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

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“Madrid with Syria” awareness day (ARABIC)

Representatives of the organizations Cascos Blancos (White Helmets), Sham el Jair and the Association of Support for the Syrian People (AAPS) gave testimonials on the situation in the country. Along with Amer Hijazi, president of the AAPS, testimonials were given by Raed Alsaleh, the director of Cascos Blancos; Ahmad Youssef, a volunteer for Cascos Blancos; Halil Resuloglu, president of the Syrian NGO Sham el Jair; Mohamad Alskaf, manager of humanitarian aid for Sham el Jair, and Ignacio Álvarez Ossorio, a professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Alicante and the Middle East and Maghreb Coordinator for Fundación Alternativas. The event was presented by Karim Hauser, who is responsible for Governability at Casa Árabe. The Association of Support for the Syrian People (AAPS) is the only Spanish NGO that sends humanitarian aid on a regular basis to the interior of Syria, and it works with the cooperation of other NGOs and associations in the field so that the sending of humanitarian aid will be effective and reach those who need it most. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/“madrid-with-syria”-awareness-day

Published at 59 01,,, 17 2017
Humanitarian crisis in the region of Iraqi Kurdistan

The media constantly speak about the operation in Mosul, the war against Daesh (or ISIS, after its acronym in English), but they often leave out the humanitarian consequences. The war has led to the forced displacement of millions of people in Iraq and Syria since 2014. Arab, Christian and Yazidi families have been persecuted, threatened and massacred. Most of those saved have found refuge in the region of Iraqi Kurdistan. There are more than 2 million displaced people, and the number of victims continues to grow each day. The camps are overflowing with people. International humanitarian aid is insufficient and does not even cover the basic needs. This conference invited us to gain first-hand knowledge about the current situation for refugees and the displaced in the region of Kurdistan, to provoke thought with a view to understanding the global consequences of this unprecedented humanitarian crisis and to get a closer look at the charitable initiatives already being implemented in the region.

Published at 16 10,,, 17 2017
Mysticism in Islam (In Arabic)

The objective of the conference is to provide an introduction to the history, practices and narratives of Sufism. It will also delve into the topics of spirituality, asceticism and mysticism, and their position within the Islamic world view. Sufism (or tasawwuf in Arabic) is practiced by many Muslims around the world as a personal path towards God. The main Sufi “orders” (tariqa, or in the plural turuq) and the related figures will be explained, as well as discussing whether all of its forms and practices are Islamic per se. Though several Sufi narratives will be covered, a special emphasis will be placed on the life and work of Imam Al-Ghazali. The conference will end with a poetry recitation. The conference, which will be given by Mustafa Abu Sway, a professor of Philosophy and Islamic Studies at Al-Quds University, and will also include interventions by Ricardo Albert, assistant director of the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies and Eastern Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. It will be presented by Karim Hauser, who is responsible for Casa Árabe’s Governance Area.

Published at 04 14,,, 16 2016
“Their Heart in Your Hands”: The history of Islamic manuscript collections in Europe

Casa Árabe and the Embassy of Slovakia in Madrid have organized, within the framework of the Slovakian Presidency of the European Union Council, a round table discussion titled “Their Heart Is in Your Hands: Collections of Islamic manuscripts in Europe, with the cooperation of Nuria Martínez de Castilla, a specialist in codicology and the history of manuscripts from the Islamic world. This round table discussion will be devoted to discussing the different journeys and adventures which Arabic and Islamic manuscripts went on until coming to form part of today’s collections in European archives and libraries. In particular, it will deal with the histories of three collections, the Bašagić Collection of Islamic Manuscripts at the Bratislava University Library in Slovakia; the Arabic manuscripts at the University of Leiden Library in Holland, and the Arabic manuscript collection at the Monastery of El Escorial in Spain. During the debate, some of the common problems encountered when determining and recording the history of Islamic manuscripts in Europe will be examined, as well. The round table discussion will be opened by Miguel Ángel de Frutos, an ambassador and international advisor of Casa Árabe, Vladimír Grácz, the Ambassador of Slovakia in Madrid, and Silvia Stasselová, the General Director of the University Library in Bratislava. After a brief documentary about the Bašagić Collection of Islamic manuscripts, part of UNESCO’S Memory of the World International Register, that collection’s history will be told, as will those of the collections at the University of Leiden and in El Escorial, with contributions by Klára Meszárosová, of the Bratislava University Library, Arnoud Vrolijk, conservator of the University of Leiden Library, and Nuria Martínez de Castilla, of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, in a round table discussion moderated by Marek Brieska, from the Slovakian Embassy in Spain.

Published at 51 13,,, 16 2016
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (In Arabic)

“Today, 136 countries recognize the State of Palestine and its flag flies at the United Nations next to those of all Member States. However, these advances are not felt by children in Gaza, or by the residents of Nablus, Hebron and East Jerusalem [...] let us reaffirm our commitment to bring about the just peace that the peoples of Israel and Palestine deserve.” Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations (November 29, 2015). In 1977, the UN General Assembly asked for November 29th to become the annual day of observance for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Thirty years earlier, in 1947, the Assembly had approved Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine, on the very same day of the year. This commemoration is an act in favor of the rights of Palestinians and an opportunity to make the topic of Palestine and Israeli occupation more visible, now that it is becoming more and more overshadowed by the increasing cacophony of international news about the Middle East. The Palestinian refugees’ situation and the marginalization of Palestinians in Israel in 1948 are just a few of the factors that will be dealt with at this event. The conference was given by Talab al-Sana, president of the Arab Democratic Party. It will include participation by Isaías Barreñada, a professor of International Relations at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. Also taking part are Mahmoud Alwani, top advisor of the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain. The event was presented by Pedro Villena, the General Director of Casa Árabe.

Published at 47 01,,, 16 2016