BY: Clara Ana Ruplinger/Contributing Writer Simon Baz, the latest member of the Green Lantern Corps, is Arab America’s new favorite superhero. Simon Baz is an Arab American Muslim superhero. Not a villain, not a terrorist, not a stereotyped extra. He has his own comic, his own platform, and a full-fledged story. Also, he has the … Continued
Setting fire to social media, Game of Thrones fans from the Arab world have had a lot to talk about this past season. This epic drama has proven just as addictive in the Arab world as it is here at home. For our readers, we’ve compiled this great article showing some of our favorite Game … Continued
Daily Mail Michelle Obama and her daughters indulged in a traditional Moroccan iftar with Princess Lalla Salma, the wife of King Mohammed VI, on Tuesday evening. The Obamas were joined by actress Meryl Streep and other members of the Moroccan Royal family at the sumptuous dinner to break the fast during the holy Muslim month of … Continued
LEYAL KHALIFE StepFeed Arabs love unleashing their creativity when it comes to anything verbal. Whether it’s going over the top to praise someone or way too far in insulting others, we just have a way of delivering the message in the shortest and simplest way possible. For some reason when insulting one another, we love … Continued
By Donna Olmstead
Albuquerque Journal
Food and language were writer Zora O’Neill’s tickets to the Arab world.
O’Neill, who first studied Arabic in college in the 1990s, decided it was time to put her language skills to the test in a tour through the Middle East and wrote a book about her experiences, “All Strangers Are Kin: Adventures in Arabic and the Arab World,” (June 2016, Houghton Mifflin, $25).
The New Mexico native, who grew up in the East Mountains, will read from her book at 6 p.m. at Bookworks on Rio Grande NW.
“When I first started to think about this book in 2009, I knew I wanted to write about people’s everyday lives to show a side of these places that never makes it into the news. Conveniently, those topics – jobs, boyfriends and girlfriends, what people had for lunch – are just about my skill level in Arabic,” she says. “I absolutely love food and it’s an easy way to connect with people. In any language I always learn the food words first. Although I didn’t focus on food in this book, the subject certainly crept in a lot, as it’s a natural topic of conversation for me.”
O’Neill has written and published more than a dozen books, including the 2009 cookbook, “Forking Fantastic: Put the Party Back in Dinner Party,” a book she wrote with Tamara Reynolds.
She says she chose countries to visit to represent different Arabic dialects and cultures: “People talk about the Arab world as if it is one place, but it’s a quilt of cultures and traditions, sewn together with a (kind of ) common language.”
Because she traveled alone, she also picked countries for personal and practical reasons – Egypt, because she went to graduate school there. The United Arab Emirates because she could not travel alone in Saudi Arabia. She went to Lebanon, because Syria was already getting too dangerous for extended travel and she wanted to see “the new, cool Beirut.”
She says she could eat breakfast all day in Lebanon and Syria. She recalls manousheh, a round, chewy bread, sprinkled with zaatar (oregano-sesame spice), oil and cheese. A dessert, knafeh, crispy semolina and cheese can become breakfast when it’s encased in pita and dolloped with apricot jam. She thinks foodies of the world are ready for labneh, thicker and more sour than the popular Greek yogurt.
She says she’s sorry she couldn’t spend more time in Syria as a casual tourist, because the food culture there is unrivaled. She remembers a 2007 trip. “You could not have imagined a less terrorizing country. A lot of the feeling I got there had to do with the food and the people who prepared it. It is some of the most refined in the Arab world, especially in Aleppo. People are extremely particular about ingredients and preparation and won’t eat food out of season. There are a lot of sweet and sour combinations.”
She especially favors muhammara, an intense red pepper paste, walnuts, pomegranate molasses and hot chile.
“Having some language skills gave me the confidence to take these trips in the first place,” says O’Neill, who now calls Queens, New York, home. “Traveling as a middle-aged, white American woman is one of the more fortunate positions to be in across the globe. In the Middle East, it gave me special perks. I was often welcome in traditional men’s zones, just because I was such a novelty. Because people there rarely do anything solo, I think some people just felt a little sorry for me sometimes and treated me extra well.”
She ended her journey in Morocco because of her parents’ travels there in the 1960s. She credits them and their adventures for her love of Arabic culture. Her name, Zora, honored a Moroccan woman her mother admired for her independence.
“Our house was filled with lots of little things from their trips, including clothing and dishes from Morocco, and a cassette of Arabic music that I listened to over and over when I was really little. All the Morocco stuff sort of primed me to think of Arabic as not that foreign. Just that little exposure to Arab culture as a kid had given me a way in.”
