AL-BUSTAN NEWS
Covering Philadelphia’s Southwest Asian and North African Communities
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.”
Immigrant Families Find More Than Green Space at Bucks County Park (Video)
By Kenza Bousseloub
What makes Neshaminy State Park such a popular gathering place for SWANA families?
Football Season Is Underway, and These Arab–American Superfans Are All In
By Ragad Ahmad
Every Sunday night, Fatih Ahmed commits what locals consider football treason. From his Doylestown living room, deep in Eagles territory, he roots for the Giants with the kind of blind devotion that none of his friends can understand.
Amid Federal Cuts, Philadelphia Immigrant Aid Groups Fight to Survive New Era of ‘Lawlessness’
By Lauren Abunassar
If this is an era of destruction, it’s also an age of adaptation as organizations like HIAS PA and PIC shift their approaches to embrace collaboration and local advocacy.
In Photos: Protesters Encounter Heightened Police Presence During Weekly Day & Zimmerman Protest
By Ben Bennett
Every Tuesday at 6:30 a.m., members of Philly Palestine Coalition gather for a protest outside the munitions manufacturer’s corporate offices.
Cinema, Etcetera | Kamal Aljafari’s ‘With Hasan in Gaza’ and the Challenges of Experimental Arab Film
By Joseph Fahim
The success of “With Hasan in Gaza” in Locarno, where it was seen by thousands of people, has proven that there is a sizeable audience for films like Aljafari’s: an artistically and intellectually uncompromised cinema that rejects a digestible, ready-made message.
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