1. Conferences and debates

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Nakba at 73: what lies ahead?

Published at 31 12,,, 21 2021

To commemorate Nakba Day, Casa Árabe and the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain present this conference with Hanan Ashrawi, political and civil society leader, academic and Palestinian activist. She will be speaking with José Vericat on May 17 at 6 p.m. at our headquarters in Madrid. The event will be broadcast live on Youtube and Facebook Live. 1948 marks the start of the Nakba, “catastrophe” or “disaster” in Arabic, when more than 700,000 Palestinians had to flee from their lands, and hundreds of cities and towns were destroyed or forcibly depopulated. Since then, many UN Resolutions have been disregarded by Israel, which has carried out the construction of illegal settlements and deepened its occupation of the Palestinian territories. Against the odds, the Palestinian people have refused to forget and give up the right of return and have continued to resist throughout the decades. In this conference, organized with the cooperation of the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain, Hanan Ashrawi will talk about the deep legacy of the Nakba, but also about current Palestinian affairs in the light of the recent crisis in Jerusalem and Gaza. She will also tackle the prospects for future elections and reform in Palestine and the role of the European Union. Hanan Ashrawi will be joining the event through an online connection from Ramallah and will engage in a dialogue with José Vericat, Senior Adviser at the European Institute for Peace. Presented by: Musa Amer Odeh, Ambassador of Palestine in Spain and Pedro Martínez-Avial, Director General of Casa Árabe. Hanan Ashrawi is a distinguished Palestinian leader, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process, beginning with the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. Making history as the first woman to hold a seat in the highest executive body in Palestine, she was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2009 and most recently in 2018. She resigned in 2020. In 1996, Dr. Ashrawi was appointed as the Palestinian Authority Minister of Higher Education and Research. She was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council representing Jerusalem in 1996, and she was re-elected for the “Third Way” bloc ticket in 2006. As a civil society activist, she founded the Independent Commission for Human Rights (1994), MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (1998) and AMAN, the National Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (1999). She serves on the advisory and international boards of several global, regional and local organizations, and she is the recipient of numerous awards from all over the world, , including the distinguished French decoration, “d'Officier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur” (2016), and several academic accolades, including eleven honorary doctorates from universities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Arab world. José S. Vericat is Senior Adviser at the European Institute for Peace. He’s a seasoned Middle East expert with more than two decades of experience working in conflict zones. Before joining the European Institute of Peace, he was the Carter Center’s Israel-Palestine Country Representative and Field Office Director promoting viable peace between Israelis and Palestinians and inter-Palestinian reconciliation. Previously, he was a Middle East advisor at the International Peace Institute (IPI) influencing policy-making at the UN headquarters, an EU official working on security sector reform in Palestine, and a prize-winning journalist covering the Second Intifada and the Iraq war. He has a PhD in Oriental Studies from Oxford University and an MA in International Relations from Columbia University. More information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/nakba-at-73-what-lies-ahead Photo: Montecruz Foto. Palestine Nakba Day demo in Berlin

ALL VIDEOS IN THIS CATEGORY

Talk with the Emirati director Nujoom Alghanem (ARABIC)

06/02/2017. Nujoom Alghamen met with the public on the occasion of this screening of her documentary "Nearby Sky" (Samma Qarribah)(United Arab Emirates, 2014, 95 min.). The screening was part of the film series "New filmmakers from the United Arab Emirates", curated by Alejandra Val Cubero and organized by Casa Árabe, which introduces a new generation of directors who have come onto the scene over the last decade. About "Nearby Sky" (Samma Qarribah)(United Arab Emirates, 2014, 95 min.). Fatima Alhameli was the first Emirati women who owns camels to get her camel signed up for a contest and take part in camel auctions in the United Arab Emirates. Despite all the difficulties and challenges encountered when attempting to demonstrate that she could compete in one of the most male-dominated fields, Fatima’s desire to win a race or contest remains the only way to make up for her failures and overcome them. Fatima’s story is reflected in a unique way in this film, which shows the path she has chosen and the challenges she has faced both socially and personally. Right when Fatima begins to lose hope, an unexpected reward comes into her life. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/new-filmmakers-from-the-united-arab-emirates