During her five years researching and writing the book, she often found herself invited into the homes of new acquaintances and their extended family, “who invite you in as if you’re an old friend and cook you enough delicious food to put you in a coma. Overall this is a book about everything but politics. I went back to study Arabic again precisely to reconnect with the culture I remembered before. Even if there is some political unrest in a country, daily life goes on. As I learned in Cairo, trouble is extremely localized. Just look at a map and remember that the human ability to maintain normalcy is very strong.”
MUHAMMARA (SYRIAN RED-PEPPER-AND-WALNUT DIP)
This is short work if you have a food processor. Many Syrian cooks would use a mortar and pestle. The average Syrian home cook also uses prepared red pepper paste (Turkish brands are imported to the U.S.; look for those that contain only salt and peppers). It is more convenient than roasting fresh peppers, and more intensely flavored.
Serves 6-8 as an appetizer
2 red bell peppers
1 red jalapeño
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¾ cup shelled walnuts, chopped fine
½ cup fresh bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon tahini (optional)
Approximately ½ cup cold water
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
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1 teaspoon kosher salt
Dried Turkish or Aleppo pepper flakes (optional)
½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
Juice from 2 lemons
Over an open flame, char the red peppers and the jalapeño. Let rest in a covered container, then slip off charred peel and pull out seeds. Chop coarsely and place in the bowl of a food processor.
To the food processor, add the walnuts, bread crumbs, garlic, pomegranate molasses and tahini. Pulse until only a cohesive paste forms; it does not have to be completely smooth.
In a bowl, combine the paste with cold water, stirring energetically, until the texture is soft but not flowing; the amount of water depends on your bread crumbs. Whisk in the olive oil. Then add the cumin, salt and lemon juice, as well as optional sugar and pepper flakes, tasting as you go. You want a mixture that is sweet, spicy and sour, with richness from the walnuts and tahini.
Ideally, let the mixture sit for at least a couple of hours, for the flavors to combine, and taste again before serving. Drizzle with additional pomegranate molasses and serve with toasted thin pita bread.
MOROCCAN LENTILS
This is a staple in Moroccan restaurants and homes, quick and easy and much more flavorful than the simple preparation suggests. You can add more liquid and serve it as a soup, though the traditional way is as a side dish or appetizer, with nice chewy bread. The flavor improves further with a day of sitting.
2 cups brown lentils, rinsed
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
3 teaspoons each cumin and sweet (not hot) paprika
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bunch each parsley and cilantro
1/3 cup olive oil
To a heavy-bottomed pot (or a pressure cooker, as Moroccans use), add the lentils, red pepper, tomato paste and spices.
Chop the garlic and herbs together, very fine, and add this to the pot, followed by the olive oil. Finally, add water until to a depth of roughly one inch above the surface of the lentil mixture – just above the first joint in your finger.
Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then turn to low and simmer until tender, stirring occasionally. This can take an hour or so, depending on the lentils; you may want to add more water. (If using a pressure cooker, prepare as you would other lentil recipes; you may need to add additional spices after cooking.)
– recipes by Zora O’Neill
Source: www.abqjournal.com
New York TImes
To the Editor:
Jochen Bittner makes a number of compelling points in his June 25 Op-Ed essay about Brexit, “Europe’s Angry Old Men,” but he also makes a passing remark that betrays the same type of cultural ignorance and sense of superiority that he laments.
He writes that Europe’s young “cannot lose the West to Mr. Farage” — Nigel Farage, the head of the U.K. Independence Party — “and his ilk, to demagogues who have actually much more in common with the scapegoating culture of the Arab world they so despise than with the enlightened, rational tradition of Europe.”
Mr. Bittner’s monochrome view of entire cultures is both totally mistaken and very unwelcome. Contrary to what he may think, there are millions of young Arabs (including me) who are entirely dedicated to making progress despite huge obstacles. Scapegoating is the least of our worries.
Mr. Bittner also does not seem to appreciate that “Mr. Farage and his ilk” are just as much a part of European culture as the “rational tradition” that he subscribes to.
ZAID AL-ALI
Princeton, N.J.
The writer, a lawyer, is a visiting lecturer and fellow at Princeton.
