Loading ...Arab Fest eager to share food, dance, culture
Growing up, Sam Jarjour says his father hung a sign prominently in their house that read: “To the World with Love from the Arab World.” Underneath the heading was a list of accomplishments born of the Middle East.
“I remember the first item was algebra – I always used to give my dad grief for that,” Jarjour says, laughing. “It’s been a slow process, but I feel pretty proud of my heritage. I find myself defending it a lot, but I’m proud of it.”
Jarjour is one of the committee members organizing the inaugural Arab Fest this Saturday and Sunday for the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, where he serves as board chairman.
The festival will offer an array of Middle Eastern food and delicacies, music, traditional dance known as Dabka, henna calligraphy and a souq-style marketplace. There will be an outdoor screening of “The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour” for the adult crowd Saturday evening.
Jarjour says one of the unique attractions will be the camel rides Sunday, which he says wasn’t the easiest gig to book for the festival.
“We wanted something unique. We wanted something to identify with the Middle East, and we thought camels would be a really good draw,” Jarjour says.
“We found camels in Michigan, and we really had to search long and hard for them, because it’s a process. We had to deal with animal control, we had to get a specific license, the vendor had to get a license to do it – the camels are USDA-certified.
“You think it would be a simple thing to get these camels down here, but it’s extremely complex,” he adds.
Jarjour says the Middle East, comprising 22 countries and territories that each has its own heritage and culture, cannot be funneled into one weekend – but there is a common ground.
Jarjour believes the Arab Fest has a responsibility to change how some people may negatively view the Middle East and the term “Arab.”
Depending on the reception of this year’s festival, Jarjour says the committee hopes the festival will be able to continue as an annual event that offers an even broader slice of Arab culture.
“We started talking about (the festival) almost a year ago,” Jarjour says. “Arabs generally receive very negative publicity in the press. There’s a lot of negative connotation attached to the world ‘Arab,’ and we thought it would be a good idea to have a festival that highlights the accomplishments of Arab-Americans and the aspects of Arab culture that are wonderful, such as the food and hospitality, music and dance.”
Jarjour says the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace will have an information table that highlights the accomplishments of Arab-Americans, including people who don’t often come to mind, such as former Gov. Mitch Daniels, now president of Purdue University, who is of Syrian descent.
Jarjour, who is the first generation of his Syrian family to grow up in the West, says it’s also important to have an event where other Arab-Americans feel proud of their heritage.
“From the Arab-American perspective, I’ve run into a lot of fears from the Arab-American community about even being identified as Arab-American. So we’re hoping this event will help them have some pride in the community that they’re from,” he says.
“There’s a lot of positive attributes that the community itself, and that part of the world, has offered – starting with algebra.”
Source: www.journalgazette.net