Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
May 25, 2005

The Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) is distributing the enclosed articles to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab World and countries with predominately Muslim populations. Unless otherwise noted, all copyright permissions have been obtained and the articles may be reproduced by any news outlet or publication free of charge. If publishing, please acknowledge both the original source and CGNews, and notify us at cgnewspih@sfcg.org.

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. " Three keys to the cowed Arab media" by Jennifer L. Windsor and Brian Katulis
Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House and. Brian Katulis, a consultant for Freedom House, look at the restraints on media in the Middle East and predict a long road ahead if media is to be used as a tool in reform.
(Source: The Daily Star, May 17, 2005)

2. " Arab allies test US 'freedom' agenda" by Dan Murphy
Dan Murphy, staff writer at the Christian Science Monitor, considers how the United States will respond to widely publicized claims of freedom and liberty violations by America's "friends" in the region, and challenges criticism by other Western countries who are "sitting on the sidelines."
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 17, 2005)

3. "Heaven on earth" by Amina Elbendary
Amina Elbendary, journalist for Al Ahram newspaper in Egypt, analyzes the clash of civilizations in the context of the new Ridley Scott film, Kingdom of Heaven, which provides an unexpected take on the Crusades. Can a contemporary film, that brings with it connotations of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict and the War on Terror, add a new dimension to the relationship between the West and the Arab World?
(Source: Al Ahram, 12-18 May, 2005)

4. "A new 'Mecca of Arabic studies'?" by Tom Spender
Tom Spender, a journalist who writes for the Christian Science Monitor, describes the experiences of American students studying Arab in Damascus and the reasons behind their choice to embark on such a journey.
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 10, 2005)

5. "Arab Americans stand proud " Editorial
This Editorial from the Jordan Times, announces the opening of theArab American National Museum in Michigan in the US. The museum - the first dedicated solely to the preservation of Arab American history - was built in part to foster understanding of Arab culture in the United States.
(Source: Jordan Times, May 6-7, 2005)

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ARTICLE 1
Three keys to the cowed Arab media
Jennifer L. Windsor and Brian Katulis

Recent events in the Middle East provide vivid and hopeful images of the potential for freedom's expansion - Lebanese youths calling for political reform on Beirut streets once front lines in a civil war; Iraqi voters at the polls defying terrorist threats; and Kuwaiti women and men demonstrating for women's full political rights.

While democracy advocates should welcome these signs of change, the results of Freedom House's latest annual Freedom of the Press survey, based on universal criteria, offer a sobering reminder that the Middle East has the worst press freedom conditions in the world.

Fully 96 percent of the region's people live in countries with media environments ranked "not free" in the survey. By contrast, only 10 percent of people in the Western Hemisphere - and no country in Western Europe - have a press that is "not free;" about half of the population in the rest of the world lives in countries without press freedom.

Three common problems plaguing press freedom in the Middle East underscore the daunting work ahead in forging genuine democracy and press freedom in the region:

The first problem is a weak judiciary. One common thread in most of the 16 "not free" countries in the region is the abuse of laws by governments unchecked by an independent judiciary to crush political dissent. In countries such as Egypt and Algeria, the government uses state emergency laws not solely for national security reasons, but to suppress legitimate criticism of government officials and policy. In several countries in the region, governments abuse anti-defamation and libel laws to institutionalize censorship.

In extreme cases like Libya and Iran, the penal code stipulates harsh prison sentences and in some cases the death penalty for violations of vague laws prohibiting publication of information that conflicts with "the country's social structures" (as in Libya) or is "contrary to Islamic principles or detrimental to public rights" (as in Iran).

Beyond these extreme cases, nearly every country in the region that lacks press freedom also lacks a judiciary that is fully independent with sufficient capacity and resources to independently arbitrate legal disputes involving press coverage. This combination - laws with vague provisions and a judiciary lacking power and independence - leaves the media vulnerable with few legal protections.

The second problem is volatile and repressive political environments. Ongoing conflicts, terrorism and physical attacks on journalists by state and nonstate actors remain a major threat to press freedom in the region. Iraq, which experienced important press freedom gains with a historic media boom following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, saw much of those gains eroded last year by the ongoing conflict. The occupied Palestinian territories and the Palestinian Authority receive one of the lowest scores globally in large part because ongoing conflict in 2004 placed limits on media coverage of events.

