Mohammed Al-Abdulla

3/3/2012

                                               Voices from Arab America

            Today was a special event at the Thronhill Gallery at Avila University. It was called Voices from Arab America given by Diana Helwani, the author of Sophia journal, and Joan Mandell who makes films exploring the Arab American experience.

            In the Interview with Mandell I asked her about what she felt when she came to America from Palestine. According to her She answered that she wanted Americans to understand the common humanity of Palestinians, the harshness of military occupation but also the joys of Arab cultural heritage.

            Next I asked Mandell and Helwani how their life changed after September 11, 2001. According to them, they responded that life became more complicated. During that time in Kansas City there were a lot of people reaching out to the Islamic community including the Catholic school across the street from the Islamic school. The kids there sent cards to the Islamic kids saying they would support them and that they knew that they were good people and not like the terrorists. They also had good communication with local churches, the police force and other members of the community.

            Another thing I asked about was if they believed that the Arab community has become acceptable in the United States.  According to Mandell and Helwani they believed that the Arabic community had a long way to go to become completely accepted by the people in the United States and that it’s the responsibility of Muslims to represent themselves well so that people have a good example of what a Muslim is. They also expressed that they believe it is important for the Muslim community to find a balance between maintaining and showing its identity while still engaging with the local community.

            Mandel and Helwani also discussed feelings they had about September 11 at the time. Their hope, at first, was that it was not a Muslim attack. When it was confirmed they felt very sad, they felt that it would be like another Watergate: feelings between the Muslim community and the rest of the country would never be the same.

            We also discussed the difficulties of finding marriage partners for Muslim in the United States. According to Mandel and Halwani it is difficult to get married in the United States especially these days.

 According to Mandel and Helwani about Americans, identity here in the United States due to different values and community organizing.

  Asking Dana Halwani in  becoming  an American Muslim was interesting.  According to her, was a young married woman who wanted to convert 

her husband to Christianity. In trying to find the weaknesses of Islam, 

she was convinced and converted.