Congresswoman Urges Arab Americans to Make Views Heard

By Pat McDonnell Twair

At her first meeting with Arab Americans, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard was surprised to hear the Arabic interpretation of her husband's last name. Introducing her, senior vice president Fouad Khoury of Bank Audi told the congresswoman Al-Ard means "the Earth" in Arabic.

Representative Roybal-Allard said in turn that she immediately accepted the invitation for a dialog with a group of Arab Americans because she's had few opportunities to meet them in her 33rd congressional district. One of the most ethnically varied, it has the highest number of immigrants in the country, and also the dubious distinction of being the nation's poorest. The area includes the cities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Maywood, Chinatown, Pico Union, metropolitan Downtown Los Angeles, Little Tokyo, Filipino Town and a portion of Koreatown and Westlake. Of the 600,000 people living there, 59 percent are non-citizens.

Since her election to Congress in 1992, she has focused on the economic and political empowerment of her district. One step has been to offer seminars on naturalization for residents eligible for citizenship. In a statement reminiscent of the Arab-American strategy, she commented: "If we're to make an impact, we must have voting power."

Since she often conducts workshops on grassroots political organization in the homes of her constituents, she offered to lead such a discussion in an Arab-American home.

While in the California State Assembly, Roybal-Allard traveled to Israel as a guest of Ben-Gurion University, but she said there was little opportunity to speak with Palestinians. "I hope this will be the beginning of a dialogue," she said. "My approach to the Middle East is that there must be a just and comprehensive peace.

"As the peace process proceeds, you should keep raising your issues," she urged. The United States has always had a special relationship with Israel and this tends to make for a lack of perspective for both sides."

Where Have All the Activists Gone?

Whether it's for a cultural event or a political rally, the Southern California Arab American community isn't turning out in the numbers recorded before signing of the Oslo accords in September 1994. Whether cause or effect, the Los Angeles offices of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) no longer have regional coordinators, due to lack of funding.

In past years as many as 300 participants have turned out for the annual 10-kilometer Walkathon of the Greater Los Angeles Palestine Aid Society. This year, perhaps one-sixth of that number were on hand on June 18.

And on June 25-26, when an original storytelling performance of Bedouin songs and poetry was offered by al-Fanun al-Arabiya, an average of no more than 40 people attended each production. This is particularly disturbing because the City of Los Angeles provided a grant and a public theater, yet only one percent of the 6,000 Arab Americans who were mailed announcements attended.

"Qala al-Rawy" debuts

Al-Fanun al-Arabiya's June production once again presented a unique cultural experience for the Arab-American community. This time it consisted of three performances of "Qala al-Rawy" (The Storyteller Says), an adaptation of authentic ghinnawas (Bedouin women's passion poems) from anthropologist Lila Abu-Lughod's book, Veiled Sentiments, performed in a manner that enabled the audience to hear the tales in Arabic in a coffehouse setting, then see them dramatized by English-speaking actors in a Bedouin encampment setting.

Iraqi-American artist Hana'a al-Wardi created unique coffeehouse and Bedouin encampment settings. Throughout the performances, Dr. David Such performed original compositions on the nye.

Al-Funun founder Dr. Fadwa El Guindi explained after each performance that in daily life, Bedouin are self-controlled and reserved almost to the point of appearing emotionless. Yet in their poetry and storytelling, Bedouin women pour out their most intense feelings.

The play offered unexpected windows into the dreams, strengths, sorrows and perseverance of the women who make up the less visible half of Arab Bedouin culture.

PAS Participants Hear Contrasting Views of Accords

Varying interpretations of the Sept. 13 accords signed by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin were advanced by speakers at the sixth annual Walkathon of the Palestine Aid Society's Greater Los Angeles chapter.

At a rally preceding the June 18 march along Hollywood Boulevard, Egyptian-American anthropologist and filmmaker Dr. Fadwa El Guindi was one of five speakers introduced by PAS chairman Samir Twair, who explained that funds raised at the event would go to needy Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.

Dr. El Guindi said she was not moved by the Sept. 13 handshake on the White House lawn, which she called Washington ceremonialism lacking anything to celebrate.

"It was the intifada, Scud missiles and Hamas" that made Israel opt for the handshake, she continued. The Israeli solution, she stated, is to exploit cheap Arab labor to promote Israeli technology backed by American capital. The only solution for the Arabs, she urged, is to remain united.

