| This past Sunday, my husband Teo and I attended | | | | transcend the religious conflict that so often grasps |
| the 5th annual Atlanta Arab Festival. Sponsored by | | | | our attention on the nightly news. I was surrounded |
| the Alif Institute and the Arab American Women's | | | | by Muslim, Christian, and secular Arabs who had put |
| Society of Georgia, the festival afforded attendees a | | | | aside their religious differences to celebrate their |
| wonderful mélange of Arabic food from Morocco, | | | | cultural/ethnic identity. Unfortunately, Americans are |
| Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon as well as Arabic | | | | often unaware of the religious and ethnic diversity |
| music, arts and crafts, shopping at a charming souk, | | | | that exists in the Arab world but fortunately, the Alif |
| and several exhibitions focusing on past and present | | | | Institute did an amazing job organizing and presenting |
| Arab intellectual achievements and Arab history in the | | | | this diversity to festival goers, Arab and non-Arab |
| United States. | | | | alike. According to the festival program, the Alif |
| After having a fabulous lunch of Moroccan and | | | | Institute determines Arab identity according to |
| Palestinian fare, Teo and I wondered around the | | | | spoken language-not ethnicity. |
| festival talking to the many festival goers and | | | | "Arabs are diverse peoples who live in 22 nations: |
| organizers. We spent some time at the dessert | | | | Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, |
| booth relishing in the decadent array of Arabic | | | | Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco,, Oman, |
| sweets and talking to Helen and Widad-members of | | | | Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, |
| the Arab American Women's Society of Georgia | | | | Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The word |
| which was responsible for the fabulous assortment | | | | "Arab" embraces more than 300 million multiethnic and |
| of popular Arabic sweets. I was particularly taken | | | | multiracial Arabic-speaking peoples living in these |
| with the homemade basbousa, a semolina cake | | | | countries. In addition to language, Arabs are unified |
| soaked in sweet syrup and kissed with a delicate | | | | by cultural and historical roots traceable to Abraham |
| essence of rose water. | | | | and Shem, the eldest of Noah's three sons, as well as |
| You may be wondering why I am writing about this | | | | the great Semitic migrations originating from the |
| festival and what it has to do with religion? Well bear | | | | Arabian Peninsula that led to the rise of the |
| with me and let's enjoy the rest of the tour before | | | | Assyrians, Arameans, and Canaanites." |
| getting to the serious stuff. After dessert (I bought | | | | Of course, Arab identity is much more complicated |
| some basbousa to go), Teo and I went to see the | | | | and cannot simply be defined by a common language. |
| exhibition located inside of the Alif Institute. Upon | | | | Arabs almost always hold multiple identities at once |
| entering the exhibition, we immediately encountered | | | | such as: Syrian, Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, Lebanese, |
| wall posters listing prominent American-Arabs such as | | | | Muslim, Christian, Druze, Shia, Sunni, Catholic, Melkite |
| Salma Hayek, Ralph Nadar, Tony Shalhoub, George | | | | Catholic, Coptic, Jewish, and secular Arab. Collective |
| Mitchell, John Sununu, Spencer Abraham, Helen | | | | identity can be accessed not only through language |
| Thomas, Marlo Thomas, Bobby Rahal, Paul Anka, | | | | but via religion, stories, history, tradition, politics, |
| Paula Abdul, and Shakira. The exhibition also provided | | | | ideology, commemoration of events, or a simple |
| a historical tour of Arab achievements in science, | | | | celebration of one identifying factor which temporarily |
| math, and technology, along with examples of the | | | | overrides religious, ideological, or political differences. |
| fine Arabic artwork from various countries. Beautiful | | | | The Atlanta Arab Festival drew Christian, Muslim, and |
| glassware from Iraq, Eastern Orthodox Christian | | | | secular Arabs together to celebrate the rich tapestry |
| Icons from Lebanon, and inlaid furniture from Syria | | | | of Arab identity and achievements. I applaud their |
| were prominently on display. One of the most | | | | efforts and look forward to attending next year's |
| poignant exhibits honored the four generations of the | | | | event. |
| Najjar family who had proudly served in the U.S. | | | | This brings me to the questions of the day: As the |
| military. Aside from the exhibits, the Alif Institute | | | | United States is most probably the most ethnically, |
| provided a range of learning activities for children and | | | | racially, religiously, and linguistically diverse country in |
| adults. | | | | the world; what factors form our cohesive identity? |
| During the tour of the exhibit, as I spoke to many of | | | | Or-is the political and religious divisiveness so |
| the attendees, it occurred to me that in celebrating | | | | prominent in America today emblematic of a lack of |
| Arab history and culture, this festival had managed to | | | | unifying factors? |