The Arab American Almanac, 6th Edition includes 608 pages of reference facts, research and documentation: Arts & Culture • History • Science & Medicine • Contributions to World Civilization • Education • Who’s Who • The Arab World • and more, with no advertisements

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The Arab American Almanac, 6th edition is an educational project of the Arab American Historical Foundation, a federally recognized 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the authentic history and legacy of Arab Americans.

The Arab American Almanac, 6th edition, is a 608-page comprehensive reference book about Arab Americans. It is published by The News Circle Publishing House of Glendale, California, and sponsored by the Arab American Historical Foundation.
“The purpose of this reference book is to provide accurate and practical reference sources about Arab Americans, while acknowledging its heritage and perpetuating their culture, history and society,” announced Joseph R. Haiek, publisher. It is worth noting, that the word “Almanac” is an Arabic word, meaning weather or state of condition. The Almanac includes twelve chapters: Arab American history, Arab contributions to world civilization, the Kahlil Gibran literary group, organizations, religious institutions, the press, Who’s Who among Arab Americans, profiles of the Arab world and the U.S.A., Arab American achievements and contributions, Arabic language, bibliography, tables, addresses, websites and over 500 photos. It does not include advertising.

For an order of 10 or more copies, please call (818) 507-0333 or email:
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Each year since 1986, the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) – whose mission is to honor our diverse Past, to advocate for positive change in the Present, and to build

strong leaders for the Future – has honored our nation’s diverse past by sponsoring the Ellis Island Medals of Honor.  The Ellis Island Medals of Honor annually pays tribute to the ancestry groups that comprise America’s unique cultural mosaic. The Medals are presented on Ellis Island, in a dramatic ceremony, to American citizens of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to their communities, their nation and the world.

According to Nasser J. Kazeminy, Chairman of NECO, “NECO is about investing in the power of caring, whereas people from all cultures and walks of life stand together arm in arm to make a real difference

in our world through shared compassion and philanthropy – not just for now, but to also inspire future generations who will continue to preserve and build upon the legacy that each of our cultures has contributed.  With our Medalists, we will see America – at its best.  We will see every color, every race from so many walks of life – together – celebrating – the magic that is America.  Our Medalists’ influence and achievements truly inspire and touch the lives of people everywhere.”

Past Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients include six Presidents of the United States, Nobel Prize winners, athletes, leaders of industry, artists and others whose work has made a lasting impact on humanity.  They are awarded annually to outstanding American citizens, from all walks of life, who have distinguished themselves through their significant contributions to this country.  The Ellis Island Medal of Honor ranks among the nation’s most prestigious awards.  The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have officially recognized the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, and each year the recipients are listed in the Congressional Record.  To date, more than 1,800 American citizens have received Ellis Island Medals of Honor.

In 1986 “Arab-Americans for Liberty,” under the chairmanship of Casey Kasem, Los Angeles, held fund-raising events in Washington, D.C. and other cities and solicited donations toward the group’s $100,000 pledge for the restoration work on the Statue of Liberty. Arab-Americans contributed to the restoration of the statue and the Liberty Week Centennial celebrations. Los Angeles musician Dr. A. Jihad Racy played traditional Arab music at an ethnic folk festival in Lower Manhattan as part of the Liberty Week festivities. Other Arab-American musicians from New York included Dr. Simon Saheen, playing oud and violin, and Hanna Mirhije, playing percussion.

The Arabic roots of the Statue of Liberty go back to Egypt, when its sculptor Fredric Auguste Bartholdi, influenced by Egypt’s great monuments and pyramids, was commissioned to create a statue to be called the “Statue of Progress” for the entrance of the Suez Canal, according to the following excerpt taken from the book The Statue of Liberty by Marvin Trachtenberg, Viking Press, 1976: “Frederic Auguste Bartholdi in 1856 accompanied Leon Gerome, Bally, and Berchere – a group of orientalist painters – on a long trip to Egypt, a fashionable undertaking at the time. Bartholdi, very serious about the trip, not only made a number of remarkably good photographs (then becoming the rage), but took careful note of the great monuments that had drawn him on so long a journey. And it was this voyage up the Nile that seems to really have brought out his latent attraction to the colossal classical sculpture.

