Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 6:30pm | The Showroom, 1099 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005, USA
Join us for an evening filled with powerful reflections from advocates, captivating musical performances, delicious food and drink, and a space for attendees to come together in solidarity and exchange. We’ll be reflecting on and celebrating TIMEP’s impact over the last decade. We hope you’ll be a part of this special night to support the institute, its programs, and its community in the years to come.
Program highlights:
- Palestinian-American singer and songwriter Mona Miari will be joined by John Murchison on the qanun for a beautiful jazz and Arabic fusion performance.
- Reflecting on her years of experience and work to hold Lebanese officials to account for the Beirut Port explosion and for decades of financial negligence and corruption, Lebanese human rights lawyer Zena Wakim will inspire us with a call to action on the pathways to accountability in Lebanon.
- Syrian soprano singer Lubana Al-Quntar, internationally-renowned as the “First Opera Singer from Syria” will take audience members on a nostalgic journey through classical Arabic music.
- Syrian advocate, policy analyst, and researcher Muzna Dureid will also join us to offer reflections.
For those unable to join us, we promise engaging virtual programming and exciting announcements in the weeks to come. In the meantime, we hope you’ll consider making a gift to TIMEP. Visit our Givebutter page for more info, ticket sales, or to make a donation to support TIMEP.
Musician and Speaker Details:
Ahmed Shihab-Eldin
Gala MCAhmed Shihab-Eldin is an Emmy-nominated journalist, producer and actor. He recently left his position as a Senior Presenter for AJ+ where he produced award-winning documentaries focused on social justice and human rights to explore new forms of storytelling and develop a podcast. Previously Ahmed worked as a reporter and producer for Al Jazeera English, as well as for the The New York Times, The Huffington Post and PBS. Ahmed is widely known for creating and co-hosting Al Jazeera English’s flagship program ‘The Stream’ an interactive live talk show nominated for an Emmy Award for Most Innovative Program in 2012.
Mona Miari
Artist, singer, songwriter, and lawyerMona Miari is an independent Palestinian-American artist, singer, songwriter, and lawyer based in New York City. Growing up influenced by various cultures, Mona is devoting her musical career to enrich the Arabic culture and music by exploring and reapplying the Arabic language through different kinds and genres of music that span the globe. Her most recent musical project is a fusion between Middle Eastern music and Jazz featuring different countries and Maqam scales. Throughout her career, Mona has performed extensively in several cultural festivals and concert tours in the Arab World, the US, and Europe, singing in honor of justice and resistance for Palestine and the Middle East, as well as collaborating with numerous artists from all over the world. Mona is currently working on her debut album that features songs and compositions written by her in collaboration with artists from the Middle East, Europe, and the US.
John Murchison
John Murchison is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist known for his active role in several musical circles, performing in pop and musical theater, jazz and avant-garde, and traditional music from the Middle East and Africa. John is one of the most in-demand bassists for traditional Arabic music in the United States. In addition to his work on bass, he also performs regularly on qanun, gimbri, oud, ney, and percussion. He is the cofounder of Brooklyn Maqam, an organization dedicated to presenting, promoting, and building community around Arabic music in the New York City area.
Zena Wakim
Zena Wakim fled the war in Lebanon with her family and moved to Switzerland when she was 10 years old. Having witnessed war crimes and impunity at a young age, she felt the need, as a lawyer, to seek justice and redress for the voiceless and the victims of human right abuses. She is currently the president of the Board of the Swiss Foundation Accountability Now, which assists civil society in its quest for accountability in Lebanon. Over the last years, she has been active in fighting state capture and corruption by the Lebanese political elite and she led the filings against the once-untouchable central bank governor Riad Salameh in several jurisdictions in Europe which led to the freezing of over some $200 million of suspected ill-gotten assets. She also represents victims of human right abuses throughout the world, including victims of the Beirut Port blast who, most recently, filed a case in Texas.
Lubana Al Quntar
Lubana Al Quntar was born in Damascus, Syria, to a family of traditional singers. She is related to singer and actress Amal Al Atrash (known by her stage name, Asmahan) and her brother, renowned composer and singer Farid Al Atrash. These connections influenced her musical path and played an important role in her decision to seek a career as a professional singer. She began singing at an early age and had an unusual gift for singing challenging sung poetry from her childhood. Lubana’s rare and dramatic voice breathes life into a wide repertoire of music, performing folk, traditional Syriac and Aramaic-language music, pop, and classical opera. Her expressive voice allows her to add luster and richness to the various singing styles. In addition to traditional songs in Arabic, Lubana became the first Syrian opera singer to attain international recognition, as she appeared in concerts throughout Europe.
Muzna Dureid
Muzna Dureid is an award-winning policy analyst and researcher. She works as a Senior Program Development Officer at The White Helmets. Muzna is a former refugee, an advocate for diaspora women’s refugee political participation, and a co-founder of the Syrian women’s political movement to engage Syrian women in politics and peace talks and shape the country’s future. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, where she is also the co-founder of Refugee Advisor Network-Canada, working to advance the meaningful participation of refugees in shaping international policies. She founded “Women Refugees, not Captives,” which aims to end forced and child marriages among Syrian refugee women and girls, and has been involved in various other initiatives and networks that have a similar focus.