Alejandro Velasco, Omar Dahi, Sinan Antoon & Laura Weiss, “The Latin East,” NACLA Report on the Americas, 50:1 (2018): 1-7.
Nadim Bawalsa, “Palestine West of the Andes,” NACLA Report on the Americas, 50:1 (2018): 34-39.
Read one of these two articles (your choice):
Sarah M. A. Gualtieri, "Introduction," Between Arab and White: Race and Ethnicity in the Early Syrian American Diaspora (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009).
Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp, "Arab “Amirka”: Exploring Arab diasporas in Mexico and the United States," Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 31.2 (2011): 282-295.
Listen to one of these two podcasts (your choice):
“The Argentine Mahjar,” Ottoman History Podcast, March 16, 2018, http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2018/03/argentine-mahjar.html.
"Syrian in Sioux Falls," Ottoman History Podcast, November 5, 2018,
https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2018/11/syrian-in-sioux-falls.html.
Optional
Anthony Gorman and Sossie Kasbarian eds., Diasporas of the Modern Middle East: Contextualising Community (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2015).
Excellent essays on migration and diasporas within the Middle East.
Evelyn Alsultany and Ella Shohat, eds. Between the Middle East and the Americas: The cultural politics of diaspora. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2013).
In this week's readings and podcast, I identified a common topic of “solidarity” within Latin America and the Middle East. I would identify this week's keywords to be “solidarity” and “Latin East.” As noted in text “The Latin East” in 2009 thousands of Palestinians packed onto the crowded streets of Ramallah holding signs in support of Venezuelan president Hugu Chavez. I personally found support for Chavez in Ramallah to be remarkable. It presents endorsement of Palestinian statehood despite all the brutality and lack of support they’ve faced. Prior to these readings, I was never enlightened by the Latin East and the network between both regions. It’s interesting to me how this text has highly and positively illustrated Chavez. I recall that in my Peace and Conflicts class Chavez was portrayed in a negative connotation. However, it’s interesting how this piece enlightens and reflects the good nature of Latin America. Chavez stood with the Palestinians and assisted them in a number of ways. He held speeches, denounced Israeli occupation, held delegations of Palestinian activists, sent economic aid to Gaza and the West Bank. In our prior class we’ve discussed solidarity, however, the authors of this text evidently demonstrate forms of solidarity. As the authors note “... Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank, several Latin American countries including Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and El Salvador broke diplomatic ties with Israel” and that’s a great example of political solidarity; nations breaking diplomatic ties even if it’ll cost them later on. Additionally, another form of solidarity is noted in the text. In Latin America and the Middle East, “violence” appears in the mainstream as the primary tool to tie the two regions together. There's a community of feelings that are shared between both regions that make them coincide with one another and accept one another. For example, Latin America was influenced by Palestine. Palestinian struggles for national liberation influenced Puerto Rican activists seeking independence from the United States. Hence, you discern widespread support from both regions.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, in the Bawalsa text “Palestine West of the Andes” we perceive unification between Latin America and the Middle East. Chile became home to the world’s largest Palestinian diaspora community. Chile’s Arabic newspapers thus became vehicles for public awareness and action, and the loss of Palestinian nationality was a serious concern to them. Chile stood in solidarity with the Palestinians. One way this was displayed was through media and print. “The newspapers promoted offered Arabic-speaking migrants in Chile an interconnected and transnational public platform from which to discuss and circulate information that was relevant to them, from how to remain politically, socially, and economically connected to their homeland, to the most effective ways of ensuring the survival of the jaaliya in their host country” (Bawalsa 35). Chile stood with the Palestinians and exposed British corruption through mainstream media. Nevertheless, they made Chile a home to Arab migrants. Overall, throughout the readings we distinguish Arab diaspora to Latin America. Nevertheless, as in Chile we discern them to welcome the Arabs. However, as in Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp, "Arab “Amirka” we identify a different outlook. Within Mexico and the U.S Arabs weren’t welcomed with open hands they were discriminated and as Steven Salaita writes, “I have yet to meet an Arab who hasn’t experienced some form of discrimination or harassment” (Velcamp 294). It’s crucial to understand that there was both solidarity and estrangement in Latin America.
Best,
DeleteAya
i am not at all surprised that chavez was depicted in that way in your peace and conflicts class. many anti-US leaders, socialist and otherwise, are seen as 'rogue' actors that defy the international system of politics.
DeleteThe readings this week centered around Arab diasporas to the “New World,” specifically focusing on the tension of assimilating into new communities while maintaining homeland roots. The readings I choose to do focused mainly on the relationship between South America and the Middle East, drawing connections between the diasporic communities in Chile, Venezuela and Argentina that hailed from Syria and Palestine. The close contact between the emigrant communities and their homelands exemplifies the fact that transnational solidarity finds deeper roots in places where immigrant communities of their citizens exist. United by common heritage and cultural practices, establishing a Palestinian identity comes easily to emigrants in in Chile and Argentina, as their support and love for their countries does not waver despite their new landscape. Identity formation is also part of the process of emigration that creates these homeland ties, as in the case of Palestinians, their deep loyalty and Palestinian identity comes after their departure, and only in response to the shifting borders mandated after the World War II. The cross continental solidarity that forms as a result of diaspora communities is a source of cultural exchange, as Arab style music and dance inspires Latin American responses that then create a cyclical dialogue of adoption and reinvention. Political solidarity prospers between the two regions as well, especially in their joint pursuit against the hegemonic power of the United States, and Latin American solidarity with Palestine.