“The Egypt of Thebes and Abu Simbel remained for all to behold, and admire it Bartholdi most passionately did. Thirty years later (after an intermediate visit) he wrote:
“‘We are filled with profound emotion in the presence of these colossal witnesses, centuries old, of a past that to us is almost infinite, at whose feet so many generations, so many million existences, so many human glories, have rolled in the dust. These granite beings, in their imperturbable majesty, seem to be still listening to the most remote antiquity. Their kindly and impassible glance seems to ignore the present and to be fixed upon an unlimited future. These impressions are not the result simply of a beautiful spectacle, nor of the poetry of historic remembrances. They result from the character of the form and the expression of the work in which the design itself expresses after a fashion infinity.’

“Though his academic scruples prevented him from ever imitating Egyptian art directly – except for certain architectural references – its grandiose success in the colossal mode haunted him, and the dream of equalling it became a mainspring of his life.

“To a large extent this ambition can be said to have been fulfilled, for by far his most successful works – and they did bring him great fame – were the Liberty and the Lion of Belfort, a patriotic memorial to the town’s heroic defenders of 1871 built into the cliffs below the fortress in the form of a 22 by 11 meter feline – a cross between Khafre’s Sphinx at Gizeh and Thorvaldsen’s Lion of Lucerne.

“The impetus for Bartholdi’s two colossi came out of the war of 1870-71 and its aftermath. But already in the late years of the Second Empire, Bartholdi, encouraged, it seems, by the Empress Eugenie herself, had approached Khedewi Ismail Pasha, ruler of Egypt, with a project during his visit to Paris in connection with the Universal Exposition of 1867.
“Bartholdi saw the possibility of achieving a colossal project in the land of his dreams. Its location was to be at the entrance to the Suez Canal nearing completion in 1867 when Bartholdi first proposed it. In form a colossal fallah (fallah, in Arabic, means farmer) many times life-size and holding aloft a torch, the theme being ‘Progress’ or ‘Egypt carrying the Light to Asia’, it was to be the embodiment of Ismail’s efforts at Europeanization and referred particularly to the great new canal itself. It was to serve as a lighthouse, thus recalling the Pharaohs of Alexandria.
“Bartholdi worked on the Suez project intermittently over the two succeeding years experimenting with the movement of the figure in a number of clay maquettes and drawings. In 1869 he attended the festive opening ceremonies of the canal (for which Verdi’s Aida was commissioned, although not completed in time), taking the opportunity to solicit Ismail again. His response was encouraging; he even involved himself in the scheme sufficiently to suggest that the light be carried not in the hand but native style – atop the head. However, Ismail’s interest was transient; more pressing problems were soon to confront him. Bartholdi traveled to America the next summer, and the Suez colossal sculpture project was dropped.

Condensed from Kahlil Gibran’s article published in the first edition of The Syrian World Magazine, New York, July 1926, addressing “Young Americans of Syrian Origin

I believe in you, and I believe in your destiny.
I believe that you are contributors to this new civilization.
I believe that you have inherited from your forefathers an ancient dream, a song, a prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a gift of gratitude upon the lap of America.
I believe you can say to the founders of this great nation, “Here I am, a youth, a young tree whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon, yet I am deeply rooted here, and I would be fruitful.”
I believe that even as your fathers come to this land to produce riches, you were born here to produce riches by intelligence, by labor.
And I believe that it is in you to be good citizens.
And what is it to be a good citizen?
It is to acknowledge the other person’s rights before asserting your own, but always to be conscious of your own.
It is to be free in thought and deed, but it is also to know that your freedom is subject to the other person’s freedom.
It is to create the useful and beautiful with your own hands, and to admire what others have created in love and with faith.
It is to produce wealth with labor and only by labor, and to spend less than you have produced that your children may not be dependent on the state for support when you are no more.
It is to stand before the towers of New York, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco, saying in your heart, “I am the descendant of a people that builded Damascus, and Biblus, and Tyre and Sidon, and Antioch, and now I am here to build with you, and with a will.”
It is to be proud of being an American, but it is also to be proud that your fathers and mothers came from a land upon which God laid his gracious hand and raised His messengers.
Young Americans of Syrian origin, I believe in you.

