Author Archives: Arab America

More than 30,000 Arab people call Dearborn, Michigan, home.

The Detroit suburb is the kind of place where Arabic speakers can walk into their local grocery and be spoken to in a language they recognise. The markets, businesses, mosques, and Islamic schools surround residents with reminders of the countries they left behind.

Student-photographer Salwan Georges and his family fled Iraq 10 years ago and relocated to the US. In 2014, Georges began photographing the people of Dearborn to capture their traditions. We’ve republished some of his photos here with permission, and you can find more on his website.

Located just outside of Detroit, the city of Dearborn is home to the nation’s most densely populated Arab community.

Source: www.businessinsider.com.au

At a small ceremony on Feb. 26, students from the Arab-American community on campus to dedicated a new multicultural lounge on the third floor of North Quad. The gathering was small and quiet, with no more than two dozen students in attendance. But for many, the lounge was a significant step in gaining recognition on campus. … Continued

Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks, a coffee company that as he describes it, “is a third place away from home and work where Americans can come and enjoy drinking a good cup of coffee sitting down”. Before Starbucks, Americans usually drank coffee on the run and everyone drank the same kind of coffee … Continued

Headwaters Park has added another festival to its long list of events. New for 2015 is Arab Fest, which will take place June 6-7 in Headwaters Park West.
The focus of the event “will be to celebrate the past 150 years of local Arab-American heritage, hospitality and rich culture in Fort Wayne,” said Michael Spath, executive director of the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP), sponsor of the festival.
“This not an exclusive picnic in the park for Arab families,” says Joan Coslow, festival chairperson. “We welcome the Fort Wayne community and look at this event as an opportunity to promote inter-cultural understanding. The festival will highlight the food, art, music and dance of the 22 Arab countries in the Middle East.”
Colorful flags of those countries will be on display around the Rothschild Pavilion, which will be the center of activity during the two-day event. Gates open at 6 p.m. June 6 and close after the showing of a 90-minute film celebrating Arabic heritage and culture. Visitors are urged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Activities will resume at noon June 7 and close at 6 p.m.
“It will be a fun, family-friendly activity,” says festival committee member Sam Jarjour. “One thing this festival will have that no other has is camel petting and camel rides. We’ve arranged to have two camels from Nature’s Creek Mobile Zoo in Monroe, Mich., on site so visitors can learn more about these interesting and unusual animals.”
Activities will include face painting, games, storytelling and an inflatable castle for children and their parents to enjoy. Musical performances and traditional Debka dance demonstrations will be followed with an opportunity for festival-goers to participate in the dances. Skilled artists using the age-old henna technique will paint intricate designs on the back of visitors’ hands and a calligrapher will demonstrate Arabic lettering. Traditional Arab fashions will be on display along with an exhibit of prominent Arab-Americans (Danny and Marlo Thomas, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm and more). A marketplace (souq) featuring a wide variety of products from the Middle East will be in operation.
Festivals are all about food, and Arab Fest is expected to have a huge array of traditional wholesome, healthy, aromatic hummus, salads, meats and sweets for visitors to experience.
Amar Masri, a member of the committee, has arranged through his cousin to supply the event with mouth-watering sweets and pastries made in the kitchens of his famous bakery, Masri Sweets, in Dearborn, Mich.
“I’m anxious for Fort Wayne residents to sample these amazing pastries, which are typical of those made in Arab homes throughout the Middle East.”
There is no admission fee. No alcoholic beverages will be sold.

Source: www.news-sentinel.com

Washington, DC – The Arab American Institute (“AAI”), J Street, and the National Iranian American Council (“NIAC”) issued the following joint statement regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action framework struck by Iran and the P5+1: We congratulate President Obama, Secretary Kerry, and the U.S. negotiating team for successfully reaching an historic agreement that provides a framework for preventing a … Continued

Habeeb Salloum ALEPPO, Syria’s second largest city with its massive citadel which had withstood the fiercest onslaughts of the Crusaders, was behind us as we made our way through man-planted forests edging the four-lane-highway. A few years back, I had travelled the same road and all one could see was bare countryside. Now, trees and … Continued

Pro-Israel lobbying organizations and individuals were at the forefront of the push for a US attack on Iraq.  Most have now set their sights on Iran. Since Israel’s founding, the United States has provided it unprecedented military, financial and diplomatic support.  Many in Israel and within the Lobby expect the United States to unconditionally support … Continued

Lebanese stars Nancy Ajram, Najwa Karam, Elissa, Myriam Fares, Cyrine Abdel Nour, Pascale Machaalani, Jenny Asper, Wael Kfoury, Fairouz, Myriam Klink and Nicole Saba were amongst the celebs under ‘cyber’ attack for celebrating Easter on Sunday. 