In some cases, it is not just violence itself that hinders press freedom, it is government actions to limit press freedom in response to internal conflicts. For example, Yemen, which saw the biggest backslide in the region in its press freedom ranking in 2004, shut down newspapers and jailed a prominent editor for criticisms of the government's actions to suppress a rebellion in the northern region of Saada. In addition, many governments in the region, understanding the media's power in shaping politics, continue to stifle critical and independent voices, even in emerging media outlets.

The third problem is the absence of an economically viable media market. A much-overlooked restriction on press freedom is the media's lack of economic independence and sustainability. Virtually no media outlet in the region covers its own operating costs, including many of the prominent regional satellite television channels. Most media outlets are owned and controlled by governments or heavily dependent on subsidies from small groups of private owners or governments.

Though prospects for a truly competitive media market have increased slightly with the advent of private regional satellite channels and new measures by a handful of governments to license private media, the heavy concentration of media ownership in the Middle East runs the risk of continuing to skew news coverage.

As with politics today in the region, the state of press freedom in the Middle East is dynamic. In many countries there are signs that new media outlets like satellite television and the Internet are eroding tight state control over information and debates. As one man in Cairo told our researchers, "If you have satellite channels, you can know more about what is happening in your own country than you do from local channels."

The fundamental question is: Will countries in the region build on these new openings for press freedom, allow a diversity of voices to emerge, and make fundamental changes to their laws and institutions? Long after the images of democratic transitions and historic elections fade, the hard work of writing laws and regulations and reforming institutions begins.
The serious challenges to press freedom in the Middle East are a clear reminder of the long road that lies ahead for comprehensive political reform in the Middle East.

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* Jennifer Windsor is executive director of Freedom House, the oldest human rights organization in the United States. Brian Katulis is a consultant who has conducted research for Freedom House in the Middle East and North Africa on media issues. They wrote this for the Daily Star.
Source: The Daily Star, May 17, 2005
Visit the Daily Star at www.dailystar.com.lb.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Arab allies test US 'freedom' agenda
Dan Murphy

CAIRO - Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazief's meeting with President Bush Wednesday comes at a troubling time for the president's Middle East agenda. The administration's calls for radical change in the region are now butting up against clear resistance from its closest Arab allies.

Some, like the monarchies of Bahrain and Jordan, simply continue to limit political competition. Others, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are cracking down on reformists. Egypt has arrested thousands of political opponents in the past two weeks, while Saudi Arabia sentenced three activists on Sunday to up to nine years in jail for "sowing dissent."

The actions of these close American allies have now put the ball in Washington's court. The US is balancing its stated interest in fostering democracy against the potential harm that could be done to the short-term interests - like fighting terrorism, Arab normalization with Israel, supporting the war in Iraq, and oil - that usually guide its engagement with the region.

While Bush's second-term agenda goals of sowing the seeds of liberty and freedom are meeting challenges in some parts of the Middle East, the region is undergoing change. New elections are scheduled for Lebanon without Syrian influence. Saudi Arabia held the last round of its first nationwide polls to ceremonial municipal councils in April.

But how Mr. Nazief's visit is handled could well confirm an emerging divergence between America's commitment to promoting democracy in general terms and an unwillingness to alienate allies with specific action.

When Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia visited President Bush in Crawford, Texas, last month, US officials dodged questions on whether the US had complained about repression of dissidents in the kingdom. Instead, they said the president urged him to increase oil production and praised his support for the war on terror.

Asked if President Bush had complained about the closed-door trial of the three dissidents, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said: "There was a general discussion about the issue of reform in these various conversations over the last two days. I'm not going to get into the specifics." Soon after the Prince returned home, the three men were sentenced.

"The problem with pressing for democracy has always been [that] at some point short-term needs override the long-term strategic goal of democratization,'' says Wayne White, who served as the deputy director of the Middle East shop at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research until March and is now an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute. "Short-term interests and push back from allies always erode these kind of initiatives."

Egypt, the Arab world's largest country and the globe's third largest recipient of US aid after Iraq and Israel, embodies the conundrum before US policy makers. The country has received more than $55 billion in US aid since it signed a 1979 peace treaty with Israel. It conducts frequent military exercises with US forces and is helping the US effort in Iraq by training officers for the new Iraqi army.

Egypt has also, according to Human Rights Watch, abducted and deported alleged terrorists into US custody at Guantánamo Bay and also received alleged terrorists from the US, both under the Bush and Clinton administrations, despite a State Department finding in February that torture of detainees here is "common and persistent."

