The Arab American Historical Foundation held its 4th Annual History Conference at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES - OCT.-17, 2009- The Arab American Historical Foundation held its fourth annual Arab American History Conference at the Doheny Memorial Library at the University of Southern California (USC), in Los Angeles.

The conference presented two panels, split between the morning and afternoon sessions. The morning panel consisted of Dr. Sarah Gaultieri, a professor at the History Dept. and faculty advisor to the Middle East Studies Program at USC; Dr. Joseph Kechichian, president of Kechichian & Associates, which offers consulting on the Persian Gulf region; Dr. Diane Shammas, an educator and research; and William A. Hannosh, an attorney and former journalist based in San Diego, California.

The afternoon panel comprised of Sami Asmar, a NASA physicist and musician; Dr. Jamil Effarah, a journalist and author; Prof. Ali Jihad Racy, professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA; and Prof.Hassan Sassi, who was also a senior structural engineer for the City of Los Angeles. Hannosh, of the Law Office of William A. Hannosh, in El Cajon, California, spoke on legal problems facing the modern Arab American immigrant, with a focus on the vast influx of Iraqi immigrants arriving in East San Diego County currently. He spoke at length about certain legal tools which immigrants must deal with here that in some cases, are non-existent in the Arab world, such as the restraining order, the power of removing children from parents and certain labor law regulations.

More importantly, he stressed the need for the Arab American community already established here to reach out to assist and provide guidance to those newer immigrants still becoming accustomed to a new culture and society. He specifically called upon successful professionals to take the time to invest into those who are still trying to find their way in America, and discussed the need for doctors, attorneys, engineers and other professionals to act as mentors to those still in school.

Dr. Gualtieri, an associate professor in the Department of History and American Studies and ethnicity at USC, spoke about the U.S. Department of Census’s ongoing practice of categorizing Arab or Arab American residents of the United States as “White” ethnically. She briefly went through the history as to how Arabs came to be officially classified as White by the U.S. government, with an explanation about how different people groups within the Arab race interpreted, accepted, or rejected this racial classification over time. She used historical Los Angeles Superior Court documents from the mid-20th Century to discuss different cases of Arab, or “Syrian” people who applied to become American citizens through the superior court. Interestingly, American immigrant officials would freely use the term “Syrian” immigrant to describe those who had come from Lebanon, north Iraq, and other parts of the Arab world that are no longer under Syrian control. (NOTE: because “Greater Syria” encompassed all of present-day Lebanon, north Iraq, and parts of Palestine, the term “Syrian” was generally used to describe all these immigrant types). Dr. Gualtieri also informed the audience of her current work, another important project which uncovers the Lebanese American community’s deep roots in Southern California.

Dr. Kechichian shared excerpts from a dissertation paper he recently wrote and presented. The former associate political scientist at the RAND Corporation and Honorary Consul of the Sultanate of Oman in Los Angeles, used facts, figures and statistics to dispel a number of myths about the Arab world and Saudi Arabia, in general. He talked about the lesser numbers of publications produced by writers in the Arab world, in relation to books published by European authors. To provide an example, he explained that the Arab world as a whole does not publish as many books in one year as Spain alone. He stressed the responsibility that modern Arab authors have to write (or expand their writing) so that the viewpoint of Arabs might be disseminated more widely around the world.

Dr. Shammas gave a number of eye-opening facts and statistics about how Arab Muslim students in community colleges identify themselves, as opposed to Arab Christian students in the larger student body. She also touched on the level of involvement that Arab American students have in college life, and discussed the factors that go into a student’s sense of belonging in daily living among other non-Arab community college students.

Sami Asmar gave awe-inspiring scientific discussion of our galaxy and its natural working, as he narrated a slide show having different images of space. He spoke about past NASA projects, as they related to his work with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He accolades include multiple NASA Exceptional Achievement awards covering topics like Einstein’s theory of general relativity and Titan’s winds. Prof. Hassan Sassi, who serves the community as a professor of mathematics and engineering in between his professional life as a general contractor-engineer, spoke about the many different inventions and patents for which Arab American engineers are responsible. He talked about a fellow Arab American scientist and engineer who has 200 patents certified, and another 200 pending. He also explained that the SanDisk flash drive, used by millions everywhere, was invented by an Arab American.

“It is very crucial that access to any dissemination and preserved material be available to the general public through available media events and conferences of this kind,” he said. Prof. Jihad Racy, a professor of music at UCLA, also a virtuoso performer and composer, who has played many concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center (aside from hundreds of international music festivals) gave a presentation which covered the works of Arab comedians, and even shared some of their audio-recorded stand-up routines before audiences. He also detailed the involved history and background behind the bond of musical art (and the give-and-take in ideas) that have flourished between Arab world styles and Latin American and Brazilian music.

For more information, e-mail: newscircle@sbcglobal.net Address: P.O. Box 291159, Los Angeles, CA 90029, USA

Your support and donations are welcome.
Arab American Historical Foundation
P. O. Box 291159
Los Angeles, CA 90029, U.S.A.
 
Phone:  (818) 507-0333, Fax: (818) 246-1936

 It is a non-profit organization, under section 501(c)(3)