Read more about Kahlil Gibran in the Arab American Almanac, 6th Edition.

2000 • The Syrian Arab-American Association (SAAA) presented its Al-Ataa Awards to Dourade Lahham, a Syrian actor, educator, and comedian and to Muna Wassef, one of the more popular Arabic singers. Over 500 guests attended the event at the Marriot Hotel, Los Angeles. Mutaz Chichakley was the SAAA President.

• The poet Lamea Abbas Amara was the recipient of the Nakhle Bader Literary Award for her Arabic poetry contribution and achievements. The event took place in Glendora, California. Lamea was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and received her B.A. in Arabic literature from the High Teachers Training College in Baghdad. She became a member of the Board of Directors of the Iraqi Writers Union, 1958-1963 and the Board of Directors of the first Assyrian Scientific Congregation of Baghdad.

• In a unique and unprecedented move, the Detroit Police Department met with Arab American business owners on February 1st at the Holiday Inn in Detroit. The meeting was called in partnership by the Metro Detroit Service Stations (MDSS) and the American-Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC), and sponsored by Comerica Bank and Detroit Edison. Nearly 200 business owners attended and many testified to past and ongoing problems they have had with trying to get police to respond and adequately investigate crimes at their businesses. (ArAmer in Michigan)

Read more in the Arab American Almanac, 6th Edition

In 1909, the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., took a hand in the controversy whether Middle Easterners belong to the white race and are therefore entitled to naturalization as American citizens, or the yellow race, and are to be excluded from the privileges of citizenship, as contended by Chief Richard K. Campbell of the Bureau of Naturalization of the Department of Commerce and Labor. William H. Harr, the attorney general’s assistant for naturalization matters, announced that instructions would be sent to attorneys throughout the country to hold in abeyance all proceedings until the matter could be further investigated.

George Shishim won his case with the Federal Government. It started when Shishim, acting in his capacity as a policeman in Venice, California, Los Angeles County, arrested the son of a prominent lawyer for disturbing the peace. This incident started the legal fight for Shishim’s eligibility to citizenship. The arrested man claimed Shishim had no right to arrest him because Shishim was not and could not become an American citizen, because he was not of the “white” race. Having been born in Lebanon, part of Asia, Shishim was considered of Chinese-Mongolian ancestry.
As the legal fight heated up, Syrian-Lebanese community leaders in Los Angeles, including Phares A. Behannesey, Mike George, and Elias Shedoudy, Nick Baida, Saleem Sawaya, and John Safady, met at the office of Mike George. They pooled their resources and secured a leading attorney, Byron C. Hanna.

Behanessey wrote to many universities asking them for the ethnological background of Lebanese-Syrian and Arab ancestry. The answer was: “from the white race.” This document and others were presented in court, and Judge Hutton of the Superior Court of Los Angeles ruled that Shishim was eligible for citizenship and that the Lebanese and Syrians belong to the “white race.”
During the court hearings, Shishim stated:

“If I am a Mongolian, then so was Jesus, because we came from the same land.”. Thus, California set a precedent upon which other states based their decision on this matter, granting U.S. citizenship to Lebanese, Syrians, and all Arabs.

