Upcoming Events, Announcements & Obituaries

—Compiled by Matt Horton

Upcoming Events

England’s Nakba60 campaign will hold an Oral History Day March 1, a History Conference March 15 and 16 and an Exhibition of the Work of Naji Al-Ali in early March to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. For more information, visit <http://nakba60.org.uk>.

The USS Libery Veterans Association and the USS Liberty Alliance will commemorate the life of Admiral Thomas H. Moorer March 4 at the Navy Memorial in Washington, DC. For more information, contact Ernest Gallo at (386) 446-6855.

The 11th Annual National Conference on Organized Resistance (NCOR) will take place March 7 to 9 at American University in Washington, DC. for more information, or to register, visit <www.ncor2008.org>.

The 2008 Ecumenical Advocacy Days Conference, entitled “Claiming a Vision of True Security,” will take place March 7 to 10 at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, 5000 Seminary Rd., Alexandria, VA 22311. For more information, or to register, call Molly Keane at (202) 386-6397 or visit <www.advocacydays.org>.

The Hala Salam Maksoud Foundation for Arab American Leadership will hold a leadership training seminar for interested Arab-Americans March 12 to 16 in Washington, DC. For more information, or to register, call (202) 438-7297 or visit <www.halafoundation.org>.

The Al-Maghrib Institute will offer “Heavenly Hues: Thematic Tafseer,” a two-weekend course taught by Shaykh Yaser Birjas, March 14 to 16 and 21 to 23 in Fairfax, VA. For more information, or to enroll, call (800) 256-2447 or visit <www.almaghrib.org>.

The Act Now to Stop War and Racism (ANSWER) Coalition in Los Angeles will sponsor a Mass March to End the War and Occupation March 15 in Los Angeles, CA. For more information, or to volunteer, call (213) 251-1025 or visit <www.answerla.org>.

Arabesque Foundation for Arab Culture’s Heartland Seminar on Arabic Music will be held March 15 to 21 at the DeKoven Center in Racine, WI. For more information, or to register, call (773) 856-6454 or visit <www.answerla.org>.

The East Michigan District Export Council and the U.S. Commercial Service will lead a Trade Mission to the United Arab Emirates from March 21 to 28. For more information, call Richard Corson at (248) 975-9604 or e-mail <Richard.Corson@mail.doc.gov>.

The American Friends Service Committee will host a Badil/Zochrot U.S. Speaking Tour entitled “Acknowledging the Past; Imagining the Future: Palestinians and Israelis on 1948 and the Right of Return,” March 25 to April 8. For more information, call (215) 241-7874 or visit <www.afsc.org/israel-palestine>.

The 2008 American Task Force for Lebanon Gala Awards Night will be held March 26 at the The Fairmont Hotel, 2401 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20037. For more information, or for tickets, call (202) 223-9333 or visit <www.atfl.org>.

Announcements

The deadline for submitting a film to the Boston Palestine Film Festival (BPFF) is March 20. For more information, visit <http://www.bostonpalestinefilmfest.org>.

Obituaries

Dr. Ahmad Maslamani died on Jan. 7 of a heart attack in Ramallah. Born in Jerusalem in 1958, he attended Al-Umma school, before traveling to Romania, where he received his medical degree from the Timisoara Medical Institute in 1984. Upon his return, he worked in the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit at Jerusalem’s Al-Maqasid hospital. A co-founder of the Health Work Committees (HWC), he served as its director of health clinics in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from 1989 to 1992, when he was promoted to HWC general director, a position that he held until his death. In 1992 he was chairman both of the Jordanian Medical Association in Jerusalem and of the Legal and Malpractice Committee in the West Bank, and served for many years as a member of the Palestinian National Strategic Health Plan Committee. In 1997 he completed his MA in Public Health at Bir Zeit University.

Maslamani was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Central Committee, the Coordinating Committee of PNGO, and, since 2004, a member of the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign Steering Committee. He spent a total of seven years in Israeli prisons for his activism and health promotion. His latest detention occurred after Israeli forces raided his home on June 6, 2005, sparking an international campaign for his freedom. He was interrogated at the infamous Russian Compound in Jerusalem before transfer to Israel’s Ashkelon prison, where he remained in administrative detention until March 14, 2006. A critic of the Palestinian Authority, Maslamani was an organizer of November demonstrations in Ramallah against the Annapolis conference and, after the Spanish Foreign Ministry intervened to control the outcome, a December boycott of the Madrid Forum for a Just Peace. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Nufuz Maslamani, and their three children.

Charlie “Sako” Sahagian, a gifted clarinetist, died Dec. 2 of lung cancer in Glendale, CA. Born Dec. 16, 1960 in Detroit, MI to Armenian immigrants Alice Koyoumjian and Khoren Sahagian, he served in the U.S. Army Reserve and as a Christian missionary to Uganda, Rwanda, Berundi, Peru and Mexico. For the past two years he performed with the Kan Zaman Community Ensemble. He is survived by his mother and brother, Johnny.

Ambassador Mahmoud Hafez died Dec. 6 in Montreal, where he had lived since 1990. Born in Lebanon in 1915, he graduated from the American University of Beirut with a degree in mathematics and worked as a teacher for a short time. After receiving his law degree from Cairo University, he became a career diplomat and held a variety of postings that included the Americas, Asia, France and the Arab world, before being promoted to ambassador in 1959. He was tapped to be acting director general of the Lebanese Security Forces in 1970. He is survived by sons Ziad, Walid and Rabih; daughter, Amina; 10 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.