Because of the alliance to fight terrorism and the desire to reward Egypt for making peace with Israel, the US gives Egypt almost total control over how the aid money will be spent. Policy until now - which US officials say might change - has left Egypt free to deal with internal dissent in a manner of its choosing without putting its cash at risk.

Prime Minister Nazief's visit comes less than two weeks after Egypt passed limited reforms to its presidential electoral procedures that officials in Washington say disappointed the White House because they make it almost impossible for opposition candidates to challenge President Hosni Mubarak's 24-year rule in an October election.

"The way it looks now [the changes] are more cosmetic than substantive,'' says a US official. "We will continue to strongly encourage the Egyptian government to open more political space. It will be hard for President Mubarak to present the elections as meaningful if there isn't viable competition."

Other close US allies are also keeping tight limits on defense. The government appointed by Jordan's King Abdullah has introduced draft legislation to parliament in recent months seeking to limit political activism. In Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet and where the Sunni Arab King Hamid bin Isa al-Khalifa rules over a Shiite majority that has no senior positions in government, three bloggers were arrested for "inciting resentment" against the government in March.

In Egypt, Washington and opposition anger with the amended election rules has coincided with the biggest crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the most organized opposition group, in at least a decade. Supporters of the secular opposition Al-Ghad Party also have been attacked, and foreign journalists who were seeking to cover a meeting of 5,000 judges in Cairo Friday were briefly detained. The judges threatened to boycott supervision of the country's upcoming elections unless political restrictions on them are eased.

The last scheduled high-level contact between Washington and Egypt was a visit to Cairo by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned for February. Ms. Rice cancelled that visit at the last minute after Egypt jailed Al-Ghad leader Ayman Nour on forgery charges. Mr. Nour was released shortly after and is awaiting trial. "It certainly appears there are forces at work to stack the deck against this guy,'' says the US official, who asked not to be named.

In recent days, Egyptian officials have struck back against what they feel has been unfair criticism, particularly from the press. On Thursday, Mr. Nazief held a discussion with a small group of foreign journalists, and Gamal Mubarak, the President's son, also held a rare press conference. Mr. Mubarak is an influential member of the ruling National Democratic Party and sometimes touted as his father's successor.

Mubarak singled out foreign press coverage of the amended presidential law as unbalanced, calling it "historic" legislation. "This is such a fundamental change that I think some people are still unable to comprehend [it],'' he said, pointing out that Egypt's 19 licensed political parties will be allowed to field candidates in the presidential election. Until now, his father has simply faced a yes or no referendum to retain his post.

"It doesn't help ... when somebody takes a courageous step and the first thing he faces is skepticism,'' says Nazief, who shrugged off complaints that the regimes controls on opposition parties, particularly its refusal to allow the Moslem Brotherhood to compete, is preventing a real opposition from emerging. "We have enough political parties."

Nazief acknowledged that under current conditions, there won't be much of a race for the presidency. He said the process will be "more of a referendum than an election" if Mubarak decides to run.

Mr. White of the Middle East Institute says it's unfair to expect the US to be able to accomplish much on its own, with the democracies of Europe generally silent on the matter.

"The US gets criticized for not doing enough, while everyone else sits on the sidelines,'' he says. "Everyone knows that the region desperately needs reform, the Germans know it, the French know it, but they don't say much because the US is out in front taking all the hits."

Still, White says the US has been naive if it has expected the gradualist change US allies in the region have promised to materialize. "If the White House is angry, why were its expectations so high to begin with? The history is pretty disappointing, related with these kind of efforts ... why would we expect that right off the bat deeply embedded ruling elites would share power? That just doesn't happen."

"The sad fact is if they don't reform, if democratization doesn't make much progress a lot of countries will eventually march down the road to destabilization. But authoritarian states don't have the vision thing," White adds.

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* Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 17, 2005
Visit The Christian Science Monitor at www.csmonitor.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright is held by the Christian Science Monitor, please contact Lawrenced@csps.com for permission.

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ARTICLE 3
Heaven on earth
Amina Elbendary

CAIRO - Kingdom of Heaven, Sir Ridley Scott's newest production about the Crusades, was released simultaneously in Cairo, the US and Europe, where it tops the charts. It was only natural that my politically aware friend and I should hurry to the downtown cinema, notebooks and pencils in hand, ready to analyse and dissect. After all, the plot of the film was promoted as follows: "During the Crusades of the 12th century, Balian of Ibelin, a young blacksmith in Jerusalem, rises to protect his people from foreign invaders." We thus had every reason to expect a controversial take on the clash of civlisations; and yet when we found the film disappointing, in the end, it was for an unexpected set of reasons.