The following article was published in the Los Angeles Herald, November 5, 1909:
“Assured, temporarily at least, that the mantle of citizenship placed on their shoulders by Uncle Sam’s naturalization officers will not be removed, 17,000 Syrians scattered throughout the length and breadth of the land will breathe easier when they hear of the decision rendered yesterday by Judge Hutton of the superior court, to whom the first challenge to reach the test stage was submitted a month ago. Judge Hutton holds that Syrians are eligible to citizenship, and if a different construction is to be placed on the meaning of the law it is for Congress to so declare. The test case was made on the application of George Shishim of Venice, Los Angeles County, California, for citizenship papers by Fred Jones, naturalization examiner, who, acting in accordance with instructions from Washington, opposed the application on the ground that Syrians belonged to the Mongolian race and should therefore be excluded. Judge Hutton’s decision, which has been eagerly watched for in all parts of the country, was as follows:

‘This is an application by one George Shishim, a Syrian, to be admitted to citizenship. The federal government, acting through the department of justice, objects to his admission, basing its objection on the sole ground that he is not a member of the white race in contemplation of section 2169 of the revised statutes of the United States.

‘The court has listened to arguments of counsel representing the Department of Justice and counsel representing applicant and various friends of the cause who have appeared in the case, and has read their briefs with much care and great interest. If this were a new question, I might agree with the government, but as it is by no means new. I am convinced that this court would not be justified in resolving a question of such doubtful construction contradictory to the rulings of other courts throughout the United States that have for many years admitted to full citizenship thousands of Syrians in the same position as applicant at bar. The courts of this nation, both state and federal, have, whenever called upon for more than a century, construed the term “white persons,” or members of the white race, to include Syrians. If at this late date a different construction is to be placed upon the meaning of this very doubtful statute Congress should so declare. The objection of the government is therefore overruled.’

“Shishim, with his attorney, Byron Hanna, and a number of Syrian friends were in the courtroom when the decision was read. He had already shown himself qualified for citizenship in other respects and the oath of allegiance was administered.

Our people are among the more recent immigrants into the United States. It was not until the 1880’s that the Arabs reached America. The pioneers were Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinians. Few were members of the educated class for Egypt had formed the chief center of attraction for such men. Friendless, penniless, and helpless, they landed at Kees al-Khardal (Castle Garden) in lower Manhattan. Ignorant of the language of the land and the customs of its people, and with no consuls or counselors to guide or advise them, they had to struggle and struggle hard to keep body and soul together. They were mostly men, hardly any women; young men who had heard that the streets of “Na-Yurk”( New York) overflowed with gold. They were intent on getting their share and returning to their native villages in Syria or Lebanon to build a house with a red brick roof and enjoy life forever after.

Their first experience must have been very disheartening, but they proved worthy descendants of their adventurous ancestors, the Phoenicians and Arabs. As peddlers, trying to sell crosses, rosaries, and icons from the Holy Land, and later laces and notions, they wandered with their Kashshis from street to street and from town to town until they covered almost every city in the United States. Snow and rain did not stop them, nor did they lose heart. Signs at the doors reading: “No beggars, no peddlers” meant nothing to them, as they could read no English. It was these peddlers who laid the basis of our economic prosperity in this country. All honor to their memory!

At the turn of the century, the Syrian peddler transformed into a petty storekeeper. His store lay on the east or the lower side of the big industrial city or “across the tracks.” By this time, women from Syria had become more numerous. Humble flats and tenement houses were occupied by Syrian and Lebanese families close to the slums of New York, Boston, Chicago, and other crowded cities. “Little Syrias” arose near “Little Italys” and other foreign colonies. The Americans did not understand these newcomers any more than the newcomers understood the Americans. They called them “Turks,” “Assyrians,” and all kinds of other names.

By the beginning of the First World War, a new step had been taken. The peddler had become a storekeeper, and the storekeeper had become a manufacturer of kimonos, negligees, laces, dresses, and other apparel.

