This Page features links, videos and articles on the history of Arabs in America and Chicagoland. You can view videos simply by clicking the PLAY Button on the viewer. (Flash must be allowed. Sometimes you must click it twice)
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NAMED "Best of the Best" Presenters/Speakers by LACONI
(Library Administrators Conference of Northern Illinois, 2007)
Arab American Profiles and History In honor of Arab American Heritage Month (November) in Illinois
TUESDAY NOV. 27: Channel 11’s new documentary, “The Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History” is premiering Tuesday, November 27th at 7:30 pm and 10:00 pm. You can watch a preview of the Italian segment of the show here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFcfIJtEDcM
Or for more information about the show, you can go to the WTTW Channel 11 website at: www.wttw.com/foodsofchicago
The segment includes a special focus on Arabian food, and interview with Ray Hanania and Steve Adawi of Steve's Shish Kabob House in Palos Hills (formerly of Chicago on 63rd Street.)
2 New Documentaries on Chicago's Arabs: Two documentaries on the history of Arab settlement in Chicago. The first was produced and broadcast in October 2004, a 30
minute overview of the immigration of Arabs to Chicago, for Comcast Cable TV's "30 Minutes with
Ray Hanania" cable broadcast.
Arabs of Chicagoland Video, Phtographic Array and WBEZ Interview
The Door of God: Historical Tour of Arab Chicagoland
Arab's of Chicagoland: Discussion of the new book (above) WBEZ Interview with Ray Hanania on the making of "Arabs of Chicagoland" and video photographic montage, and more on-demand videos and films online. A primer on the book Arabs of Chicagoland and
the history of Arabs in Chicago.
Arabs of Chicagoland: A Tour of their settlement (above) Ray Hanania takes you on a video tour of Chicagoland beginning at 18th and Michigan where the first settlement of Arabs made their mark in Chicago at the turn of the century. A companion to his new book Arabs of Chicagoland. This is the only documentary that records where the Arabs settled and how they migrated through the city over the years.
SEPT. 2006: Interview with veteran comedians Aaron Freeman, Sandy Shea and Ray Hanania on their new comedy show The Holy Land Humor Comedy Tour. 30 Minutes. For more information visit my Humor Pages or go to Aaron Freeman's web page at: AaronFreeman.com/holyland/
SEPTEMBER 5, 2006
ONLINE
Show
30 Minutes Episode: Interview with Oud Virtuoso Sakher Hattar. Hattar is a master oud player fromFuheis Jordan. In this interview he discusses the history of the Oud, the role of the Oud in Arabian music and he performs several selections. (Oud is a 6-string instrument that first appeared in the Middle East 3000 years BC and is common in most Arab World music.)
CHICAGO'S ARAB AMERICAN HISTORY TOUR: Chicago's LITTLE ARABIA
A Visit to Chicago's "Little Arabia" -- tour Chicago's Northwest Side and visit a Christian Arab Church, a Muslim Mosque and the commercial heartbeat of Chicago's "Little Arabia" at Lawrence and Kedzie Avenues in this pictorial essay and the basis for the Chicago's "Great Chicago Places -- Little Arabia" tour hosted every May by Ray Hanania. Get background ont he tour and read the essay overview of the tour information?
HISTORIC PHOTO DISPLAYS:
Visit of Sheik of Sharjah (United Arab
Emirates) to Chicago's Southwest Side, May 3-4, 1976. Photo Display. Go there? Historic Arab Businesses (Chicago Southwest
Side) recorded in July 1977. Also, an original blueprint of the Bridgeview
Mosque. Photo Display. Go there?
ARABS OF CHICAGOLAND, by Ray Hanania.
A look at the Arabs who settled in Chicago beginning in the mid-19th
Century through the present time. Stories, profiles and more than 200
historical community photographs from the archives of the Middle
Eastern Voice and the Arab American View newspapers.
