Our editors select TMR World Picks. We welcome your suggestions: editor@themarkaz.org
TMR
Artists for Gaza #2 Benefit for UNICEF’s Gaza Appeal, with legends of the British music scene — The Clash, The Specials, Madness, Soul to Soul, and others
March 2, London’s Century Club Soho, UK — more info
A day-and-nightlong dancefloor extravaganza and benefit for Gaza at London’s Century Club in London, with all proceeds going to the UNICEF Gaza Appeal. Move to the DJ sounds of Paul Simonon of The Clash; Jerry Dammers of The Specials; Suggs from Madness, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, alongside ex-Sex Pistols Glen Matlock; Soul to Soul’s Aitch B; British dub producer/mixmaster Adrian Sherwood; and many more. The last time these over 40 DJs and musicians got together, Artists for Gaza raised £24,000 for UNICEF’s Gaza Appeal.
TMR’s own contributor, experimental sound artist DJ Fari B, will be playing a mix of Persian and Middle Eastern sounds to rock the belly dancer in you, after all the punk, ska, acid house, and modern soul. The mission of Artists for Gaza is “to inspire compassion, promote solidarity, and make a real difference. We turn creativity into action, offering hope to those caught in the brutal realities of conflict. The time to stay silent has long passed.” Live music, legendary MCs, dancing, art & photography from Palestine, and food, with proceeds going to a humanitarian cause. Tickets: https://skiddle.com/e/40604735
Two Panels at Frontline Club, London
Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice, Panel Discussion
Monday, March 3, 7–8:30 p.m. GMT — more info
Sudan’s Forgotten War, Panel Discussion
Monday, March 10, 7–8:30 p.m. GMT — more info
The Frontline Club is a gathering place for journalists, broadcasters, human rights advocates, and people who have a pressing need to know about conflict and politics of the day. Two important panel discussions will take place at the beginning of March. The first, “Prosecuting the Powerful,” on Monday, March 3, with Steve Crawshaw, author of Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice; the Guardian’s senior international affairs correspondent previously based in Kabul, Emma Graham-Harrison; Channel 4 News’ International Editor Lindsey Hilsum, who reviewed Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader for the TLS and covered the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan; along with FT’s foreign correspondent Polina Ivanova. One question the panel will answer is whether prosecuting the powerful with war crimes is “achievable, with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, a president who loathes accountability and wants to weaken or destroy the International Criminal Court?”
An equally important discussion at the Frontline Club is “Sudan’s Forgotten War,” on Monday, March 10, with Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch; BBC’s Sudanese journalist Mohanad Hashim, who returned to his Omdurman neighbourhood for the first time since the war began — watch his report. Also speaking is British-Sudanese medical doctor and UK parliamentary advisor on Sudan, Eva Khair, the founding director of the peace-building Sudan Transnational Consortium; and the Times’ war reporter for 30 years, Anthony Lloyd. From the Frontline Club website: “Over 11 million people have been internally displaced within Sudan by the war and over three million are estimated to have fled to neighbouring countries. So where is the media coverage?” Find out at “Sudan’s Forgotten War” panel discussion.
A Knock on the Roof
Ongoing—March 8, Royal Court Theatre, London—more info
Written by and featuring Khawla Ibraheem, this poignant new play about obsession, survival, and daily life in Gaza is directed by Obie Award winner Oliver Butler (What the Constitution Means to Me). It’s set to run at the Royal Court following its recent Off-Broadway debut at the New York Theatre Workshop.
The play centers around Mariam who is all too aware that the army often drops small warning bombs—known as a “knock on the roof”—which give residents in Gaza only 5 to 15 minutes to evacuate before their homes are turned to rubble. With a blend of dry humor and fierce determination, Mariam practices for the performance of her life, carefully considering what—and who—she can take with her when the time comes. A conversation with writer-performer Khawla Ibraheem is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4. This event is free for anyone who has a ticket to that evening’s performance.
Talk: Norman Finkelstein on Donald Trump & the genocide in Gaza
March 16, Busboys and Poets and online, Washington DC, US—more info
Norman Finkelstein will join Dr. Nader Hashemi on stage to present his research on the ongoing genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli state against Palestinians in Gaza. The discussion will also delve into the role of the U.S. government. Signed copies of Finkelstein’s book Gaza: An Inquest into its Martyrdom (University of California Press, 2021) will be available for purchase during and after the event.