Published at 07 15,,, 17 2017
The act of collecting through the eyes of Mohsen Yammine (ARABIC)

06-01-2017. Conversation between the collector, Mohsen Yammine, and the director of the Arab Image Foundation of Beirut Marc Mouarkech. This talk was held on the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition “An Uncanny Impulse: The Mohsen Yammine Collection at the Arab Image Foundation of Beirut” as part of the PHotoEspaña festival. The opening event for the exhibition took place in the form of a conversation with both guests on the art of collecting and its relationship with photography. More specifically, they discussed how the context of the war in Lebanon and the country’s contemporary history have been closely linked to the work by this collector in particular. Similarly, we got to take a closer look at the work performed by the Arab Image Foundation, which, over its twenty years in existence, has been an essential institution for preserving the visual memory of the Middle East. Throughout all these years, indispensable names in the region’s photography, including Fouad El Khoury, Akram Zaatari, Samer Mohdad and Zeina Arida have undertaken a series of research projects along with Mohsen Yammine, delving even further into this unique private collection. The collector’s viewpoint and decisions have therefore been combined with those of the Foundation members throughout these years to select and build a collection that would be added, on loan, to the collection of the Arab Image Foundation. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/the-act-of-collecting-through-the-eyes-of-mohsen-yammine

Published at 53 15,,, 17 2017
Testimonies by victims of ethnic and religious violence in Iraq (ARABIC)

05-23-2017: Casa Árabe hosted this conference, with testimonies given by the Bishop of Kirkuk, the Archbishop of Basra, Archbishop of Aleppo, a Member of the Iraqi Parliament and artist Naseer Shamma. The human rights situation faced by minorities in Iraq remains alarming in political, civic and cultural terms. Ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, as well as other vulnerable populations, continue to deal with the threats of violence, discrimination, exclusion and the denial of their property rights. The consequences are a deterioration in social cohesion and national unity, and an inability to overcome sectarian violence. Instead of being contained, this pandemic has actually expanded to other countries like Syria and Egypt. Because of the threats and violence based on religious and ethnic identities, the members of minority communities are still fleeing from their countries in search of safety and protection. This series of testimonies will be given as part of the conference on ethnic and religious violence organized by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation on May 24, 2017. Participating in the event were the Bishop of Kirkuk, Yousif Mirkis; the Archbishop of Basra, Habib Al Nawfali; Yonadam Kanna, Member of the Iraqi Parliament and a member of the Syrian Christian community, Jean Clément Jeanbart, Archbishop of Aleppo and administrator of the Melkite Greek Church; and Naseer Shamma, a UNESCO Peace Ambassador. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/testimonies-by-victims-of-ethnic-and-religious-violence-in-iraq

Published at 19 09,,, 17 2017
Iraq Today: Prospects for peace and stability (ARABIC)

05-25-2017:The Embassy of Iraq in Spain and Casa Árabe organized this conference by Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Al Jaaffary. The event was presented by Pedro Villena, the General Director of Casa Árabe. Iraq is an important focal point for stability in the Middle East. In the words of veteran journalist Patrick Cockburn, it is in Iraq where “the Middle East’s tectonic plates run into each other.” Since the First Gulf War held such a prominent place in the international news, and more specifically since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, with ithe reconstruction of Iraq’s institutions by one government after the other and the uprise of organized extremism, the country has become a point of reference for evaluating advancements and setbacks in the region. The country’s infrastructure has been recovering in some regions, as society remains divided by insecurity and mistrust. Though Daesh is losing the war militarily, Iraq faces many challenges in the near future: defeating sectarianism to restore the country’s social fabric, improving governance and creating jobs to deter recruitment into militias, and reducing the high levels of corruption, as well as others. Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Al Jaafari, will be discussing the prospects for peace and stability in his country at Casa Árabe. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/iraq-today-prospects-for-peace-and-stability

Published at 17 09,,, 17 2017
(9) Media, revolution and power (ARABIC)

International Forum "A decade of transformations in the Arab world". 04/25/2017 The information and culture revolution "Media, revolution and power". Bouziane Ahmed Khodja, journalist at RTVE; Waad el Kateab, syrian jorunalist and producer. Moderated by: Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe.

Published at 10 29,,, 17 2017