Ajram, Karam, Cyrine and Saba posted pictures of the cross along with captions praying for Jesus on this most significant of Christian holidays. For the Christian (and celebrity) faithful, Easter celebrates Christ’s good works and holy mission of salvation in the Crucifixion (atoning for the sins of humanity) and Resurrection (conquering death). Reason enough for a good old partaaaay!

The Passion against Christ or the haters!

Of course, it was tremendously upsetting to see our devout celebs attacked by hundreds of extremist Muslim social media users for their beliefs. For the love of God, it’s 2015!

What was even more surprising was the cyber haters acting as if Nancy and co were the first famous Christians to ever celebrate Easter! Jesus– wake up and smell the Easter eggs! 

But several singing Christian soldiers weren’t going to let this battle go without a fight. Saba responded to her verbal attackers by telling them to “get lost and stay away from me.”

“Seriously, what a disgrace some of your impoliteness and comments are, which I won’t even bother with putting into words. All I’m going to say is get lost and stay away from me if you have any atom of decency left. It is no honor of mine for you to comment on any of my pictures or work. Learn how to respect other people’s religion and rituals and you’ll then be treated equally, you ignorants,” Nicole hit back.

Kfoury followed suit, while Asper warned anyone off from writing hateful comments about her religion or country.

“Happy Easter. Anyone writing about religion or politics on my page will be blocked. If anyone is thinking of writing anything bad or resentful about me, my religion or my country, then they’re simply expressing themselves and who they truly are. I couldn’t care less about their comments or filth,” Asper hit back.

If you’re attacking celebrities simply because they’re Christian, then you may be in need of a morality check! We can’t help but notice that when Christian artists wish their Muslim fans and fellow stars a “Happy Eid” and “Ramadan Kareem” they get praised for it, but are too often harassed for celebrating their own religious holidays. Go figure!

Meanwhile, Klink angered her fans for a different reason, when she decided to dress up as a sexy (and of course half naked) bunny, while posing with real-life rabbits and colored eggs. Her online followers didn’t take kindly to her marking the religious holiday with a sexually-inciting photoshoot.

Arab celeb fans, take heed! One should look at an artist as a secular entertainer; enjoy their art and the work they present, and leave their religious and cultural beliefs for them to practice and preach off-set! Don’t ya think?

Happy Easter everyone!

Source: www.albawaba.com

SodaStream, the Israeli manufacturer of home carbonation systems, has changed its product labeling to “Made in the West Bank” following complaints by human rights activists in the Unites States.

The company’s main production facility is in the industrial zone of Ma’aleh Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, where it employs Palestinian workers.

The facility’s location has made SodaStream a target of the global anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and put the company at odds with European policies blocking the import of products made in West Bank settlements.

In May 2014, a coalition of human rights activists in the U.S. state of Oregon complained to the Oregon Department of Justice that the company was violating the state’s Fair Trade Practices Act by labeling its products as “Made in Israel.”

The complaint was forwarded to SodaStream, which replied by saying that the labels would be changed to “Made in the West Bank” with immediate effect. The new labels have now begun appearing on SodaStream boxes in Oregon retail outlets, according to the International Middle East Media Center.

Oregon’s Fair Trade Practices Act is a consumer protection law that makes false representations and false advertising of a consumer product illegal. The Act also holds retail stores responsible if they knowingly sell a product that is “misrepresented.”

The coalition has also filed an official complaint with the U.S. Customs & Border Control Agency, on the grounds that the false labeling also violates U.S. Customs regulations. That complaint, filed in November 2014, is presently under investigation.

“This appears to be the first time that an Israeli settlement manufacturer has corrected its labels for products sold in the United States,” said activist Rod Such of the PDX Boycott Occupation Soda! Coalition based in Portland, Oregon.

“Many people of conscience refuse to purchase products made in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, but in the case of SodaStream they were deceived by false labeling that claimed the products were produced within Israel’s internationally recognized borders.”

SodaStream announced last October that it would be closing its Ma’aleh Adumim plant in 2015 as part of a plan to boost growth.

“We are working with the Israeli government to secure work permits for our Palestinian employees,” CEO Daniel Birnbaum said.

SodaStream’s revenues and profit have plummeted recently due to weak sales of its home soda machines in the U.S. The drop has been attributed to a move among American consumers to healthier drinks, such as juices and teas.
 