Her comments were reinforced by educator Jeff Cooper, who has returned from two years on the West Bank trying to upgrade Palestinian curricula. Cooper said he had called friends in Ramallah only hours before the rally and they told him there are more Israeli troops on the West Bank than before the peace agreement was signed.

"Tens of thousands of Palestinians are out of work, yet the Israelis are bringing in 18,000 Thai and Filipino laborers," he said. "More children are being killed than ever before. Settlements are expanding. On June 11, a Palestinian woman was shot dead by the military in Ramallah. Three Palestinians were wounded June 17 in Hebron."

Comparing Jericho to Soweto, Cooper said that for Palestinians to enter or leave Jericho, they must first pass through Israeli checkpoints. "The best Palestinian hospitals are in Jerusalem, but neither West Bank Palestinian physicians nor patients can enter Jerusalem."

A more optimistic view was offered by president Don Bustany of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

"One year ago when we met for this Walkathon, there was no free Palestine," he said. "Today, there is a partial Palestine. The map of the Near East has been changing since the beginning of history and more changes must be made before we can rest."

Former Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell said the new challenge for Palestinians is to get word out to Americans to divert foreign aid to rebuilding Gaza and Jericho.

"Things haven't changed all that much," Farrell continued. He then recalled observing Palestinians walking long distances in refugee camps to transport water to their homes. He urged those present to walk in solidarity that day with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Educator Dr. Margaret Grater told participants in the PAS Walkathon that since she learned the truth about the Arab-Israeli conflict, she has taken groups of California educators to the Middle East to encourage the introduction of more balanced materials into classrooms. She is seeking to establish TV exchanges via satellite between California schoolrooms in Anaheim, and classrooms in Egypt and Palestine.

UCSB Concert a Hit

More than 700 music lovers turned outto hear the University of Santa Barbara's Middle East Ensemble perform at a Pasadena concert sponsored by the Syrian American Arab Association.

The 36-member ensemble, which was formed in 1989 by UCSB ethnomusicologist Dr. Scott Marcus, performed for more than four hours June 4 at the California Institute of Technology's Beckman Auditorium.

The audience swooned to the classical and popular songs sung by Moroccan singer Abdellatif Belharrat and seemed mesmerized by the exquisite movements of UCSB dancer Ansuya. The full gamut of Middle Eastern music ranging from religious songs to debke dances was offered to the wildly cheering spectators.

Seated cross-legged on center stage, shoeless and in a tuxedo, Professor Dwight Reynolds, who teaches Arabic and Arabic literature at UCSB, performed a solo on the rababa. He explained that he lived for one year in a Nile Delta village which is the home of 14 generations of illiterate poets who can recite verses of the adventures of Bin Zail al Hilali for 120 hours. He then recited in flawless Arabic five minutes worth of the verses.

The crowd watched in awed silence as Alexandra King performed a belly dance finale that made the dance form a work of grace and sinuous sensuality. The ensemble practices every Tuesday night at UCSB and conductor Marcus extended an open invitation to all.

World Cup "Soccerfest"

Southern Californians caught soccer fever as World Cup games took place at Pasadena's famed Rose Bowl. But in Los Angeles, thousands flocked to Soccerfest, an international soccer festival at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Clearly, the most prominent nation sponsoring Soccerfest was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

On the opening days of July 8 and 9 the 40-member Saudi National Folkloric Dance Company performed onstage on the sport floor. Soccerfest participants watched in amazement as the enormous hall reverberated to the exotic beat of Bedouin drums while colorfully costumed dancers performed regional dances of Nejd, Yanbu and Dhahran.

Dates and Arabic pastries were distributed throughout the nine-day soccer festival. A majestic camel stood beside the Saudi exhibition tables and watched soccer clinics and games offered in the 500,000-square-foot center. More than 500 tickets for the final world championship game in Pasadena between Italy and Brazil were presented by the Saudis to handicapped children from the Special Olympics.

On July 10 the Saudi folkloric troupe stopped traffic, literally, in normally blas? Beverly Hills. Busy Rodeo Drive was closed to traffic for two hours while the Saudi troupe performed for crowds in the heart of Southern California's movie colony.

Pat McDonnell Twair is a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.