Eastern Michigan University’s Center for Jewish Studies is set to host a concert/conversation with Mira Awad in honor of Women’s History Month on Sunday, March 7, at 3 p.m.
The event will be streaming over Facebook and Youtube, and there is no cost to attend. Attendees will be able to watch Awad perform alongside Israeli guitarist, Shay Alon. Following their performance, attendees will be able to participate in a Q&A with Awad over the live stream.
Mira Awad has been an activist, advocating for women’s rights, equal citizenship amongst Palestinians living in Israel, and environmental awareness, amongst many others with the goal of encouraging peace and solidarity. She categorizes her music as Arabic fusion, combining both Arabic language with Western harmonies.
Awad states in anticipation of the concert, “It’s always a pleasure to get an opportunity to reach out to people around the world with my music and message. A University is a hub for new minds, new ways of thinking, new perspectives on the world, and our future in it. And so I am double excited for the opportunity.”
Dr. Shichtman states that “We try each year to do something that celebrates music and Jews, and Mira Awad is an important musical voice in Israel.”
As a singer, songwriter, actress, and artist, Awad has become a major figure in Israeli and Palestinian life and culture.
Dr. Shichtman hopes people will gain newfound knowledge from the concert, and that it will be able to bring many different people together.
“I’m hoping that people will take away from it the fact that there are people working for peace and collaboration. I think that Awad gives us a look into society that many Jews and Palestinians do not often get because she is someone who is trying to find ways to have co-existence and collaboration in Israel. We have two sides that are often hardening towards each other, and what she’s doing is saying we have to find ways to talk together, we have to find ways to sing together, and we have to find ways to make art together,” Shitchtman said.
“[The concert and the discussion after is] an opportunity for a lot of us to think about difficult issues and to talk about those issues,” Shitchtman said.
You can join the Center for Jewish Studies with Mira Awad on March 7, at 3 p.m. EST through the Youtube stream here and the Facebook stream here.
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