A desire to return home is common among many American-based Sudanese. A member of the Sudanese Youth of Greater Philadelphia, Rymaz Ahmed told Al-Bustan about the concerns she has regarding the impact of distance and trauma fatigue. “You feel the burden of what’s going on back home but you’re not experiencing it directly, so there’s a disconnect,” Ahmed said.

Hundreds of Philadelphia-based Armenians recently gathered outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Armenian Genocide Walk, commemorating the 109th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. While the sensation of mourning and honoring the dead was clear, there was also a widely acknowledged understanding that Armenia’s struggle against genocide is not just history, but an ongoing reality.

Two pro-Palestine faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) along with Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine (PFJP) filed a lawsuit against the university in an attempt to prevent it from complying with a U.S. congressional committee’s demands to hand over confidential documents on its pro-Palestine faculty and students.

For Philadelphia-based novelist, Alison Glick, 61, the past six months of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has been filled with fear and loss. Like many Palestinian Americans, Glick has been monitoring the news out of Gaza with bated breath. But Glick is not Palestinian. She’s an American Jew. Her ex-husband, a Palestinian, is currently trapped in Gaza under Israeli bombardment, along with a great deal of extended family and close friends.

Al-Bustan News Service documents a day in the life of Makkah Market, a 24/7 West Philly Halal marketplace and restaurant, where taxi drivers, students, workers, neighbors and worshippers from the nearby Masjid Al-Jamia can get a meal, shop, and socialize. A Palestinian-owned shop, Makkah Market serves as a hub for Philly’s thriving SWANA community.

Philadelphians gathered at Penn Museum earlier this month to watch Foragers (64 min.), a film that tells the story of Palestinians whose centuries-old traditional practice of foraging for wild edible plants and herbs has been criminalized by Israel. Now through April 3rd, in commemoration of Palestinian Land Day (March 30th), the film is free to screen online courtesy of the Palestine Film Institute.