Interviews with Hassan Haleem;
a first person narrative from Jamal Kateeb on the day he immigrated to
Chicago and went to 18th and Michigan to begin peddling; interviews with
Mohammad Hussien, the award winning chef of Chicago's famed Berghoff
Restaurant; profiles of businessmen and women including Ribbieh Hussein
and Steve Adawi; profiles of dozens of early Arab American settlers
(Lebanese, Palestinian, Jordanian and more); a look at some of the
churches and mosques, and many of Chicago's community leaders.
LEFT: Hanna Mousa and
Christina (Catrina Kattan) Hanania, in a family photo taken around 1922. Hanna Mousa lived in
Jerusalem with his family and was a traveling merchant who sold
merchandise at many of the world's great festivals including the
Philadelphia Centennial in 1876 and
the World's Columbian Exposition in 1896 in Chicago. It was after visiting Chicago that he encouraged his eldest son, Mousa Hanna, to
immigrate to Chicago and start a new life to help his brothers. In 1926, Hanna Mousa's second eldest son Yusef Hanania
(right pictured at a Palestine Fair exhibit in 1924)
drowned in the Jerusalem Quarry. The police reports recorded that
Palestinians who witnessed his unanswered pleas for help failed to help
because of the current political strife between Jews and Arabs. Muslims
said they thought he was a Jew, Christians said they thought he was not
Christian and Jews said they thought he was Arab. That prompted his
brother George to leave Palestine in disgust and seek a new life in
America with his brother Mousa.
Go to a COMPLETE MENU of 9/11 Essays and Columns? Go there?
COMMENTARY
Racism
plagues Arab Heritage Month (2003), My Annual Arab Heritage Month Lament. Protest
the Advisory Commission on Arab Affairs
and the Chicago Human Relations Commission support of Zanies Comedy Club. November 2005. Read the column?
PROFILES, PEOPLE/PLACES,
RESTAURANT REVIEWS -- Chicago
Restaurant Review: Orland Park's Belloissimo Kabob. Read Story? Two Chicago Arab American Newspapers promote positive images of Arabs in Chicagoland. The Future News and The Arabian Horizon Newspapers. Oud Master Sakher Hattar performs on Arab American TV Online with Ray Hanania Sept. 1, 2006 Sultan's Market Chicago, 2057 W. North Ave, Chicago. Read reviews? More reviews of Arab Restaurants in Chicago. Read them? Three Arab Restaurants/Reviews, Reviews of Steve's Shish Kabob
House in Chicago, Grape Leaves Restaurant in Oak Park, and the Pita Inn in
Skokie. (Note: Steve's Restaurant is moved to: 10719 S. Robert Rd., Palos Hills, 708-974-3530 New
Arab Church in Southwest Suburbs of Chicago, Profile of Church of
St. Mary, the first Arab Church in Chicago's Southwest Suburbs. Judge
Bill Haddad, Arab American Judge, Cook County, Illinois Juliannas Restaurant, 3001 W.
Peterson Ave, Chicago (Assyrian owned catering to the Arab American
community.) Maza Restaurant, 2748 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago
(Lebanese American cuisine in high style) Ya Habibi, Growing up Arab in America (excerpt from Ray's
book) Kamal Nawash, Virginia State Legislative Senate
candidate (2003) Ray
Hanania, Arab American Journalist, Chicago, Illinois Mataam Al-Mataam Restaurant, 3200 W. Lawrence (Lawrence & Kedzie
Avenues, the heart of Chicago's Arab Christian community). 773-463-0600 Baladi Restaurant, 7902 W. 84th Street, Bridgeview (Palestinian
American restaurant in the heart of Chicago's Muslim Arab community)
708-233-1025 Andalous Morrocan Restaurant, 3307 N. Clark St., Chicago. Moroccan
restaurant. Profile of the United Trust Arab Bank in Bridgeview, Illinois. Read story?
BOOK REVIEWS
Michael Suleiman, Arabs
in America: Building a New Future Temple University Press, Philadelphia,
1999
Edward Said, Out
of Place: A Memoir Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1999
Shaw Dallal, Scattered
Like Seeds Syracuse University Press, 1998
Paul Findley, They
Dare to Speak Out (non-Arab but the inspiration of many Arab
American writers)
Ray Hanania, I'm
Glad I Look Like a Terrorist: Growing Up Arab in American (Humor and reality in the ethnic
American experience) USG Publishing, 1996, PO Box 2127, Orland Park, IL 60462
OTHER BOOKS & RESOURCES ON ARAB AMERICANS -- National
The Arab Americans of Cleveland, a book on the history of Arabs in Cleveland by by Mary Haddad Macron introduction by Danny Thomas. Published in 1979. Get Info?