Set in the 1180s, Kingdom of Heaven follows the adventures of one knight on his journey from France to Jerusalem and back. In choosing the French blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom) for the main role, the filmmakers set the tone for a focus on the common people. But equally they are producing a heroic fairytale; and their protagonist is more than just a foot soldier in the army of a famous knight. As it turns out he is the bastard son of Godfrey, Baron of Ibelin; inheriting his father's title, he becomes Balian of Ibelin (the Balian Ibn Barzan of Muslim sources). This legacy places Balian on the side of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who favours peace with the Muslims (led by Salaheddin Al- Ayoubi). Other knights, including Reynald and Guy de Lusignan, come across as religious fanatics dying to make war, something they achieve after Baldwin's death and the consequent siege of Jerusalem. With Salaheddin at the other end, a limited number of battles -- they are contained thanks to the understanding between Baldwin and Salaheddin -- give way to an all-out war that in turn leads to the battle of Hittin, and eventually the battle for Jerusalem. The defence of the city falls onto Balian, who organises the operation with courage. A truce is finally negotiated with Salaheddin, who on reconquering the city grants the Franks amnesty and freedom of passage. Balian returns to his French hometown, a blacksmith once more.

Not all Crusader knights in the film are good characters like Balian. Insofar as there are good guys at all, they would have to be the Hospitalers (as opposed to the Templars). Another distinction relates to the difference between Franks already assimilated into Middle East life and newly arrived Crusaders with their zealous preconceptions. Though it is suggested that Balian sets out on this Crusade to atone for a murder he committed, many of the "good" Crusaders, his allies, seem to be agnostic. This isn't all about God and forgiveness, then. Indeed orthodox religiosity would be hard pressed for a thumbs-up in this film. The opening scenes show a French village priest ordering the beheading of the corpse of Balian's wife, who committed suicide. When he later urges Balian to leave the village, to escape ostracism, Balian responds by murdering him. Similarly, the Archbishop of Jerusalem is given a nasty treatment as a cowardly, pleasure-loving hypocrite. In an attempt at parity, one of Salaheddin's aides (played by the Egyptian actor Khaled El- Nabawi) is presented as the Voice of Islam, admonishing the king for avoiding war with the Franks. It is not clear whether that character is a bureaucrat, a man of religion or an officer, but despite his zeal he seems more level-headed than his Christian counterparts, Reynald and Guy de Lusignan, for he respects the wisdom of his commander and does not unilaterally shatter the peace. But in some ways, Reynald and Guy prove him right: the Franks are not to be trusted. A discomforting echo of prevalent stereotypes of both Muslims and Westerners: Muslims are violent and love war; Westerners are treacherous.

With such a plot, it becomes clear that this is not a regular epic movie. There doesn't seem to be any glory, for one thing, and the high ideals commonly invoked in such ordeals are not quite clear. By deconstructing the traditional image of the crusade as a religiously inspired ideal, what we are left with is a diluted cross of The Alchemist and John Gray. The oath Balian takes at his knighthood sums it up: "Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless, even if it leads to your death." Godfrey promises his son another world in Jerusalem: "A new world. A better world than has ever been seen. There you are not what you are born but what you have it in yourself to be. A kingdom of conscience, peace instead of war, love instead of hate: that is what lies at the end of Crusade." A spiritual journey, perhaps, or a journey of self- fulfilment? You listen to your head and your heart, you do good and defend the weak; worthy ideals, no doubt, but they don't explain or justify a Crusade. Which is why, perhaps, in the end, Balian is sent back home, there to find his own Jerusalem.

The film even lacks the kind of epic love story one would expect. Though Balian does have an affair with the future queen of Jerusalem, Guy's wife Sybilla (Eva Green), it is so clichéd, complete with dark chambers and incense, that it fails to arouse any sympathy. As the only leading female character in the film, Sybilla's main role is to push the narrative on its destined track, namely open confrontation between Franks and Muslims. When she inherits the throne of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, on her brother's death, she makes her husband, Guy, the king, thereby granting him the authority required for waging war. Kingdom of Heaven is thus amounts to the Crusades reconsidered, if not revised. It exposes some of the cracks in popular narrative about the Crusades and pastes over others. The film attempts to recreate the ambiance of medieval warfare and political manoeuvre, with panoramic airplane shots showing how two mighty armies might have clashed, and exposing the inherent confusion and madness. Such scenes are juxtaposed with zoom shots from the viewpoint of the soldiers themselves as balls of fire fall inside Jerusalem, for example, or arrows bring men down. The indoor scenes are dim and shady, perhaps emphasising the notion of the "dark ages" in an all too literal way, perhaps in reference to "the exotic east": scheming politicians and seductive temptresses. There are soft, crumbled sheets, sundry shiny fabrics, candles and incense sticks, shutters, fruit and wine.

