Is assimilation obsolete?

In 1921, my great-great-grandfather, along with my great-grandfather and grandfather (a one-month old infant at the time) emigrated from Aleppo, a city in Greater Syria, and arrived in the United States. They spoke no English. Like many immigrant households in America, they communicated in their native language at home, while the children growing up in the US learned English at school.

In the 1940s by grandfather joined the US Army and was sent to Europe during the Second World War. Naturally, his family worried about him, fighting thousands of miles away, and craved news about his whereabouts and the overall progress of the war.

It so happened that a gentleman in Paterson, NJ published a newspaper to serve the Arab community and provide them updates. He took Monday's paper in English, translated it, and published Monday's news in Arabic on Tuesday. For a while, this suited my great-grandfather, anxiously anticipating knowledge of his son's fate. But then he began to realize: this is not good enough. My son could be dead. I can’t wait a day to know what is happening!

So like many other immigrants to the United States, he taught himself to read and write in English. Self-determination. For him, it was a necessity. It was also a major step on the road to assimilation.

Assimilation for immigrants to America in decades past was much simpler. People had little choice.

Immigrants arrived by boat, and certainly not in luxury. The weeks long journey was difficult and expensive, and most of all time consuming. So the thought of people traveling back and forth to their home countries was pretty much out of the question.

Secondly, telephones and television did not exist (and if they did they were way too expensive for poor immigrants) and even sending letters to family left behind took weeks if not months, so many people simply lost touch with their relatives.

Outside of grocery shopping in the local ethnic enclave, getting along in society required some degree of familiarity with English. The Electric Company, Phone Company, and voting ballots didn't offer multi-lingual options.

Nowadays, it's a different story. Immigrants arrive to the US and like previous generations, they settle into ethnic enclaves where their native language has primacy. But the similarities end there.

People arrive by airplane. Flights leave daily and if purchased wisely, are competitively priced. The journey back and forth is easy and comfortable. It's all too simple for a 21st century immigrant to keep a pied-à-terre in the homeland.

Keeping in touch with their relatives? A piece of cake. Everyone's got email. Phone cards allow people to call overseas for just pennies a minute. Not to mention instant messenger, webcams, and Skype. Communication is cheap if not free.

Among the first things modern-day immigrants tend to do is hook up satellite dishes (also relatively low cost) so they can follow the news in their countries of origin, in their native language. Who needs to learn English and watch CBS, NBC, or ABC when you've got Telemundo?

Rewind to World War II. If al-Jazeera had existed back then, costing just a few dollars a month, my great-grandfather would never have learned English. He could have followed the news of his soldier son in his own language.

Like it or not, technology is removing the need for immigrants to assimilate into American society or learn English. This is a fact of capitalism and free markets that conservatives just don't want to face. Don't believe me? Click here for an example.

Even the most sensible immigration reformers, like Newt Gingrich, have very little to say about this unstoppable trend, and how to craft policy to adjust accordingly.

Newt offers some thoughts here

Returning to English language ballots, to a focus on English language literacy as a prerequisite of citizenship, to an insistence that U.S. dual citizens vote only in the United States and give up voting in their birth nations; These were principles widely understood and accepted for most of American history and they enabled us to absorb millions of immigrants and assimilate them and their children into an American civilization;

Enforcing the Oath of Allegiance (and making its understanding and affirmation part of the citizenship test, including specific programs to study for the citizenship test emphasizing American heroes, including military heroes);

Focusing federal funds on teaching American history and the principles of American civilization;

Rescinding Executive Order 13166 requiring multilingualism in federal documents; and

Maintaining English as the primary language of America. English is not and never has been the only language in America. We have a long tradition of people speaking many languages in their local community and with other immigrants. But English has been and should remain our primary language. There should be a National Program for English Instruction...

All of these proposals make sense, and I support them all. But they don't address the underlying issue: technology is making assimilation obsolete. We can't ignore this fact, we have to deal with it. More thoughts on this issue soon.
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سُبرانوز

Season 6 of The Sopranos has been rather dull so far but there have been some entertaining quotes pertaining to the Middle East.