U.S.S. Naifeh, DE 352, in Honor of Lt. Alfred Naifeh
Alfred Naifeh was born in Covington, Tenn. to a Lebanese family, January 5, 1915. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a law degree, and was also a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. When World War II began, he was commissioned on July 5, 1942 and reported on board the U.S.S. Meredith as Destroyer Division Disbursing Officer, February 27, 1942. He was promoted to Lieutenant October 1, 1942. After the Meredith sank in the Battle of the Solomons, Lt. Naifeh worked for two days and nights keeping wounded and exhausted survivors on life rafts. As a result of his continuing valiant efforts to save his shipmates, he was completely overcome by exhaustion after fighting off shark attacks, which ultimately resulted in his death October 16, 1942. For his devotion to duty and courage, Lt. Naifeh was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal as well as a Purple Heart. Two years later, the U.S. Navy named a ship after him.
The U.S.S. Naifeh was commissioned on July 4, 1944, and christened by Rathia Naifeh, mother of Lt. Naifeh. After commissioning, Naifeh trained and conducted a shakedown cruise off Bermuda, then had training duty out of Norfolk. Initially an Atlantic Fleet ship, its first convoy duty was from Brooklyn, NY to France and then on to Algeria. The ship departed Brooklyn October 6, 1944 on the first of two voyages escorting convoys to Europe and North Africa. Naifeh departed New York January 13, 1945 to join the Pacific Fleet in a final drive against the Japanese. The ship was decommissioned on June 27, 1946.
At the award ceremony for Lt. Naifeh’s Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the following citation was read: “For heroic conduct and outstanding devotion to duty in caring for survivors clinging to life rafts after the sinking of the U.S.S. Meredith. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Lt. Naifeh persisted in constantly swimming around the rafts, rendering invaluable aid to the men who were wounded or exhausted.

Source: The Arab American Almanac, 5th edition.

The Arab American Almanac has become an indispensable source of information about citizens of the United States who hailed from Arab lands. These immigrants varied greatly in age, background, education level, and religion. They belong to every conceivable profession, rich to poor, with little education to Ph.D. holders, and from sophisticated city dwellers to farm boys. They constitute a group of people as varied as the U.S. population itself.

Because of their diversity, they have significantly contributed to the nation in every field of endeavor. If one is to generalize, these immigrants came mostly in three waves. The earliest were those who arrived in the last quarter of the 19th Century. These were mostly Lebanese and Syrian Christians; many were merchants. The second wave came in the middle of the 20th Century, mostly to escape the heavy hand of military rule in their countries of origin.

The latest wave is the contemporary immigrants who escape from the crushing economic conditions to seek hope for a better future. Arabs who come to America easily dissolve in the society. They do not come here to establish a distinct block, but they much rather disperse quietly. They seem to have done that so well that their impact on the political landscape – as a block – is limited. Also, the Arab American civic groups and NGOs are too numerous and sometimes were at odds with each other. Much of that might be due to the fact that Arab immigrants may have brought perceived ancient differences with them from various lands of origin.

A positive sign is the much younger age of the most recent wave of immigrants. Tribal or ancient differences between groups back home would not mean much to these young people. Therefore, they would be less burdened by them and ready to cooperate as active members of the American social fabric. Thus, if I am asked where this Almanac should venture next, I would not hesitate to say that it should have considerable coverage of “Young Arab Americans.”

It should give examples of our youth and deal with their accomplishments as well as their hopes and dreams. A thoughtful reader will realize how difficult it is to put a volume like this together. It is done by seeking knowledge from disparate sources and working diligently with various groups with different objectives. This would normally require an organization of considerable size and the attendant resources.

However, the volume is the work of one energetic and highly dedicated man: Joseph Haiek. Joseph Haiek has tirelessly worked for years and has done an admirable job in producing the Arab American Almanac series. He deals with the topic in its entirety, generating a cross-section whose depth and breadth scholars appreciate and envy.

One of the most significant accomplishments is the attention to historical details and seeking information from reputable sources and recognized references. This sixth edition is a testimony to Joseph Haiek’s unstinting efforts, unlimited intellectual energy, and tireless perseverance. His work has brought to life a segment of American society that would otherwise remain hidden and unappreciated. It is hoped that this volume is coveted by libraries throughout America as a testimony to a group of immigrants who have greatly contributed to the fabric of this great nation.

Dr. Farouk El-Baz is the Director for Remote Sensing, Boston University, MA.

Read more about Dr. El-Baz in the Arab American Almanac, 6th Edition. His biography can be found in the Who’s Who, Chapter 7.