Source: www.nytimes.com
Trump could never be an Arab because of his ongoing and past behaviors. He could learn a few lessons from us on how to be a little more Arab-like. It might be better for his health, improve his manners, and make him a better person overall. Here’s a list of ten reasons why Trump doesn’t … Continued
BY: Habeeb Salloum/Contributing Writer “The city of al-Zahra’ was one of the most splendid, most renowned, and most magnificent structures ever raised by man”. So wrote the great Arab scholar Ibn Khallikan when describing this Moorish dream city built by a king for the woman he loved. In its days … Continued
Ramadan Iftar & Eid Events: June 29, 2016 – July 5, 2016 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CANADA Intercultural Ramadan Iftar Dinner with Nile Academy- 2016 June 29, 2016 7:30-10:00 PM Canada Day Iftar Dinner and Fundraiser July 1, 2016 7:00-10:00 PM ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CALIFORNIA Dignity Amidst the Refugee Crisis: A Report Back from the Ground in Greece … Continued
By Anoothi Vishal Food.NDTV The question of who exactly are the Arabs and what exactly is their cuisine is a question simpler to ask than answer. The Arab identity is a complex notion. Politically speaking, the “Arab world” connotes the 22 Arabic speaking nations of the Arab League. But if you go beyond this relatively new … Continued
By Anh Do
The Los Angeles Times
The event had the look of feel-good cultural diplomacy. Rida Hamida, a Muslim of Palestinian descent, led about 30 Latinos on a tour of Anaheim’s Little Arabia.
They cracked jokes, sipped Arabic coffee from tiny cups, asked about hookah bars, and broke bread – or sangak – over their cultural similarities and differences.
But the gathering organized by Hamida in late spring had a more practical purpose: It was an effort by local Muslims to make inroads with another, much larger group that often finds itself in the political crosshairs.
See the most-read stories this hour >>
As Donald Trump has risen to become the presumptive Republican candidate for president, Muslims and Mexicans have been a constant subject of his speeches as he talks about barring refugees and immigrants from Muslim countries and building a wall along the Mexico border.
At a San Diego rally last month, Trump accused U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over a class-action lawsuit filed against his real estate investing program, Trump University, of being biased because he’s of “Mexican” heritage. Curiel was born in Indiana. Shortly after, Trump suggested a Muslim judge would probably also be biased toward him.
“These are dark days for our community,” Hamida said. “Trump is rising while we’re being demonized. Muslims are told they can’t enter the country. Latinos are accused of being criminals. But if we come together for a movement, we can stay strong.”
In Orange County, immigrants who trace their roots to the Middle East and other predominantly Muslim countries number about 25,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But Latinos make up more than 1 million of the county’s roughly 3 million residents.
And over the years, Latinos have built up a much wider network than Muslims, Asian Americans and other minority groups – not including the black community – for flexing political muscle.
“We are natural allies. Our numbers are going to matter together,” says Ada Briceno, interim director of Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD). “More than ever, it’s necessary to join forces because this kind of election rhetoric is disgusting.”
Jose Moreno, a longtime Anaheim resident who heads Los Amigos, a countywide alliance focusing on politics and civil rights, said the Latino community in Orange County knows “what it means to be targeted with hate,” particularly in the past, when it was much smaller. But even though most Latinos in the country were born in the U.S., “we’re still treated like newcomers.”
In past years, Latino activists reached out to Arab Americans after suing the city of Anaheim to allow district-based elections, in which council members must live in the area they represent. Officials promised to put a measure on the ballot allowing both communities to collaborate, drawing district maps, and promoting Little Arabia. It passed last year.
Moreno, Hamida and other Muslims and Latino residents showed up at an Anaheim council meeting in May where leaders debated a resolution to condemn Trump’s rhetoric.
Lou DeSipio, a political science professor at UC Irvine specializing in ethnic politics, said different ethnic and racial groups have long banded together at times when they feel discriminated against by the government, society or both.
In the 1920s, Polish, Italian, Greek and Eastern European Jewish immigrants made alliances, he said.
And Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans joined blacks in the 1960s in the run up to the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
“This is something that goes back decades for people who feel excluded or who realize that shared interests can create something more meaningful,” DeSipio said. “Would they have been as successful working individually? Probably not.”
Hussam Ayloush, director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations – whose office is based in Little Arabia – said “we must create synergy since we have the same battles for equality and for justice.”
But he said it’s not “just about political power. We’re also in the business of promoting personal relationships. It could start with a meal or going to a wedding. You have to leave your comfort zone.”
Little Arabia is centered along Brookhurst Street, near Interstate 5, where clusters of halal butcher shops, beauty salons, travel agencies and restaurants pop up block to block, run by Syrian, Egyptian and Palestinian immigrants.
Hamida collected donations so the tour would be free. She recruited Ben Vazquez, a teacher friend from Santa Ana, as co-organizer for the tour. He in turn asked friends from Santa Ana to help lead the exploration of Little Arabia.
“Rida and I are good friends, but I would not even venture here if she didn’t push me,” Vazquez said.
“Unconsciously, we already crisscross cultures with Latinos. We do commerce together – why not more?” asked Hamida, president of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce. During the tour she rattled off a few of the thousands of Arabic words that have influenced the Spanish language.