Episode 4, in Tony's recovery room, when the Born-Again Missionary has just left after condemning Evolution and insisting that the Earth is only 6,000 years old.

Christopher: What's he sayin', there were dinosaurs back with Adam and Eve?

Tony: I guess...

Christopher: No way, T Rex in the Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve would be runnin' all the time, scared shitless. But the Bible says it was Paradise.

Beth Rabkin: You can disagree with Evangelicals, but they're great friends of the Jews, because Israel is the Holy Land.

Hesh Rabkin, in a condenscending tone: You wait...

Episode 5, at the Bing

Tony: Let me ask you something - those 2 Arabs, with the credit cards, Fazool and whatever his name is...

Christopher: Yeah...

Tony: You think there’s a chance that they could be "alkaydas", or something like that?

Christopher: Mmm. you know, at one point it did cross my mind.

Tony: And...

Christopher: I don't think so. They're gun nuts, but the smaller guy Ahmed, when those Danish cartoons got published, he was very upset, but at the protest he said that he hated the cartoons, but that the rioting shit would just bring bad attention to all Muslims. And the other guy Mohammed, his brother's a government interrogator in, uhhhh, Lebanon, or Syria. Plus, Mohammed and his girlfriend have a dog, a Springer Spaniel...

Episode 6, at the South Bronx Law Center

Meadow: The Federal Prosecutors office won't tell you why your son's being held?

Afghan father: Or where. It has been four days now since he's been arrested, and we have no money to hire a lawyer. [...]

Afghan mother: He is a good boy.

Afghan father: The FBI went to his school and took him like a criminal. This is America?!

Afghan mother: It's not easy to be Muslim now. They wouldn't let Afaf skate at local rink unless she removed her headscarf.

Meadow: You’re kidding me, why?

Afaf (Afghan daughter): They said it was for insurance. It might fall off and someone could trip.

Afghan mother: If she had been wearing a yarmulke it would have been a different story, you can bet!
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Easter etymology

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For non-Orthodox Christians, Sunday the 16th of April is the Feast of the Resurrection, which is called Easter in the English language. There is a Germanic etymology for this word, which I will not get into here.

However, the Romance languages use a different term: Pascha, Pâques, Pascuas, etc. These stem from the Hebrew word Pesach (פסח), which of course means "Passover". Easter is the Passover of Jesus Christ.

In the sister Semitic language of Arabic, it is called Eid al-Feseh (عيد الفصح). Pesach – Feseh. Quite similar. Let us take a closer look.

In Semitic languages, consonants generally determine a word. So in Hebrew we have P (פ), S (ס), and Ch (ח). This Ch, by the way, is the same guttural letter that can also be written Kh as a phonetic equivalent.

In Arabic we have F (ف), S (ص) and H (ح). The middle letter, S, is the same. So let us take a look at the first: P in Hebrew versus F in Arabic. In fact, these are often interchangeable in the 2 languages (Arabic does not have a P). For example, take Kippur (כיפור), "Atonement". In Arabic, this is Kfara (كفارة) - notice again the P and F switch.

That leaves the Ch, or Kh, in Hebrew (ח) versus the H (ح) in Arabic. These letters, too, are interchangeable. For example, Israelis refer to Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan (محمد دحلان) as DaKhlan (דחלאן).

The word Chai (חי), often worn by Jews as a necklace charm, symbolizes "life". Likewise, in Arabic we have the word "life", Hayat (حياة), which is practically spelled the same.

So clearly, even a cursory look at the 2 languages shows how remarkably similar they are, and that has nothing whatsoever to do with politics.

Happy Easter. المسيح قام - حقاً قام!
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Abu Jimmy is just a memory

The Star Ledger today published my op/ed, entitled "Abu Jimmy is just a memory".
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Abu Jimmy is just a memory - FDR is gone, and Arab-Americans are switching party allegiances again

by GEORGE AJJAN - 1195 words, 3 April 2006
(c) 2006 The Star-Ledger. All rights reserved.