By making the Crusades the movie's ostensible subject, Jerusalem its setting, the filmmakers are taking an inherent risk, and it seems they have done so consciously. The Crusades have long been a controversial historical subject, one that, for many, foreshadows animosity between East and West. It is a subject that lends itself to projection, bringing to mind the contemporary Arab-Israeli conflict and, more recently, Bush's "war on terror". One of the more famous Arab films inspired by the Crusades was Youssef Chahine's Al-Nasir Salaheddin, for example, produced at the height of Gamal Abdel-Nasser's glory and replete with overtones of Arab nationalism. With Kingdom being released in a post-9/11 atmosphere, many have expressed the concern that it would reproduce the traditional stereotypical arguments of the clash of civilisations. Salaheddin's character itself has inspired many writers and artists from both East and West, starting with Dante. One trait often emphasised in such reconstructions is his generosity and the mercy he shows to fallen enemies, his magnanimity.

In Muslim historiography, Salaheddin is celebrated as an able general, one who prepared well for his battles. He is credited with building a united Muslim front and carving a kingdom for himself before embarking on fighting the Franks. Echoes of this common wisdom make their way through to Kingdom although its starchy Salaheddin is hardly at the centre of the drama. Here played by Ghassan Massoud

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* Amina Elbendary is a writer for Al Ahram newspaper in Cairo.
Source: Al Ahram, May 12-18, 2005
Visit Al Ahram, weekly.ahram.org.eg.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
A new 'Mecca of Arabic studies'?
Tom Spender

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, on his home city and the subsequent warsin Afghanistan and Iraq changed Jason Gluck's life. In January he left his lucrative job as a corporate lawyer in Washington, D.C., and traveled to Damascus in Syria to learn Arabic.

Says Mr. Gluck, "9/11 got me thinking about Middle East issues and made them immediate and personal. I want to contribute to that in any way I can by getting involved and working in the field."

Gluck is among a burgeoning group of a few hundred Western students living and studying in Damascus, the Syrian capital. There are currently as many as 50 Americans in Damascus, including a handful on government-sponsored Fulbright scholarships.

In many ways, Syria is an unlikely destination for students from the United States. The US has imposed sanctions on the country, accusing it of supporting terrorism and failing to stop militants entering Iraq.

Yet at the same time, Syria is fast becoming the "Mecca of learning Arabic," says Joshua Landis, professor of international studies at the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Landis has been living in and visiting Syria for 20 years.

For Western students, a new curiosity
Sept. 11 transformed everything, Professor Landis says. Suddenly, in the US, there was both curiosity about the Muslim world - and awareness that gaining knowledge about the region could be a career path.

"There's a book on Islam in most American households - it may not have been read, but it was bought after 9/11 because people felt they had to learn," he says. At the same time, he adds, "All the government bodies - the CIA and the State Department, for example - are desperate for Middle East expertise and Arabic speakers. So students see they can get a good job - if they can just learn this language."

That remains a big "if." Learning Arabic means learning to read and write a whole new alphabet that includes sounds notoriously difficult for English speakers. It also means learning to distinguish between fusha - modern standard Arabic used in the media across the Arab world - and amiya - the spoken dialect of daily life, which varies widely from country to country.

"You could learn three European languages in the time it takes to learn Arabic," says Landis. But while taking on Arabic is a daunting task, many foreign students say it is made easier by the Syrians' friendliness and warmth - despite the general Western view of Damascus as a virulently anti-American capital city in a violent region.

Another factor: "In Damascus fewer people speak English well than in Egypt, so it's better for practicing," says David Duerden of Roxburg, Idaho, who studied Arabic in Cairo for four months before moving to Damascus with hopes to work for the US State Department. "They enjoy listening to you and don't ridicule your efforts."

Westerners learning Arabic in Damascus also praise the city's relaxed atmosphere and low cost of living. (A taxi ride across town costs 50 cents, and an extravagant meal at a top restaurant comes to between $10 and $20.)

