bulletin_board_72_October 2014 Bulletin Board 9/10/14 7:23 PM Page 72 Upcoming Events & Obituaries â€”Compiled by Kevin A. Davis Upcoming Events C3 Summit, in partnership with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will host its annual U.S.-Arab Business Summit Oct. 6 at the Union League Club in New York City. Aimed at promoting partnerships between the U.S. and Arab countries, it will feature such speakers as Matt Lauer, Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor and many more. Visit for more information. The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation will host its 16th International Conference Oct. 17 and 18 at the Washington Marriott Georgetown Hotel in Washington, DC. Visit for the list of speakers and conference program. The RenĂŠ Moawad Foundation will host its 21st Annual Washington Benefit Gala Oct. 17 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC. The event will honor the late H.E. Mohamad Chatah and Dr. Joseph E. Aoun and will feature a Lebanese fashion show and performance by Lebanese vocalist Menal ElMallat. Visit for more information, or e-mail . American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) will host its Annual Dinner Oct. 17 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. This yearâ€™s proceeds will go to support ANERA programs which focus on women in the Middle East. Visit for more information and tickets. The 2014 Arab Film Festival will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area from Oct. 10-23 at various venues. The festival will move to Los Angeles from Nov. 7-12 and San Diego from Nov. 20-22. Visit for more information. The Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) will host its 17th Annual Banquet on Oct. 22 at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn, MI. Funds will go to the advocacy work of the organization. Visit or e-mail to RSVP for the event. UNRWA will host a Gaza Solidarity 5K Run in Los Angeles on Oct. 25. All proceeds will benefit psycho-social support programs for children in Gaza who are suffering from war trauma. Visit for more information and registration, or e-mail . Obituaries Hashim Khan, approximately 100, a Pakistani squash player, died Aug. 18 at his home in Aurora, CO. Born in what is now northern Pakistan, but at the time was part of the British Raj of India, he began to play squash at a young age and even became the squash coach of the British Air Force. In the 1950s, at the peak of his squash career, he was world champion no less than seven times. He cultivated the squash careers of family members as well, many of whom went on to win their own honors and medals around the globe. The family became known in the squash world as the â€œKhan Dynasty.â€? After moving to the United States in the 1960s, Khan was credited with changing the (Advertisement) ') 6) .' 3(!2) .' 3!#2) &) #% 8F Q S P W J E F G S F T I O F W F S G S P [ F O NF B U U P G B NJ M J F T XP S M E XJ E F P O U I F ĂĽS T U E B Z P G & J E VM "E I B 72 THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS BulletinBoard nature of the sport, previously associated with an elite white demographic. He coached in both Detroit and Denver, appealing to non-white segments of the population. Many call him the greatest squash player ever. Samih al-Qasim, 75, one of Palestineâ€™s most respected and loved poets, died Aug. 19 after battling cancer for many years. Born in Zarqaâ€™ in the then-British mandate of Transjordan, he moved with his family back to their ancestral village of Rama in the Galilee after World War II. The poet was just 9 years old in 1948, but recalled in his memoir that his earliest memories were from that tumultuous time, and his poetry makes frequent references to this important date. He published the first of his 25 volumes of poetry, Processions of the Sun, at the age of 18. Some of al-Qasimâ€™s poetry reflected his long interest in PanArabism, and he frequently refers to his infatuation with Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt in the 1960s. He wrote in standard Arabic, evidence of his desire to reach a broad Arab audience, rather than just a Palestinian oneâ€”even though his main themes were anti-imperialism and the effect of the Nakba on Palestinian life. Politically active throughout his life, he was famously arrested in 1960 for refusing to enlist in the Israeli armyâ€”something that, as a Druze living in Israel, he was legally required to do. His membership in the Israeli Communist Party landed him in prison in 1967. He was also the editor of the Arab-Israeli newspaper Kul al-Arab. Simin Behbahani, 87, the celebrated Iranian poet, died Aug. 19 in a hospital in Tehran. Known as the â€œLioness of Iran,â€? she was famous not only for her literary achievements, but as an advocate for womenâ€™s rights and social justice. The author of more than 19 books, she was a pioneer in transforming classical Persian poetic forms, and served as president of the Iranian Writersâ€™ Association. She was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and in 2009 was awarded the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Womenâ€™s Freedom. Behbahaniâ€™s outspoken criticism of social and political ills frequently got her into trouble with authorities. In 2010, her passport was confiscated and she was prevented from leaving the country to speak in Paris. q OCTOBER 2014