conference on "Following Christ in the Middle East Today," Nov. 3 and 4, at the Pasadena First Presbyterian Church, 54 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101. Participants will include Dr. Ray Bakke, Father Elias Chacour, and MECC General Secretary Canon Naim Attek of St. George Cathedral in East Jerusalem. Registration is $45 if made before Oct. 15. For complete information contact Don Wagner or Susanne Donohue, phone (708) 733-0901, fax (708) 733-0904.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee will hold its Western Regional convention and banquet Nov. 3-5 at the Inn at the Park, 1855 S. Harbor, Anaheim, CA 92802. The Nov. 4 banquet will be in memory of the late Alex Odeh; panel discussions and a town meeting on "The Middle East Peace Process" will include speakers Nasser al-Kidwa, permanent PLO observer at the U.N., and Professor Naseer Aruri of Southeastern Massachusetts University. For complete information call Monhir Deeb at (818) 766-8182.

Penn State University will present a conference on "Science, Technology, and Islamic Values: Building Ties into the 21st Century," Dec. 1-3 at the Penn State Scanticon Conference Center Hotel in State College, PA. Featured speakers will include authors Ali A. Mazrui and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and O.A. Shinaishin, senior program manager at the National Science Foundation. For registration, contact Judy Hall, Pennsylvania State University, 225 Penn State Scanticon, University Park, PA 16802, phone (814) 863-5130, fax (814) 863-5190. For program information contact Dr. Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr., PSU, Dept. of History, 303 Weaver Bldg., University Park, PA 16802, phone (814) 863-0086, fax (814) 863-7840.

Performance/Art

In honor of the centennial of Kahlil Gibran's coming to America, the Nagam Cultural Project and Al-Jadid magazine are sponsoring a nationwide concert tour by Lebanese composer Marcel Khalife and his quartet performing "Jadal: A Concerto for Two Ouds." The tour opens Oct. 13 in Washington, DC, at the Ellington Theater of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, 3500 R St. NW; for reservations and information call (703) 998-8524 or (703) 739-2410. The quartet also will appear in New York City, Oct. 14; Boston, MA, Oct. 15; Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 20; Orlando, FL, Oct. 28; Miami, FL, Oct. 29; Houston, TX, Nov. 4; San Francisco, CA, Nov. 5; Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 10; Chicago, IL, Nov. 12; Detroit, MI, Nov. 18; and Cleveland, OH, Nov. 19. For complete information call 1 (800) 624-2686.

"Arabian Days and Nights," an exhibition of manuscripts including l9th-century children's books and lavish chromolithographed volumes, is on view through Oct. 27 in the Rare Book Dept. of the Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, (215) 686-5416. The Rare Book Dept. is open Mon.-Fri., 9-5.

"Art From the Forge," featuring examples of Tuareg artisanship from broadswords to ornate metal boxes displayed in a traditional Tuareg tent, is on view through Jan. 2 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, 950 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20560, (202) 357-2700.

Deaths

Rabbi Yehuda Meir Getz, overseer of prayers at Jerusalem's Western Wall, died Sept. 17 at the age of 71 of a heart attack in Jerusalem. Born in Tunisia, he immigrated to Israel as a child, and was an artillery major during the 1967 war. Rabbi Getz was the first and only rabbi to preside over the Western Wall.

Benjamin Mazar, the archeologist who excavated the southern and western walls of Jerusalem's Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif after its capture in 1967, died Sept. 9 at the age of 89 in Jerusalem. Born in Russia in 1906, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Giessen in Germany before moving to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1929, where he became secretary of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society. He joined Hebrew University in 1951 and served as its president from 1953-61 before retiring in 1974. The author of more than 300 articles, he was known for his synthesis of biblical and archeological research.