ADC Legal Director Nawar Shora Authors The Arab American Handbook

posted on: Mar 5, 2009

Nawar Shora, Legal Director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and ADC’s Director of Diversity Education and Law Enforcement Outreach (LEOP), recently authored The Arab American Handbook published by Cune Press – www.cunepress.net. The Arab American Handbook is based on Nawar Shora’s highly successful LEOP training seminars over the past eight years. Nawar’s seminars and the book, address the basic, often inaccurate foundation on Arabs, Arab-Americans, and Muslims.

These in-person seminars have successfully helped demystify the Arab, Arab-American, and Muslim communities to an estimated 20,000 people over the past eight years with over 200,000 people via intranet and DVDs. The audience has included local, state, and federal law enforcement, church groups, academic institutions and private sector. Nawar is a respected public speaker and a subject matter expert on two federal government training DVDs.

The book is a quick, easy to read introductory guide to the Arab, Arab-American, and Muslim cultures. According to Hollywood film critic and renowned author of Reel Bad Arabs Professor Jack Shaheen, The Arab American Handbook is “By far the best short guide to Arab, Arab-American, and Muslim Cultures…an invaluable resource.” It is a non-threatening, fun (sometimes funny), non-politicized quick read.

The book is divided into three sections. Section one is the crux of the book and is the primary introductory guide that will help the public (as well as military and government) gain an improved understanding for the people, faiths, and cultures. Section two is a more academic segment and hosts numerous guest essays by professors, such as Jack Shaheen, Juan Cole and David Cole of Georgetown University, academics, advocates, comedians, senior government officials, and retired military. Section three includes a quick glossary guide and timelines of basic history.

What Nawar labels “innocent ignorance” is much greater than we realize. A few months ago, he was lecturing to a group of attorneys about to deploy to Afghanistan, when during one of the breaks, a seasoned attorney from New York, walked up and said “I’ve gotta say something dumb to you, I hope you don’t mind. Up until you told us 20 minutes ago, I always thought Muslims worshiped Mohammad, not the same God we worship” – This was a professional, educated, well-intentioned person. It is these little misconceptions and the innocent ignorance that The Arab American Handbook helps reach and counters.

If you would like to order a copy or invite Nawar to give a presentation please go to: www.ArabAmericanHandbook.com