The recent political lynching by Passaic County Democrats of Sami Merhi has created a nationwide stir among Arab-Americans. Merhi, a longtime Democratic activist and fundraiser, won the backing of local party bosses to run for countywide office, only to have it yanked a week later.

This betrayal by the Democrats has considerable repercussions for both political parties, especially in New Jersey, as they court the increasingly important Arab-American voting constituency.

But do Arab-Americans vote primarily Republican or Democrat, anyway? It's a complex question, and the answer begins with the name "Abu Jimmy."

Such a name is a kunya : an Arab custom of honor, addressing a man with the name of his eldest son. For example, we frequently hear politicians indicate respect by calling Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen or "the father of Mazen." In a slightly different context, however, using the son's nickname indicates familiarity and fondness - such as my great-grandfather, whose eldest son was Yacoub. He cherished the moniker "Abu Jack" among his pals on Paterson's Mill Street during the glory days of Silk City.

Interestingly, this tradition also sheds historical light on the political leanings of the earliest Arab-Americans. Truly, many from that initial generation warmly referred to Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt, whose eldest son was named James, as "Abu Jimmy," as if he were their chum. They loved FDR with fervor. Indeed, like many other Depression-era working-class immigrant groups, including Italian-Americans and Eastern European Jews, a large number of Arab-Americans found a natural home in the Democratic Party under the leadership of "Abu Jimmy."

As these communities began to prosper, their political leanings changed. As their standard of living rose, they associated more with Republican values.

In that era, Arab-Americans assimilated straightforwardly and determined their political orientation on the same mainstream concerns relevant to other emerging ethnic groups. As time passed, however, unique political issues arose for the growing community, especially concerning Middle East turmoil and the wholesale association of Arabs with terrorism. These calamities significantly affected their partisan preferences. For example, Walter Mondale's rejection of campaign contributions by Americans with Arabic surnames in the 1984 presidential campaign made many Arab-Americans Republicans for life. On the other hand, Jesse Jackson's sympathetic attitude toward the suffering of Palestinians and the catastrophe of the Lebanese civil war during his presidential bid recruited many to the Democratic side.

Furthermore, the increase in immigrants who practiced Islam rigorously, consequently encountering difficulty blending into American society, led many Arab-Americans to seek cover with other "disenfranchised minorities" in the Democratic Party. A greater number of devout Muslims, however, who hold similar disdain for decadent Hollywood culture as conservative Christians, found a natural home among family-values champions in the GOP. Ultimately, the community split about evenly along partisan lines. But approaching the 2000 election, the balance tipped heavily in favor of the Republicans, thanks to the skill of George W. Bush in reaching out to Arab-Americans with unprecedented vigor. First of all, Bush broke the mold in valuing American Muslims as fully integrated citizens. He forever changed the script of the standard presidential stump speech to read, "churches, synagogues and mosques." His campaign aggressively courted socially conservative Arab-American voters, both Christian and Muslim, like never before.

He also outflanked his Democratic opponent, Al Gore, on civil rights. No Arab-American will ever forget the second 2000 presidential debate in which Bush forcefully condemned the use of secret evidence against Arab-Americans while just minutes earlier Gore had launched a bizarre, superfluous attack on the Arab nation of Syria. The debate marked a turning point in the political disposition of Arab-Americans: That November, they gave Bush a decisive edge in states like Ohio and, most important, Florida, arguably propelling him into the White House.

America's tense political atmosphere following Sept. 11, 2001, however, swung the pendulum in the opposite direction. Arab- Americans felt unfairly mistrusted in their own country, fearing hawkish laws somehow reminiscent of the undemocratic regimes from which many sought refuge here. Furthermore, their cynical discernment of the war on terror as a war on Arabs, coupled with Bush's closeness to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, immensely unpopular with Arab-Americans, soured the community toward the GOP.

