The Middlebury West Asian and North African Students Association (WANAS) hosted a fundraising showcase dedicated to celebrating the voices of West Asian and North African voices on campus at Wilson Hall on Friday, April 26.
The showcase consisted of 12 different performances including traditional dances, poetry readings in both Arabic and English, film screenings and musical performances as a testament to the beautiful tapestry of Middle Eastern and North African culture.
The showcase was entitled “Solidarity with Palestine” in honor of the more than 30,000 lives that have been lost in Gaza over the past six months. All of the proceeds from the tickets sold were donated to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), an organization that serves Palestinian families, addressing both urgent humanitarian needs and longer-term recovery efforts in Gaza.
“This showcase was important to me because it was the first time [Middle East and North African] students could show their talents and passion in context to their identity,” Islam Abushareah ’26.5, a member of WANAS, told The Campus. “Self-identity and self-expression are repressed to a degree that forces Arab American children to grow up, wanting to be like the majority of their classmates.”
WANAS was founded by Kaveh Abu Khaleel ’26 and Mars Etgü ’26 last spring with a mission to provide a community for West Asian and North African students at Middlebury and to advocate for those students with the college administration.
The showcase began with a moment of silence for the lives lost in Gaza, as well as an opening speech by Student Government Association (SGA) President Abed Abbas ’24.
“We will remember our dances, we can remember our traditions, we can remember our songs, we can remember our hummus, and we can remember our land for a very long time, and there is nothing that can happen that can make us forget, and free Palestine,” Abbas said. His closing words were met by an eruption of applause from the audience.
The showcase consisted of two short film screenings by hip-hop and contemporary Palestinian dancers Mohammed “Barges” Smahneh and Samaa Wakim from the Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre! (YSDT). Both films were emotionally raw contemporary pieces that were shot while the filmmakers were dancing, and they each captivated audience members for the unique perspectives they presented on Palestine.
Earlier this spring, Smahneh visited Middlebury students to host a Movement Matters Dabke Masterclass, which was open to the entire campus community. Dabke is a Levantine folk dance that has been performed in cultural moments of both celebration and resistance within the Arab world.
The traditional Dabke dance was also performed with the song “Ana Dami Falastini” (“My Blood is Palestinian”) by students Güler Ayçiçek ’27, Zhanning Zhao ’27, Joshua Glucksman ’24.5, Aren Lou ’27, along with co-presidents Abu Khaleel and Etgü. The dance brought the audience to a standing ovation.
Other dances included a riveting contemporary solo piece by Zach Okayli Masaryk ’25.5, set to the song “Long Live Palestine” by Lowkey. The energy in the room was high during this performance, as Masaryk captured the struggle, resilience and aspirations of the Palestinian people through beautiful movement across the stage. The lyrics were powerful, featuring samples of speeches and news reports that served as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice.
Poetry played a major role in the showcase, as different poets from the Middlebury community came to the stage to read their own words, captivating the audience with the power of language, imagery and the underlying importance of justice and solidarity.
Arabic teaching assistant Raghad Sayyed performed “In my soul there is a home,” an original piece she has been working on for the past two months. The poem brought many audience members to tears with its testament to the pain of being overwhelmed as a Palestinian and the need to be strong for others and for oneself amidst all the lives being lost each day.
“I was overwhelmed,” Sayyed said. “Although there is war and disaster and genocide, I need to continue my daily work, whether that be teaching, or as a sister, or being part of a family, or just being a supporter. This took a lot of energy from me to be strong enough for these people.”
Although originally written in her native language of Arabic, Sayyed’s poem was performed both in Arabic and English, and reminded audiences of the strength and perseverance needed during hard times.
“I wrote this poem to remind myself that I can be strong, and this strength I took from Palestine itself, because Palestine has rebuilt itself war after war,” Sayyed said.
“I wanted to share my feelings truthfully and honestly. I wanted to remind others that they need to be strong for their countries and we can learn that from Palestine and the people in Gaza, during all these years, they have been rebuilding themselves and have been stronger each time,” she added.
A few students from the Middlebury orchestra also arranged a piece for the showcase. The students, Elise Chan ’24, Greg Marcinik ’25.5, Asher Holton ’25, Rowan Cleary ’27, and Abushareah call themselves the MaqaMidd Hijaz, a play on the Arabic scale they used called the Maqam Hijaz.
“It was easier to find a chord, or scale, commonly used in the Middle East and creating a song based off it.” Abushareah said. “Using the scale, we improvised every part and put it together like a jigsaw puzzle.”
The piece began with an impressive solo by Cleay on an authentic Jordanian oud. The oud is a traditional Middle Eastern instrument, similar to a lute, with 11 strings grouped with 6 courses. The song they had created also featured western instruments, such as the clarinet and violin.
“It was impossible to find a piece of music that we could play, which is why we made our own.” Abushareah explained. “Arabic music does not translate to Western format or vice versa. After researching online for hours, we found most Middle Eastern sheet music that does not sound like a Western stereotype is written for Arabic instruments, and although there is some overlap between Western and Arab instruments, having sheet music not written in Arabic presented another hurdle.”
Sayyed expressed what the showcase meant to her.“This showcase was important to me not just because I am an Arab, or because I am Palestinian, but because I am human,” she said.“All I want is justice and peace.”
Mandy Berghela '26 (she/her) is a Senior Local Editor.
Mandy previously served as a local editor and staff writer. She is a Political Science major with a History minor. Mandy serves as co-president for Southeast Asian Society (SEAS), a member on the Judicial Board, and an intern for the Conflict Transformation Collaborative. In her free time, she enjoys cycling and reading fantasy novels.
