Siti's Stories

In this episode of Siti’s Stories, Laila sits down with Deanna Othman; a writer, journalist, educator, and community advocate and organizer. In this conversation, she reflects on the realities of working within media and the moment she realized that pursuing mainstream journalism would come at the cost of her values. From there, she made a different choice. One rooted in integrity, in education, and in staying aligned with what she believes. We also talk about how that shows up in her classroom

In this episode of Siti’s Stories, we sit down with Dr. Nina Shoman-Dajani, Executive Director of the Chicago Palestine Film Festival and Assistant Dean of Learning Enrichment at a local college for a conversation about community leadership, Palestinian cinema, and the power of representation. Through both education and the arts, Nina has devoted her career to creating spaces where Palestinian voices can thrive. Whether she’s working with students in higher education or helping bring Palestinian

What does it mean to farm under occupation? In this episode of Siti’s Stories, I sit down with Lana Mustafa the Executive Director of Montclair Community Farms and founder of Roots of Resilience. Lana’s work directly supports Palestinian farmers the very people on the front lines of occupation. We talk about how land, seeds, water, and agriculture in Palestine are used of tools of control. From cutting off water access, restricting crops like za’atar, flooding markets to create dependen...

In this episode of Siti’s Stories, Laila sits with Wafa Ghnaim an art and dress historian, embroiderer, educator, and founder of the Tatreez Institute for a conversation about tatreez as inherited knowledge and preservation. Wafa shares how tatreez entered her life as an intergenerational skill passed through the women around her, and how stitching became something she returned to again and again. In this conversation, you’ll hear about: Her journey from classroom teacher to researcher and event

In this episode, I sit down with Najla Khass, a Palestinian-American activist and refugee resettlement manager. Born in Gaza, Najla fled with her family at eight years old during the First Intifada, part of a long history of displacement that traces back to the 1948 Nakba. In this episode, we talk about: Growing up in Gaza with fear and restriction but also so much love and the ways her parents tried to protect shield her living under occupation. Soldiers as a childhood boogeyman and the constan

Filmmaker Cherien Dabis joins Siti’s Stories for an honest, layered conversation about representation, intergenerational trauma, and why film became her way of telling stories with care and truth. In this episode, you’ll hear: What it was like growing up Arab in small-town America after the Gulf War feeling invisible and hyper-visible at the same time Why stories carry real power and how film became Cherien’s way of pushing back against harmful stereotypes A reflection on intergenerational t