Questions about security
Syria's authoritarian secular government ensures security by posting police throughout Damascus and the rest of the country. Extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood were outlawed in the 1980s. The political kidnappings that plague neighboring Iraq do not happen in Syria. The combination of an authoritarian government and a traditional society makes it extremely safe. "Damascus is one of the safest cities in the world," says Landis. "Compared to New York, Los Angeles, or St. Louis, it's the paragon of safety."

Students like Gluck and Mr. Duerden can choose from about 10 different institutions offering Arabic courses. Several, such as the University of Damascus, offer fusha courses with up to seven levels running simultaneously.

Arabic is the only language spoken in class, which can be intimidating, says Yon Janssen, a sociology student from Arlon, Belgium. "It's tough at first, but when you get through it, that's when you really start to profit," she says.
A month's tuition at the university, which includes classes five mornings a week, costs about $200. The British, French, German, Spanish, and Italian cultural centers also run classes, including some courses in amiya. Students can also get one-on-one instruction from private teachers.

Most Western students rent rooms for about $120 a month with families in the Christian quarter of the walled Old City, a neighborhood full of churches, mosques, and bustling souks. The city life gives people like Cristina Del Valle, a media student from Barcelona, a chance to use what they are learning.

"I live in a Syrian family house, so I practice every day and also see the way of life," she says.
Gluck says that making friends with Syrians has definitely strengthened his Arabic language skills. But it has brought other benefits as well.

"Being here has been incredibly enlightening," he says. "All the Arabs I've met have this amazing ability to distinguish between Americans and the American government. I wish I had a nickel for every time I've been told: 'I hate your government, welcome to my country!' It gives me hope for the future of East-West relations."

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* Tom Spender is a journalist who writes for the Christian Science Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 10, 2005
Visit the Christian Science Monitor at www.csmonitor.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright belongs to the Christian Science Monitor, please contact Lawrenced@csps.com for permission.

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ARTICLE 5
Arab Americans stand proud
Jordan Times Editorial

AMMAN - The Arab Community Centre for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) on Thursday announced the opening of the Arab American National Museum in Michigan in the US.

The museum - the first dedicated solely to the preservation of Arab American history - will be located in the city of Dearborn, home to the US' largest concentration of Arab Americans.

It will showcase the rich and diverse heritage of the Arab American community, highlighting the contributions Arabs have made and continue to make in the United States.

"Considering the cultural heritage, and a nationwide population of 4.2 million we saw the absence of an Arab-American National Museum was glaring. Stir in the fact that there are 15,000 museums in our nation and not one is dedicated to Arab Americans," said Ismael Ahmed, executive director ACCESS. "This is not only a home run for Arab Americans and our community, but also for all Americans who share a passion for learning."

A 38,500-square-foot building on Michigan Avenue will lead visitors to a tiled fountain with artifacts from all over the US and the Arab world.

The museum will preserve two main galleries.

The first gallery, Contributions of the Arab World, will feature innovations from the Arab world in the fields of architecture, science, medicine and law.

The second gallery is about Arab-Americans and consists of three exhibits: Coming to America, will recount the history of immigration from the Arab world. It begins with a North African slave who came to the United States on an exploring expedition in 1528, and moves to the present day.

Living in America, will reflect the life of Arab Americans at different time periods, and will feature such topics as family life, religion, activism and political involvement, institution building, work, and leisure.

Making an Impact, will demonstrate the contributions Arab Americans have made and continue to make to this country in fields such as science and medicine, academics, entertainment, creative arts, and politics - to name a few.

The Arab American National Museum will also feature travelling exhibits, along with an auditorium, classrooms and a gift shop.

Also included is a one of-a-kind library/resource centre displaying information on Arabs, and books written by Arab Americans.

"The museum hopes to become the leading resource on the growing field of Arab American studies, dispelling stereotypes and more importantly, operating as a source of pride for Arab Americans everywhere," said Dr Anan Ameri, director of the Arab American National Museum.

ACCESS is a human services organisation committed to the development of the Arab American community in all aspects of economic and cultural life. The organisation helps low-income families, as well as newly arrived immigrants, adapt to life in America.

Its goal is to foster a greater understanding of Arab Culture in the US and in the Arab world, and provides a wide range of social, mental health, educational, artistic, employment, legal, and medical services, and is dedicated to empowering people to lead more informed, productive, and fulfilling lives.

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* This editorial was found in the Jordan Times.
Source: The Jordan Times, May 6-7, 2005
Visit the Jordan Times at www.jordantimes.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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Posted by Evelin at May 26, 2005 01:59 AM