Republican activists valiantly challenged such misgivings and delicately attempted to clarify the policies but with little success. These were the perceptions, and perceptions are reality.

Not surprisingly, in 2004 the Arab-American community flip-flopped, delivering John Kerry close to two-thirds of its ballots in a principally emotional anti-Bush vote. But recent events, especially the treachery of the Democrats toward an impeccably loyal 26-year devotee in Merhi, will certainly swing the pendulum back to the right. This watershed incident compounds the shameful manner in which Democratic officials across the country, but most dramatically in New Jersey, handled the Dubai Ports issue, involving a firm from the United Arab Emirates. While President Bush defended the Arab company, saying, "I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, 'We'll treat you fairly' ," his Democratic detractors, led by Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, engaged in reprehensible demagoguery.

Lautenberg deserves particular scorn for comparing Dubai to the devil. What he actually meant to say does not matter. Just as with Arab-American suspicions regarding the Patriot Act, perception is reality.

Can Democrats recover and keep the community on their side as they did in 2004? Unlikely. Arab-Americans had irrationally swung to the left out of frustration with Bush's policies, not out of love for Kerry, Menendez, Jon Corzine or Lautenberg. Those Democrats may think the Arab-American community supports them unflinchingly, but none of them even approaches the esteem of "Abu Jimmy." Quite the contrary; the Democrats are showing some very ugly colors at the moment by bluntly assailing the dignity of Arab-Americans. If there is one paragon virtue in the Arab culture, it is dignity. For that, they will pay handsomely.

The Democrats have become smug. They seem to treat Arab-Americans as playthings to use and abuse. They are dreadfully mistaken. The community will indeed question its political alignment once again because of Dubai, the mistreatment of Sami Merhi and more. By 2008, irritation with Bush's lightning-rod policies will dissipate and successive candidates will invoke a fresh, healthy debate on the issues again. With a well-constructed message targeting socially conservative Arab-Americans that astutely appeals to their sense of dignity, the Republican platform will be tough to beat.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, there is no "Abu Jimmy" in sight. If they do not find one soon, in all likelihood, the Arab- American community will again come home to roost in the GOP as it did in 2000. I say, ahlan wa sahlan . You are most welcome.

George Ajjan, a former Republican candidate for Congress from the 8th District in New Jersey, may be reached at george@ajjan.com.

O --- This article first appeared in the Star Ledger on April 3, 2006.
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Vive le colonialisme (je blague)...

Today is Senegalese Independence Day. Moamar Qadhafi is in town (I am here in Dakar) drumming up support for pan-Africanism.

He made a speech after a lengthy parade, the first half of which he seemed absolutely sedated, until he started demanding reparations for the Senegalese (former French colony) from France. That got him going alright!

Of course, right afterwards, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade had to thank France for loaning 2 aircraft that made flyovers during the festivities. He warmly referred to Qadhafi as "The President of the United States of Africa". Ironically, Wade made his remarks celebrating Senegal's independence in the language of its former colonizers, French, even though significant numbers of Senegalese do not know French and speak only their native languages. Oh, poor Africa...

Anyway, the Colonel really is a piece of work. Without flinching, he switches gears from pan-Arab to pan-African. The photo here shows some of the decor around town. The government clothed thousands of Senegalese women in fresh wax print featuring Qadhafi's face, and thousands of t-shirts for kids too. Got me thinking - what if Bush came through Paterson, NJ on July 4 and and distributed all over the 4th Ward t-shirts with his face on them?
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If you don't laugh...

You really need to be Syrian to understand this image. Obviously it's a yellow pages book, but under every listing the name of the business is Makhlouf, the maiden name of the Syrian President's mother. His cousin, Rami Makhlouf, has, shall we say, a disproportionate share of business interests in the country.

However, it is important to find humor in these frustrating enigmas, whether in America or the Middle East.

If you don't laugh, you'll cry!
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