-- Read the ADC Abstract?
Arab Americans of Metropolitan Detroit, by Yvonne Lockwood and Dr. Anan Ameri. Read background?
Chicago Arabs Get Clout and Controversy, June 8, 2005.
Philanthropists and businessmen Antoin Rezko and Ali Ata are targeted in
newspaper investigations involving political clout and controversy in
business dealings with Illinois, Cook County and Chicago political leaders
and government agencies.
NEWS: Wednesday April 11, 2007: Government drops case against Mustafa/al-Arouri citing errors in translation of Arabic, according to reports, but says he is still under investigation Friday April 6, 2007:Jawad Al-Arouri, aka Jack Mustafa, witness against Mohammed Salah
arrested
and charged with Impersonating an FBI Agent.
- Read the Justice Department Affidavit?
- Read the Justice Department Complaint?
- Read the FBI Press Release and Affidavit?
MORE NEWS -- Chicago Commission on Human Relations
(Note: The Arab Advisory Commission is a taxpayer funded agency and a part of Chicago Human Relations Commission. Since the retirement of former director Salameh Zanayed, the Arab Advisory Commission has become a political agency rather than a social service agency advocating Arab rights. The director, Sahar Mawlawi, has no real experience in Chicago and has aligned herself with one or two political groups to promote a specific agenda. The only thing the Arab Advisory Commission has done under Ms. Mawlawi was to send out a letter attacking a member of the Arab American community in Chicago. The letter was sent out at taxpayer's expense not only to Arab residents of Chicago but to suburbanites, too. It's a shameful example of the ineffectiveness of the Arab Advisory Commission and the silence of its members. Instead of being proactive, the agency is self-mandated to protect itself rather than serve the community. And Chicago Human Relations Chairman Clarence Wood apparently is not interested in making it better.)
Protest
discrimination by the Chicago Advisory Commission on Arab Affairs
and the Chicago Human Relations Commission and it's vicious anti-Arab campaign ... Read the column?
Read my response to the fabrications and lies
from Clarence Wood, the chairman of
the Chicago Commission on "Human Relations," who launched a vicious anti-Arab letter writing campaign in November 2005 ... Read Response?
"ARABS
OF CHICAGOLAND" A new book published by Arcadia Publishing
(The only resource available on Arab
American history in Chicagoland) By Ray Hanania, $19.99 ... Get Book Details?
Interviews with Hassan Haleem;
a first person narrative from Jamal Kateeb on the day he immigrated to
Chicago and went to 18th and Michigan to begin peddling; interviews with
Mohammad Hussien, the award winning chef of Chicago's famed Berghoff
Restaurant; profiles of businessmen and women including Ribbieh Hussein
and Steve Adawi; profiles of dozens of early Arab American settlers
(Lebanese, Palestinian, Jordanian and more); a look at some of the
churches and mosques, and many of Chicago's community leaders.
and
the World's Columbian Exposition in 1896 in Chicago. It was after visiting Chicago that he encouraged his eldest son, Mousa Hanna, to
immigrate to Chicago and start a new life to help his brothers. In 1926, Hanna Mousa's second eldest son Yusef Hanania
(right pictured at a Palestine Fair exhibit in 1924)
drowned in the Jerusalem Quarry. The police reports recorded that
Palestinians who witnessed his unanswered pleas for help failed to help
because of the current political strife between Jews and Arabs. Muslims
said they thought he was a Jew, Christians said they thought he was not
Christian and Jews said they thought he was Arab. That prompted his
brother George to leave Palestine in disgust and seek a new life in
America with his brother Mousa.
Protest
discrimination by the Chicago Advisory Commission on Arab Affairs
and the Chicago Human Relations Commission and it's vicious anti-Arab campaign ... 
