AL-BUSTAN NEWS
Covering Philadelphia’s Southwest Asian and North African Communities
Hilarious Habibis Bring Their Comedy Message to Philly: Arab Humor Isn’t Niche, It’s Just Funny
By Gawhara Abou-eid
All evening, the sold-out venue felt like a citywide inside joke finally getting told out loud.
These Philly–Area Performers Are Committed to Preserving the Cultural Authenticity of Belly Dance
By Gawhara Abou-eid
“When performed with authenticity, raqs sharqi becomes a form of empowerment, an act of reclaiming the beauty and strength of the feminine and honoring the deep humanity that this dance expresses.”
Art as Resistance | Artist Naz Khoury Reimagines Glass as a Form of Archive and Memory
By Lauren Abunassar
“I think something that draws me to glass so much is that it is a very experience-based medium where the process itself is so captivating and exhilarating and fun, but also difficult. When you make the work, you're aware that there is a very large chance you're not going to get anything from it. Something may break, something may not exist at the end.”
Nasser Al-Rayess’ Philly Stand-Up Show Celebrates Growing up Arab in America
By Elissa Odeh
At his show, Al-Rayess joked about one of the biggest cultural pressures in Arab culture — getting married. “I’m almost 30, so the questions never stop. Back home I would’ve been married to my cousin by now.”
Cinema, Etcetera | “One Battle After Another” and the Vanishing of Revolutionary Arab Cinema
By Joseph Fahim
“One Battle After Another” is not just about the U.S. — it’s a fable about the failure of the left worldwide. And for the Arab viewer, it’s impossible to watch the film without drawing comparisons to our own failures in the Arab Spring.
Art as Resistance | National Book Award Nominee Fargo Tbakhi on Writing Poetry in a Time of Genocide
By Lauren Abunassar
“I cannot genuinely say I believe that my writing and publishing a book with a small press based in the U.S. is an act of resistance. For me, it tends to get into these questions about rhetoric, or about public opinion, or about changing people's minds or hearts through our writing. But I don't know that I would call that resistance.”
Al-Bustan News Team
Editor
Nisa Qazi
Current Journalism Fellows
Gawhara Abou-eid
Amna Khalafalla
Columnists
Lauren Abunassar
Joseph Fahim