Bridge between the Cultures is a public education project sponsored by Cune Press and its partners. For a listing of scheduled events click here or e-mail events@bridgebetweenthecultures.com 

Current Titles

Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion 2002
     Edited by Ramzy Baroud
     Prefaced by Noam Chomsky

Coming Soon

A Pen of Damascus Steel
     The political cartoons of Syrian Ali Farzat.

An Intimate Dinner Party
     by John Wesley et al.

American writers invite cross-cultural dialog. Printed in English and Arabic on opposing pages.

The Goal

Bridge between the Cultures uses books and authors to spark ideas, inspire dialogue, and foster mutual understanding between East and West.

The Objectives

1. Publish thoughtful books by Arab, Arab-American, and American authors.
2. Give speakers who are knowledgeable about the Middle East an opportunity to inform to their neighbors and fellow citizens.
3. Conduct media interviews at the local, regional, and national levels.
4. Provide speakers for events sponsored by other organizations.
5. Conduct grassroots meetings in private residences and local meeting halls.

The Message

1. The Middle East has a long tradition of religious tolerance (in marked contrast to Europe).

2. Islam, the religion of one fifth of humanity, is a noble faith that exalts reason, understanding, individual spiritual growth. Islam  promotes upright living and peaceful relations. Recent attacks on Islam by leading American Christians are ill-informed and short-sighted.
   
   
3. Arab culture and the great Islamic Medieval Civilization are among the finest human accomplishments.
   
   
4. American policy toward Israel is unfair to Palestinians. If the situation were reversed, if Americans were living in Palestine, would they put up with the current situation? Would they be happy with events since 1948? Americans have little idea of the rough treatment that Israel has handed out to Palestinians, the constant stream of indignity and death.
   
   Americans do not realize that the Israeli “get-tough” policy, backed by the US, only empowers radicals on both sides.
   
   Americans think of Israel as a democracy. But most Americans have never stopped to think if there is a contradiction between the notion of a Jewish state and democracy. Is it fair that, say, a Samoan who converts to Judaism has the “right to return” to Israel, whereas a Palestinian whose family had lived in Palestine for 1,700 uninterrupted years until the 1948 war does not have this right?
   
   
5. American policy toward Iraq is ill-conceived. Americans do not realize that there is strong evidence that Saddam Hussein was lured into Kuwait so that the US could destroy him as a regional military power.
   
   Americans do not understand that post Gulf War sanctions have brought painful death to over 500,000 children, plus elderly.
   
   Americans do not understand that the right way to bring democracy to the region is to seriously address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A resolution of this conflict would empower the reformists all over the Arab world.
   
   Many argue that Saddam’s regime in Iraq has little support. If the sanctions were lifted the Iraqi middle class could reconstitute itself. This is the class that would support reform. Absent an external military threat from the US and an Israel at war with Palestinians, Saddam would quickly be deposed.
   
   
6. On a personal level, most Arabs and Muslims do not hate Americans. In fact, they love the same things Americans love. They love family, friends. They love to raise their children. They love hummus.
   
   
7. America has a lot to learn from Arab cultures. Arabs still have what Americans have lost.
   
   Specifically, Arabs have closeness, strong families, warm extended relations with friends and associates. Arabs have time to visit, time to exist in a social fabric. Arabs have almost no street crime, no teen gangs, drugs, suicides, school shootings, safe playgrounds. Arabs do not have millions of elderly who are forgotten and abused in the elderly storage facilities we call old age homes.
   
   In many Arab cultures, people are unassuming, quick to make friends. Arab cultures have what America had forty years ago, before crime rose and before the commercial hard sell on the phone, on TV, on radio, and at the front door put Americans on guard.
   
   Rather than fearing and condemning the Arab world, shouldn’t America try to learn the secrets behind the warm, stable, fulfilling Arab society?

Participants

1. Authors: Cune Press authors and artists in the Bridge between the Cultures series.
2. Speakers: Thoughtful Arabs, Arab-Americans, and Americans who are willing to do their part to puncture the misconceptions about Islam and Arab culture.
3. Hosts: Americans who are willing to sponsor events in their homes or in local meeting halls; who will invite their friends and build an audience.
4. Facilitators: those who are willing to coordinate media appearances in their area.

To Qualify

1. An event must use Cune Press BBC authors or other speakers who have registered in advance on the BBC website.
2. An event must be listed in the BBC events calendar, even if attendance is on an invitation-only basis. (It is not required to list the name or address of the host.)
3. An event must make available order forms for Cune Press / BBC books.
4. If possible, an event should make available Cune Press / BBC books for sale (25% of the income goes to the speakers or to local causes).

Why Should You Participate?

1. By publicizing your coming event in the BBC events calendar, you make it possible for others to attend (does not apply to invitation only events).
2. By publicizing your past event or invitation only event, you demonstrate to Americans and to Arabs and Muslims that some Americans are taking vigorous steps to defeat the ignorance that lies behind many US policies and actions.
3. It is probably true that a majority of Americans support in a general way the message of BBC (see above). Why doesn’t this silent majority speak out? Some are afraid that they will be labeled “Anti-Semites.” Others think that they are alone. Still others are simply apathetic. By participating in BBC, you encourage the silent majority to come forth.

Cune Press   Contact Information

1. Cune Press was founded in Seattle in 1994 by Scott C. Davis and Mamoun Sakkal.  Later the Portland independent historian Steven Schlesser became a partner. Sakkal continues as art director.
   
   Davis was dismayed that in the entire country there was not a single press that published books sympathetic to Arab and Islamic culture (although one or two very small presses did publish political books).
   
   Davis also was dismayed at the conglomeratization of US book publishing—a trend that puts thoughtful authors and talented editors on the street in favor of commercial writing, much of it rubbish.
   
   Davis noted that the two problems were related. The extreme commercial emphasis of book publishing narrowed the subjects that were considered possible for books if they were to reach their earnings goals. Formula books and name authors blocked the channels that, in previous years, might have allowed unusual subjects and new authors to win a following.
   
   Cune Press (from cuneiform) aimed to address both problems: the need for books on Arab and Islamic culture; the need for thoughtful books by new writers.
   
   
2. Over the nine years of Cune’s existence, Davis and Schlesser and a dozen others have contributed more than 18,000 hours of unpaid labor. We’ve received over ten thousand dollars in contributions, for the most part in small amounts from individuals. Davis and Schlesser also have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in their own investment.
   
   
3. We find now that the cost of distributing independent press titles in bookstores is so high that without the economy of scale afforded by large print runs it is very difficult to break even.
   
   
4. Clearly, running an independent press is not a path to riches. Our current financial goal is to reach break even. We would like to be able to continue to put thoughtful writers into print. We would like to be able to continue to publish books that tell the truth about Islam and Arab culture.
   
   

Cune Press and BBC

1. It’s our hope that BBC will allow more readers to benefit from the insight and hard work that our authors have put into their books. If BBC increases our level of sales, this makes it possible for us to do larger print runs. This decreases the costs of our book significantly.
   
   
2. Your tax deductible contributions are welcome. For more: contributions@cunepress.com.

Cune Press and the Bridge between the Cultures project are associated with the Salaam Cultural Museum in Seattle, Washington, USA. Donations by individuals are deductible from US income taxes. For more: contributions@cunepress.com