Art in Times of War: Threading Spaces of Displacement, Exile and Genocide
March 17, The Institute for Ideas and Imagination, Paris, France—more info
Addressing questions of war, displacement, and genocide through artistic interventions, this event offers an evening on art and dialogue. The program includes an art exhibition followed by a discussion moderated by Hiba Bou Akar on how cities and communities navigate post-conflict spaces. The participating artists, Maha Al-Daya, Mohamad Hafeda, and Nathalie Harb, use their work to explore themes of identity, spatial justice, and the resilience of communities affected by war and displacement.
Layth Sidiq Quartet: Ramadaniyyat 2025
March 18, The Arts Center, NYUAD, Abu Dhabi, UAE—more info
The Layth Sidiq Quartet presents a concert highlighting lesser-known Ramadan songs that celebrate the Holy Month with music that connects the past and present in an intimate and inspiring evening. Featuring a quintet led by Layth Sidiq (violin/voice), Samvel Gasparyan (piano), Rami Lakkis (bass), and Alexander Amoros (percussion), the performance offers a modern interpretation while staying deeply rooted in tradition. For inquiries, email nyuad.boxoffice@nyu.edu
Reading Palestine
March 18, Lost City Bookshop, Washington DC, USA—more info
Join Lost City Books for an engaging discussion on the classics of Palestinian literature, led by Professor Elliott Colla, an expert in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. This spring, they will be hosting three sessions: March 18th: Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, April 15th: Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa and Other Stories by Ghassan Kanafani, and May 8th: The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem
Finding My Way Home, British Iranian Artist Kour Pour
Ongoing through March 22, Nazarian/Curcio Gallery, Los Angeles — more info
Finding My Way Home is a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist Kour Pour. This marks the artist’s debut with the gallery and his first Los Angeles solo exhibition in over a decade. Kour Pour’s paintings, which reflect the artist’s own diasporic experience, are defined by their richly layered surfaces and their fusion of form, technique, and meaning. Drawing from his multi-layered heritage, Pour explores the fluid boundaries between cultures, using his practice to reimagine the stories that define and divide. His work reflects the tensions inherent in the experience of being at the intersection of multiple identities, using the languages of painting to explore our connected histories and present-day realities.
In Finding My Way Home, Pour introduces a series of stacked architectural paintings that engage with the formal language of modernist abstraction yet are simultaneously steeped in references to Persian miniature painting, Islamic architecture, and sacred geometry. These works serve as both inventive formal compositions and complex symbolic structures that incorporate a mix of referential fragments, personal narrative, cultural history, and multiple processes.
Échos: Elsa Duault & Reem Yassouf
Ongoing—March 23, Hangar 107 Collection, Rouen, France —more info
In the Échos exhibition, Elsa Duault and Reem Yassouf invite visitors to explore the depth of memories and the subtle intricacies that define our shared humanity. Their artworks inspire viewers to reflect on how stories reveal the fascinating link between personal experiences and the collective narrative.
Until This Elegy Ends: Works by Lebanese Artist Joe Namy
Ongoing—March 31, Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan—more info
Darat al Funun is featuring sound artist Joe Namy’s work, which emphasizes themes of resilience, nature, and storytelling in Lebanon amidst violence. His pieces include the documentation of ancient olive orchards in Deir Mimas, affected by Israeli airstrikes, and a sound sculpture that reflects the precariousness of safety in Palestine. Namy draws inspiration from Halim El-Dabh’s philosophy on sound as a carrier of meaning and collaborates with musicians from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music to transform personal memories into sonic testimonies. Overall, his works serve as interconnected elegies that highlight the enduring relationship between people and land, illustrating that memory is an active force that shapes realities in the face of erasure.
Fields: Alia Ahmad
Ongoing —April 5, White Cube Mason’s Yard, London, UK—more info
Alia Ahmad (b. 1996, Riyadh) creates vibrant, expressionistic paintings that are deeply rooted in her experiences and observations of her native city. Her work is influenced by local textiles, poetry, and calligraphy, as well as digital graphics. The rich diversity of the surrounding industrialized desert landscape and plant life also plays a significant role in shaping her artistic vision.
New Books in March 2025
FICTION
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami, Pantheon.
