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Arab by Birth, Proud by Choice

Arab by Birth, Proud by Choice. Yasmine Subhi Ali, MD St. Cecilia Academy Faith and Culture class May 5, 2011. “I am Arab by birth and proud by choice.” --Nawar Shora (Syrian), “The Rising Shepherds”. What do the following people all have in common?. Paula Abdul,

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Arab by Birth, Proud by Choice

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  1. Arab by Birth,Proud by Choice Yasmine Subhi Ali, MD St. Cecilia Academy Faith and Culture class May 5, 2011

  2. “I am Arab by birth and proud by choice.” --Nawar Shora (Syrian), “The Rising Shepherds”

  3. What do the following people all have in common?

  4. Paula Abdul, (Grammy-award-winning singer and choreographer) Casey Kasem (voice of Shaggy in “Scooby Doo” cartoons; creator of American Top 40)

  5. Kathy Najimy (actress; starred in Sister Act I and II; TV shows Numb3rs and Veronica’s Closet) Tony Shalhoub (Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG award winner; plays Adrian Monk in Monk TV series)

  6. Jamie Farr (actor; Maxwell Klinger in M*A*S*H)

  7. Candace Lightner (Founder of MADD) Danny Thomas (1914-1991) (comedian and actor; founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

  8. Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986) (first teacher-astronaut who lost her life when the Challenger space shuttle exploded in 1986) Dr. Elias Zerhouni (Former Director, National Institutes of Health)

  9. Ralph Nader (attorney, long-time consumer advocate, former U.S. Presidential candidate) “The government is you.” --Ralph Nader

  10. Spencer Abraham (former U.S. Senator from MI; 10th U.S. Secretary of Energy) Ray LaHood (current U.S. Secretary of Transportation) Gov. John H. Sununu (former Governor of NH [’83-’89]; former White House Chief of Staff under Pres. George H.W. Bush) Donna Shalala (longest-serving U.S. Sec. of Health & Human Services)

  11. Paul Orfalea (founder of Kinko’s) Jacques Nasser (former CEO of Ford Motor Co.)

  12. Col. James Jabara (America’s first jet ace; triple ace in Korean War) Gen. George Joulwan (former NATO Supreme Allied Commander of Europe)

  13. Rony Seikaly

  14. So, what do they have in common? • They all identify(ied) themselves as Arab-American.

  15. Reema Ali, Esq. Samar Ali, Esq. Nadia Ali, PhD BG Subhi D. Ali, MD Khaled Ali, PhD Yasmine Ali, MD Maysoon Shocair Ali, MD

  16. “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” --First written by the Arab-American author of The Prophet, Gibran Kahlil Gibran.

  17. Pronunciations • Arab • Muslim • Islam • Iraq (“ee-rock”) • Arab ≠ Muslim • Muslim ≠ Arab (Only 12% of Muslims worldwide are Arabs)

  18. Who are Arab Americans? • U.S. citizens and permanent residents who trace their ancestry to or who immigrated from Arabic-speaking places in southwestern Asia and northern Africa. • Great unifier is the Arabic language

  19. The Arab World

  20. The Middle East

  21. Where do Arab Americans live? • All 50 states • Heaviest concentrations in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. • More than half the Arab-American population lives in large metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

  22. How many Arab Americans are there? • At least 3.5 million

  23. When did they immigrate? • Today, most Arab Americans are native-born Americans. • First significant wave of immigration began around 1875 and lasted until ~1920. • A second wave began in the 1940s. • A third wave began in the 1990s.

  24. The First Wave • Began in the late 19th century with the arrival of Syrians from what was then called Greater Syria. • Included the modern countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine/Israel; this area had been part of the Ottoman Empire. • ~90% of these new arrivals were Christian; most were farmers seeking better opportunities, while others left to avoid being drafted into the Turkish army. • Between 1880 and 1914, approximately 100,000 “Syrians” (classified as such by immigration officials) came to the United States.

  25. The Second Wave • Came in the years following WWII—differed in important ways from those who came earlier. • More likely to be professionals with college degrees, seeking to escape the political turmoil that continued to plague much of the Middle East. • Also more likely to be Muslim. • Of the Arab Americans who came to the United States after World War II, the Palestinians are by far the largest group. • With the establishment of Israel as a state in 1948 on the land of Palestine (known as “Al Nakba”), thousands of Palestinians departed.

  26. Continued Immigration • The numbers of Arab immigrants to the United States rose again following the Israeli defeat of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the Six-Day War of 1967. • Besides those fleeing political unrest and war, some Arab immigrants, such as the wealthy Egyptians whose property and assets the government seized as part of a nationalization of Egyptian businesses, came to the United States in search of better economic and educational opportunities.

  27. Continued Immigration Now, many Iraqis and Somalis, as well as Sudanese, have come to the United States as refugees fleeing the wars and civil strife in their respective countries.

  28. What religion are they? • No single religion • Various religious groups represented: Christian: Maronite Catholic, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox Christians Muslim: MANY sects, including Shi’a, Sunni, Druze, ‘Alawi, etc. Jewish: there are Arab Jews

  29. What is “Arabic food” like? • Yummy! • Hummos, grape leaves, baba ghannouj (eggplant dip), pita bread, falafel, shawarma, lamb, kafta (Arabic equivalent to the hamburger), baqlawa....

  30. You may think you don’t speak Arabic, but… • Words from Arabic include: • Cotton • Algebra • Algorithm • Alkaline • Cipher • Elixir • Zero

  31. Algebra and Algorithms The word "algebra" comes to us from a Latin translation of the title of an important mathematical treatise by the ninth-century Arabic author al-Khwarizmi. A translation of al-Khwarizmi's name itself gives us the word "algorithm."

  32. Most famous Palestinian???

  33. “The Arab Spring” Also known as the “Jasmine Revolution” Uprisings across the Arab World beginning in December of last year, asking for democratic reforms Started in Tunisia Spread to Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Syria, ?UAE, protests elsewhere

  34. Recommended Reading • Habibi, a novel by Naomi Shihab Nye • Out of Place: A Memoir, by Edward Said • Blood Brothers, by Father Elias Chacour (Archbishop of Galilee for the Melkite Catholic Archdiocese of Jerusalem) • A History of the Arab Peoples, by Albert Hourani

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