Arab Americans:

The one-million+ Arab Americans in the U.S. are an extremely diverse lot and our text says that Arab Americans come from 22 nations of the Middle East and Africa. About half of them come from immigrants who moved to the U.S. between 1880 and 1940. The other half arrived after WWII. Today 91 percent of the Arab population in the U.S. is urban compared to 75% for the general population.

One of the largest concentrations of Arab Americans outside the Middle East is found in southeastern Michigan. Over 250,000 live there! Dearborn, Michigan, is the largest Muslim community in the U.S. Overall the largest proportion of Arab Americans is found in the North East where about 40 percent of all Arab Americans live.

Many Arab Americans are sophisticated and cosmopolitan in outlook. According to the text at least 50 Arabic newspapers and 50 Arabic radio programs serve U.S. cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York and San Francisco. Numerous religious and community organizations also help to preserve Arab culture. Two examples are the National Association of Arab Americans and the Association of Arab American University Graduates.

Family is extremely strong and the family support network distributes impressive amounts of money and resources to members scattered throughout the U.S. and the world. Religiously, Arab Americans are quite diverse—Parrillo’s own study of Paterson, New Jersey’s 6,000 Arab residents found that 34% were Muslim; 30% were Orthodox Christian; 25% were Melkite Catholic; and 10% were Protestant. Parrillo’s study also found the Arab community, comprised of Lebanese, Jordanian, Palestinian, Circassian, and Syrian-Americans were dispersed throughout Paterson. However they maintained a strong community. They also settled regardless of racial composition of the community—They harbored no prejudice against blacks, for example.

Stereotypes—Arabs have not fared well. Most recently, of course there’s the stereotype of Terrorist. Totally inaccurate, to say the least! As the text points out, we maintain friendly relations with 19 of 22 Arab nations.

Arab American Immigrant Groups:

Syrian-Lebanese: Initially the period of Syrian-Lebanese migration began in the 1870s and peaked around 1913/1914. (At this time they were all from the Ottoman Empire under the rule of Turkey). The push-pull theory of migration works well, here. They were repressed by the Turkish because they were Christians; they were living in poverty and suffered from hunger and disease. Easy transportation to the U.S. combined “pull” factors of religious and political freedom lead them to move here to urban areas like New York City and elsewhere. They were largely Christian—Melkites, Maronites, and Eastern Orthodox. In the U.S., they replaced the Irish who were leaving the neighborhoods that they settled generations before (invasion-succession). But the process was not s smooth one as open conflict emerged between the Irish and Syrian immigrants—The text describes one such incident in Patterson, New Jersey. Religious officials, not the police, were able to restore order between the two groups once it was understood among the Irish that they were Christians (Catholics) not “Mohammedans” or Turks. The pattern of migration was in accordance with Ravenstein—Men moved in first, their wives and families followed. They tended to be shopkeepers, peddlers, or traders and quickly adapted to their new land. They were quite successful and upwardly mobile in a very short period. Cultural factors working in their favor were 1.) values of thrift, hard work, and sound investing practices; 2.) their trading background in business and self-employment. Another factor responsible for their success was the fact that they weren’t as tightly concentrated in the U.S. Being dispersed meant that they weren’t perceived to be a threat. Today immigration from this region continues—The text states that since 1984 over 61,000 Lebanese (alone) have come to the U.S. (p. 340). They are not visible as an ethnic group and easily blend in easily, settling with friends, family, etc. (Perhaps the most widely known Lebanese entertainment figure in the U.S. is Danny Thomas who had a comedy show in the 1960s).

Palestinians:

Approximately 100,000 people of Palestinian descent live in the U.S., today. Most are Muslims (though a sizeable proportion are Christian) and their communities are found in California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. Until recently, they have maintained a low profile in the U.S., fearing association with terrorist and extremist groups in their homeland. The text mentions their indignation over the rise of Menachem Begin in Israeli politics. (Before the creation of Israel, Begin, himself, headed “Irgun” a Zionist underground army that, under Begin’s direction, massacred 245 Arab men, women, and children in Deir Yassin in 1948.

Today, Palestinian Americans closely attend to events in the middle east—particularly the intifada uprisings against Israel that began in 1988 and have increased in frequency and violence ever since. There was great hope when Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin signed the peace accord of 1995 transferring much of the West Bank of occupied Jordan to the Palestinians. Today the peace process is all but stopped as the levels of violence have increased to horrendous proportions. Unlike earlier immigrants who were highly educated professionals, recently arrived Palestinians tend to be less-well off, and working class. These recent immigrants can rely on organizations like The American Federation of Ramallah to meet, social and financial needs. Today, the social life of Palestinian Americans tends to revolve around the mosques and churches.

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