As part of its first-ever Paris activation, Habibi Plz hosted a public panel discussion titled UNAPOLOGETIC Arab IDENTITIES, bringing together artists, cultural practitioners, and community leaders to confront one central question:
What does it mean to exist as Arab in Western public space without dilution, permission, or apology?
Held in Paris—one of the world’s most influential cultural capitals—the panel was not designed as a celebration of representation. It was built as a direct, strategic conversation about power, authorship, and narrative control.
The Speakers
The panel brought together four voices working at the intersection of culture, identity, and public space:
Mohamed “Moe” Farid
Founder and Creative Director of Habibi Plz, Moe Farid is a social entrepreneur and cultural strategist working across fashion, youth development, and cultural infrastructure in the Arab world and diaspora. His work focuses on building independent platforms for Arab narratives across streetwear, community programming, and cultural institutions in the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
Hadi Moussally
A Lebanese multidisciplinary creative and cultural operator based in Paris, Hadi works across media, culture, and creative direction. His practice explores Arab visibility, representation, and contemporary identity in European cultural spaces, with a strong focus on building bridges between communities, art, and public discourse.
Bashar Murad
A Palestinian singer, songwriter, and performer known internationally for using pop culture as a political and cultural tool. Bashar’s work challenges stereotypes, confronts colonial narratives, and reclaims Arab self-expression through music, performance, and visual storytelling.
Habibitch
An Algerian-born, Paris-based non-binary artist, dancer, DJ, and activist. Rooted in voguing and waacking, Habibitch’s work turns the dancefloor into a political space, merging performance, decolonial thought, and queer Arab identity. Their practice uses the body as a site of resistance, storytelling, and cultural disruption.
Why This Panel Had to Happen in Paris
Paris is a city where Arab and SWANA communities are omnipresent, yet their stories are still too often told about them rather than by them.
In cultural institutions, media, fashion, and art, Arab identity is frequently:
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Aestheticized
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Politicized
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Reduced to symbols
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Or filtered to be more “acceptable” to mainstream audiences
The UNAPOLOGETIC Arab IDENTITIES panel was created to challenge that dynamic directly.
Not to ask for space.
But to claim it.
From Visibility to Power
A central theme of the discussion was the difference between being visible and having power.
Visibility can be granted.
Power must be built.
The speakers discussed how Arab creatives are often welcomed into Western platforms only under conditions: soften the message, simplify the politics, aestheticize the culture, avoid discomfort.
The panel questioned whether this form of inclusion is progress—or simply a more polished form of control.
The Cost of Refusing to Dilute
Another core thread of the conversation focused on what it costs to remain uncompromising.
The discussion addressed:
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The professional risks of refusing to sanitize identity
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The financial cost of building independent platforms
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The emotional toll of constant negotiation and code-switching
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The pressure to make work “legible” to institutions that do not share the lived experience
The conclusion was direct and unsentimental:
Being unapologetic is not free. But neither is being diluted.
Who Controls Arab Narratives?
One of the most direct parts of the panel examined who actually controls Arab stories in Western cultural spaces.
Is it:
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Funders?
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Curators?
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Media platforms?
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Algorithms?
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Brands?
And more importantly: what does it take to stop negotiating with these gatekeepers and start building our own cultural infrastructure?
The panel made it clear: representation without ownership keeps power in the same hands.
The Room Was the Message
What made the panel especially powerful was not only the speakers—but the audience.
The room was filled with people who recognized themselves in the conversation. The panel was not consumed as content. It was experienced as reflection.
People stayed long after the discussion ended. Conversations continued. Stories were exchanged. Connections were made.
This was not a performance.
This was a collective moment of recognition.
Why Habibi Plz Created This Platform
Habibi Plz did not organize this panel as a marketing exercise.
The brand exists as a cultural platform as much as it exists as a product. The Paris panel made that clear.
The goal was not to host a “diversity conversation.”
The goal was to shift the terms of the conversation entirely.
From:
“Can we be included?”
To:
“Why are we still asking?”
What Comes Next
The UNAPOLOGETIC Arab IDENTITIES panel was not a one-time discussion.
It marks the beginning of a longer-term commitment by Habibi Plz to build public conversations, physical spaces, and cultural infrastructure where Arab identity is not negotiated—but authored.
Paris was not the conclusion.
It was the signal.
The conversation is no longer about visibility.
It is about ownership.