Release date: March 4
Renowned Moroccan American novelist Laila Lalami presents a novel set in a dystopian future where even our dreams are under surveillance. Sara returns to LAX after a conference and is detained by the Risk Assessment Administration, which warns her that she is predicted to harm her husband based on her dreams. She is held in a retention center with other women accused of various crimes, facing extended stays for any rule violations. As time passes without resolution, a new resident arrives, disrupting the facility’s order and pushing Sara to confront the companies responsible for her confinement. The Dream Hotel explores how technology can trap us even as it makes our lives easier and questions how much of our personal lives we need to keep private to stay free. The author also investigates if invasive surveillance can ever truly understand who we are.
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji, Scribner Book Company.
Release date: March 4
This debut novel by Sanam Mahloudji blends dark humor with uplifting moments. It tells the story of five women from a once-prominent Iranian family who, after moving to America, grapple with both personal dilemmas and political shifts in their lives. As they transition from being influential figures in Iran to feeling like nobody in a new land, their journey reveals the complexities of identity and resilience. Spanning from 1940s Iran to the splintered 2000s, The Persians upends the reader’s expectations while exploring questions about love, family, money, art, and how to find yourself and each other when your country is lost.
Liquid: A Love Story by Mariam Rahmani, Algonquin Books.
Release date: March 11
This debut novel follows the journey of a young Muslim scholar navigating the challenges of adjunct professorship in Los Angeles. Frustrated with her academic career, the unnamed protagonist makes the bold decision to pursue a new path: marrying someone wealthy. To kick off her summer, she commits to going on 100 dates. However, as mid-summer approaches, she faces the harsh realities of her choice, which ultimately leads her—and her ambitious project—to Tehran.
NON-FICTION
Bloody Hell! Adventures in Menopause from Around the World, edited by Mona Eltahawy, Unbound Books.
Release date: March 6
Bloody Hell! is a collection of 17 essays from diverse authors worldwide, exploring their experiences with menopause. The compilation seeks to challenge societal norms and shame associated with the topic, aiming to promote open conversation around menopause by addressing both personal and political aspects. “This is not a medical textbook, nor a guide on how to “remedy” or “fix” anything,” writes its editor Mona Eltahawy, a feminist of color who often resorts to writing what she has long wanted to read. You can read an excerpt here.
Migrated Keepsakes by Roshi Rouzbehani
Book project and campaign — more info
London-based Iranian activist-artist Roshi Rouzbehani gathered pictures and tales of ashia-ye khatere-angiz, literally “memory-stirring things,” from more than 100 Iranian women dispersed across the diaspora. She has collated these into a beautifully illustrated Persian-language book chronicling a collaborative exploration of nostalgia, identity and home through personal stories of migration. Rouzbehani explains that these keepsakes are “emotional anchors” that bridge past and present on migrant women’s journeys of loss, transformation and “self-redefinition” — experiences that, for many, are “an existential rupture” akin to “tearing out roots to replant them.” Indeed, while most share anecdotes of family heirlooms and other objects, some transported plants across continents!
She insists that Migrated Keepsakes is “more than a book” and rather “a collective archive of Iranian women’s migration experiences, told in their own voices, through the things that matter most to them.” The invisibility of Iranian women in English-language-dominated Western consciousness prompted her first book, in which she biographized, illustrated, and celebrated 50 Inspiring Iranian Women. She continues her interdisciplinary research into Iranian women’s identities that connect cultural traditions to present realities. Any contribution to her fundraising campaign to print and distribute the book will also go towards “creating spaces for conversation — through exhibitions, talks, and community engagement.” Let’s share these women’s creation to fulfil Rouzbehani’s wish: “I want this project to spark dialogue and reflection on migration, memory, and identity.” You can order a signed copy of her book, as well as a popping custom portrait of a beloved aziz here —(Elena Pare)
The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab–Israeli War of Narratives, New Edition, by Gilbert Achcar, translated by G. M Goshgarian, Saqi Books
Release date: March 13
The Arab–Israeli conflict is not just about the fighting in the Middle East, it also involves conflicting stories about two major events: the Holocaust and the Nakba. One side is accused of denying the Holocaust, while the other faces criticism for using tragedy to ignore its own suffering. Political scientist Gilbert Achcar looks at these different stories and how they affect today’s conflicts. He reviews how Arab people have responded to the Holocaust, from early warnings about genocide to the creation of Israel and the ongoing occupation of Palestine. Achcar provides a clear picture of the Arab world and seeks to explain a propaganda battle that makes it harder for Arabs and Westerners to understand each other.
—Rana Asfour