Source: www.haaretz.com

Sensational stories recycled and propagated by mainstream Western media and Hollywood films have painted a one-dimensional portrait of the Middle Eastern woman as a submissive victim of oppressive patriarchy and religion. But even a rudimentary exploration of the literature through which the region’s female writers have been articulating their personal memories as well as their … Continued

Born to a Palestinian father and an America mother, Naomi Shihab Nye has been writing her entire life.

Nye tells us that it was her school librarians who encouraged to start writing as a child and to begin sending her work out.

Since then, Nye has published around 35 books and was named a National Book Award finalist for “19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East.”

This year at the San Antonio Book Festival Nye will be talking about her novel “The Turtles of Oman.”

“It is about a boy and his grandfather. And the boy is living in the country of Oman, a country which fascinated me since I was a little child,” said Nye.

Not only will Nye be presenting but she is also looking forward to listening to other authors and working with an oral history project about writers living in San Antonio.

“Think of the San Antonio Book Festival as a one day, compact Fiesta for readers and writers. It’s a Fiesta of language.”

Source: www.ksat.com

Galerie Lelong is pleased to announce its first solo exhibition by the Lebanese-born artist and writer Etel Adnan. Adnan’s vibrant, expressive paintings, works on paper, and tapestries demonstrate her commitment to communication beyond the confines of the written or spoken word, and her use of color, shape, gesture, and perception help to create the landscapes for which she is well known in a variety of media. For the first time in New York, a film by the artist will also be on view in the exhibition. Galerie Lelong will host an opening reception tonight, April 2, from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibition runs through May 9, 2015.

Color and light are the two dynamics that inform Adnan’s ongoing series of landscape paintings of Mount Tamalpais (Marin County, California). Adnan has said that “light is everything for me,” and the sunlight expressed in her paintings and other works is often symbolized by a red rectangle or square. Having left home at an early age, Adnan’s interest in and exploration of physical and emotional diaspora is evident throughout her work, with the concept of returning to a place strengthened through memory. As one of the most important voices in Arab and Arab-American literature, Adnan’s accordion-fold books (leporellos) fuse her visual and linguistic prowess, which Galerie Lelong will present along with one of the artist’s tapestries. Translating the rich colors and delicate sensory shifts of her paintings and works on paper to wool, Adnan’s tapestries recall the vibrant Persian rugs of her childhood.

Equally an artist, social observer, and commentator, Adnan was born in Lebanon in 1925 to an Arab father from Damascus and Greek mother from Smyrna. After being educated in Beirut, at the Sorbonne, the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University, Adnan returned to Lebanon in the early 1970s. Six years later, after the first year of the Lebanese Civil War, Adnan moved to Paris where she currently lives and works.

Adnan’s work has been exhibited widely. Last year the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar, presented the largest exhibition of her work to date with the retrospective Etel Adnan in All Her Dimensions, curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist. According to Obrist, Adnan is “one of the great poets of her time and also a wonderful visual artist: so she bridges these two things. . . . What is so key about Etel is also how many artists of the younger generation she inspires. . . . She is an artist’s artist.” Adnan’s inclusion in the 2014 Whitney Biennial garnered significant critical praise, and in 2012, Adnan presented in Documenta (13), where she was also a Documenta resident artist and writer. Adnan authored a volume of Documenta’s notebook series, 100 Notes – 100 Thoughts, and in 2014, Nightboat Books released a two-volume edition of Adnan’s collected writings. Galerie Lelong will present a solo exhibition of Etel Adnan’s work in Paris from February 12 to March 28, 2015. A catalogue will be produced in connection with the exhibition, featuring texts by Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Jean Fremon, and Cole Swensen. Galerie Lelong will organize a solo presentation of Etel Adnan’s work at the ADAA Art Show at the Park Avenue Armory from March 4-8, 2015. Adnan’s work is currently on view at the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, through March 8, 2015. The gallery will also host a reading of Adnan’s poetry in conjunction with her exhibition in April.

Join in the conversation with Galerie Lelong on Twitter (@GalerieLelongNY), Facebook (Galerie Lelong New York), Instagram (@galerielelong) and via the hashtags #GalerieLelong, #EtelAdnan.

The gallery is located on West 26th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues in Chelsea. View Google Map. Address: 528 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001. Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm. Call 212 315 0470, email art@galerielelong.com or visit www.galerielelong.com for more information.

Source: www.broadwayworld.com