Carlos Perea, a sociology major at Cal State Long Beach from Santa Ana, said he was glad to take part in the tour, calling it “not just symbolic. It’s timely.”
Perea said many Latinos can empathize with Muslims who feel judged by the actions of a relative few.
We “can sympathize with what they’re going through because we’ve been through it,” he said. “The big takeaway is we both are marginalized groups … facing a backlash in this election.”
Source: www.latimes.com
Michael Hodges
The Detroit News
When Dearborn’s Arab American National Museum opened in May 2005, it didn’t exactly look like a sure bet.
Start with the difficulties inherent in launching such a museum four years after 9/11, in an era of unprecedented hostility.
Add to that a minuscule budget, limited staff, and the challenge in representing people from 22 separate, and sometimes contentious, Arab states, and a skeptic might reasonably doubt the institution’s odds for long-term survival.
But the tiny museum, with a 2015 budget of $1.9 million — mostly raised from earned income, grants and donations — just wrapped up its 10th-anniversary year, and steps into the next decade punching way above its weight class.
“They’ve done incredible work,” said Juanita Moore, president and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. “I’m not sure the Detroit community understands what a significant presence they have not just in this area, but nationally as well.”
AANM has become a key cultural player in Metro Detroit, won coveted recognition from the Smithsonian Institution, and — perhaps most significant, given its mission — succeeded in attracting half its 2015 attendance of 52,189 from outside the Arab community.
Founding director Anan Ameri, who retired in 2013, counts that as the institution’s biggest win.
“Our success comes when a non-Arab walks in and says, ‘Oh, this is just like my story.’ ”
The museum, which grew out of a cultural arts program at ACCESS, the Arab-American social services agency in Dearborn, was one year into fundraising for its handsome Michigan Avenue building when the jets pierced the World Trade Center towers in 2001.
“Of course 9/11 made things worse,” Ameri said, “but there’s a silver lining in any disaster.
“In this case, it created more interest, I think, in Arab-Americans. There’s more curiosity now among people who are not biased — and there are a lot of them.”
Ironically, said Matthew Jaber Stiffler, AANM research and content manager, “Instead of being a setback, 9/11 galvanized the community.
“They realized there’s so much misinformation out there, we need a place that can serve as a beacon of knowledge.”
And while Arab-Americans often feel like targets, said museum Director Devon Akmon, “We’re not alone. Latinos also face pressures, sometimes worse than ours.”
Still, noted Ismael Ahmed, who helped found ACCESS, “The museum cannot win the battle for fairness and equality and an end to stereotyping by itself.”
Bridging communities
So the museum has consistently reached for programming that bridges communities.
Exhibitions like the current “What We Carried,” a photography show on what Iraqi and Syrian refugees chose to take with them when they fled, emphasize poignant family experience nearly everyone can understand.
Locally, the museum’s culinary walking tours of Dearborn restaurants and groceries are always fully booked, while its Concert of Colors, which kicks off July 14, is a longstanding summer high point attended last year by 50,000 at venues all across town.
That same multi-ethnic musical spirit continues once a month with the museum’s Global Fridays performances.
“Locally they’ve been great bridge builders,” said Moore, whose museum will host the kickoff performance of this year’s Concert of Colors.
“They’ve reached out to all sorts of different communities,” Moore added, “and have been unconventional and groundbreaking in the way they’ve looked at their mission.
“It’s served them and their community very well.”
The museum has garnered unusual national attention. AANM won accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in record time and was chosen by the Smithsonian Institution to be an affiliate museum, a much-coveted honor.
Just how selective is that program?
“Let me put it this way,” said Harold Closter, who directs the affiliate program.
“There are over 18,000 museums in the United States. Only 210 are Smithsonian affiliates,” with whom the institution shares artifacts, exhibits and educational programming.
“From our perspective,” said Brett Egan, president of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland, which advises museums on best practices, “it’s the leading institution in the country representing the voice, traditions and aspirations of the Arab-American community.”
Egan ranks their community engagement programs in “the top tier of similar projects nationally. They’re a leading force not only in their field, but in putting artistic practice at center of the movement to create more vibrant communities.”
Touring nationally
Two AANM-curated shows, “Patriots & Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to Our Country” and the more recent “Little Syria,” are on national tours.
The latter, about a one-time Syrian community in Lower Manhattan near the site of the Twin Towers, will open at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration on Oct. 1.
The museum is in talks to take “Patriots & Peacemakers” to the Pentagon next year.
“By taking these stories and placing them in venues that are predominantly non-Arab,” said Akmon, “they get a whole new audience. And at the end of the day, that’s why we exist — to bring people together, and find those points of intersection that make us American.”
Source: www.detroitnews.com
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