A Bit of Geography
In the United States, about four million people identify as Arab American; approximately 2/3rds of these people live in just eleven states. Name one of these states.
California, Michigan, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Washington DC.
In this recent year, the president of the United States issued a proclamation recognizing April as Arab American Heritage Month.
2024
This Palestinian-American model can trace her ancestry to Daher al-Umar, an 18th-century ruler of territories in North Palestine and the sheikh of the Zayadina family.
Gigi Hadid
Tony Fadell, a Lebanese-American engineer and designer who graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in Michigan, is known as the father of this device thanks to his early work at Apple.
The iPod
While they originated from many countries, Arab immigrants from the First Wave of immigration that began in 1870 often identified as Syrian and primarily practiced the Eastern or Orthodox traditions of this Christian faith.
Catholicism
Arab-American heritage is defined as having ancestry from any of the 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Northern Africa that are united by this shared characteristic.
The Language of Arabic
In an early movement to celebrate and honor Arab-Americans’ contributions, history, and heritage, the 101st Congress declared October 25th of this year as National Arab-American Day.
1989
One of the original judges on American Idol, this pop princess of Syrian-Jewish descent first came to fame at 18 when she was a cheerleader for the LA Lakers.
Paula Abdul
Egyptian-born geologist Farouk El-Baz helped NASA plan this famous mission and is currently a professor in two departments at Boston University, the Departments of Archaeology and Electrical & Computer Engineering.
The Apollo Moon Landing
Driven by economic opportunity, early Arab-American immigrants often left from this historical superpower of a state that lasted for over 600 years, dissolving in 1922.
The Ottoman Empire
This city in California, named after the Islamic Holy City and famous for being the first place in the United States to grow date palms, is often incorrectly assumed to have a large population of Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans.
Mecca
A thriving center for New York City’s Middle East Community in lower Manhattan, the community “Little Syria” began around 1880 and lasted for approximately this many years, with the final residents being displaced by the construction of New York’s Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.
60
A self-described “mother working for justice for all,” this Detroit-born Daughter of Palestinian immigrants made history by being the first Muslim woman to serve in Michigan’s state legislature and is currently the representative for Michigan’s 12th congressional district.
Rashida Tlaib
Four different Arab-American men (Ernest Hamwi, Nick Kabbaz, Abe Doumar, and Leon B. Holwey) all claim to have invented this dessert vessel at the 1904 Saint Louis World Fair and are collectively credited as its creator.
The Waffle Cone
After immigrating, many of the first Arab-Americans took on this job role, defined as “a person who goes from place to place selling small things,” in which they were able to participate successfully in the free enterprise system, enabling them to later set up their own businesses and storefronts.
Peddler
This Michigan County that contains Detroit, Dearborn, Grosse Pointe, and Livonia, is known alongside Cook County, Illinois; Los Angeles County; and Kings County, New York, for having one of the largest Arab-American populations in the nation
Wayne County
The number of organizations representing Arab-Americans on a political, religious, and ethnic level is estimated to exceed this number.
1500
The daughter of Lebanese-American immigrants, this actress/activist has appeared in films like Hocus Pocus and Sister Act. She also voices Peggy Hill in the Emmy Award-winning series “King of the Hill”.
Kathy Najimy
The author of Disease Knows No Politics, this Algerian-born American radiologist invented a revolutionary MRI cardiac-tagging technology and later helped devise image-based methods of screening breast cancer that replaced invasive procedures.
Elias Zerhouni
This piece of legislation restricted immigration from Arab countries, prioritizing immigrants from northern and western Europe by instituting national origins quotas, and effectively ended the First Wave of Arab Immigration.
The Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act)
The Arab America Foundation cites Khalil Gibran, an esteemed author and artist, as one of the primary inspirations for their founding. Gibran immigrated from Lebanon with his mother and siblings in 1895, settling in the famous South End of this city.
Boston
Kawkab America, the first U.S. newspaper published in Arabic, advised readers to invest in campaign buttons during the presidential race between Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland in this year, the same one in which the newspaper began.
1892
This Yemeni-American boxer went undefeated for the first six years of his career, took home trophies at the National Golden Gloves Championship in 2006 and 2007, and represented Team USA at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Sadam Ali
Co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, this Egyptian-American AI researcher and her team developed an “emotional hearing aid” that helps children on the autism spectrum read and respond to facial expressions and emotions.
Dr. Rana el Kaliouby
One of the first recorded Arab travellers to North America was Mustafa Azzemori, an enslaved man from Morocco who served as a guide on an exploration occurring in this century that predates the founding of the United States.
The 16th Century (1527)