ReplyDeleteThe transnational, or rather transcontinental solidarity between the Middle East and Latin America and the homeland pride that it represents clashes with notions of assimilation, particularly in the United States. As Gualtieri explains in her article Between Arab and White, Syrians, in their attempts to gain United States Citizenship constantly had to denounce their Syrian identity and equate themselves with Europeans in order to qualify. The article was incredibly fascinating to me, especially in the ways in which Whiteness exists. Whiteness means free and is in direct opposition to the Blackness that categorized slaves– this dichotomy, which the United States is built on, never factored in other races or ethnicities, so in order to gain citizenship, Syrians had to prove their proximity to Whiteness. Whiteness, as the Syrians discovered, is categorized by the ability to acquire property, a task which can only be done after having a decent amount of economic success. I think that the link between Whiteness and property owning is so powerful that even today many communities of color are discriminated against and oppressed in their pursuit to buy property. Moreover, with the development of the Syrian community in the United States, there were frequent attempts by White Media to Other the Syrians, as they prompted Orientalist notions of mystery and exoticism when classifying the Syrians, in an attempt to alienate them from Whiteness. Similarly, Palestinians in Chile found themselves forced to acclimate by renouncing some of their cultural practices in order to better satisfy xenophobic Chileans. Indeed, in newspapers widely circulated amongst the Chilean Palestinian community, readers were advised to uphold high morals standards, maintain clean clothes, and close their shops on Sunday to honor the Christian holy day. However, these tactics to assimilate only strengthened diaspora identities, for what reminisces of their homeland that they could no longer blatantly show, became deeply ingrained within them.
Key Word: The Pink Tide - The pink tide, or turn to the left, is the revolutionary wave and perception of a turn towards left-wing governments in Latin American democracies straying away from the neoliberal economic model. (Wikipedia)
Best,
Hadley
glad you highlighted the link between whiteness and upward social mobility as a concept that was alive and well in the early 20th century and became a strategy for immigrants of levantine origins to become more integrated and accepted into american society
DeleteThis week's readings offered insight into the struggles and efforts of greater Syrian diaspora who settled in the Americans in the early 20th century. Many coming from Ottoman controlled, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, they were forced to quickly adjust to the new world while also retaining their cultural and national identity. One thing I found was that depending on the country they chose to immigrate to, the pressures to assimilate and hide their cultural backgrounds varied greatly. While all diaspora across American nations were expected to contribute to their new populations and communities, essentially proving themselves, the US was the harshest while South American nations were more accommodating.
ReplyDeleteI found that across source material, the global South was far more welcoming to immigrants from greater Syria than the United States was. In the US, Gualtieri highlights how Syrian immigrants were often pushed into claiming themselves as white in order to gain citizenship. She gives accounts of how far reaching the KKK was in the US government and how Syrians were under immense pressure to assimilate. This fact was also explored in the podcast "Syrian in Soux Falls" which explains how Syrians living in the Midwest were often put in uncomfortable positions where their culture was compromised to fit their new American way of life. What I found to be ironic was that this immense pressure seems to have made these communities’ ethnic identities stronger. These pressures also meant that they ultimately looked to each other for solace and built strong communities such as Dearborn Michigan. The texts even highlight how important remittances from these communities became for their homelands whose economies began depending on them. These communities also began advocating for their homelands independence to their local government, maintaining a strong understanding of their cultural backgrounds even under pressure to appease and relate themselves to a White Eurocentric idea of what being American is.
South of the Equator, we see that Syrian and Lebanese diaspora were treated much differently. While still expected to assimilate and become a part of their new country’s national identity, there seems to have been less pressure against them. “The Latin East” gives us an account of how Venezuelan and Palestinian culture have become intertwined in many ways, with the Venezuelan people and government showing support for the Palestinian cause and vice versa. Along with the Arab-Latin American Summit, many efforts were made to connect the two global souths. I was truly shocked to see this kind of solidarity between the two regions. From a soccer team in Chile named after Palestine, to the presence of a number of Arabic newspapers, I was shocked to see the Diaspora so seemingly welcomed. However, the Palestinians and Lebanese of the South also faced their share of struggles. They often made it a point to showcase how useful their community was to their new homeland through campaigns such as their enterprising spirit or philanthropic efforts. They were constantly aiming to prove themselves worthy of stay in these countries. However, unlike their counterparts in the United States, their national heritage and ethnic background wasn’t challenged.
Ultimately, I believe that both the Arabs in the US and Latin America were othered while being pressured to show their value to their new homes through economic means. However, unlike Latin American nations, the US also suppressed their identities and ethnic backgrounds.
- Mostafa
you make great distinctions between the reception of arab immigrants to the U.S. versus the latin american countries we read about this week. i particularly like your point about how the immense pressure to assimilate into american life many times led to even stronger community relations between immigrants of similar backgrounds
DeleteThe term that stuck out to me throughout this week's readings is the word “diaspora”. In Bawalsa’s piece “Palestine West of the Andes”, he quotes Roger Brubaker’s definition of diaspora as “the process through which groups of migrants and their descendants come to see and speak about themselves in terms of groups or collectives” (Bawalsa, 34). This week's readings and podcast revolved around this idea of either relocation or alliance with other countries. In “The Latin East”, Velasco, Dahi, Antoon, and Weiss discuss the importance of Latin America’s influence on and support of the Middle East. In the Bawalsa essay, he mainly discusses the importance of periodicals in relaying a wide array of information, especially around Arab culture, in Chile. Lastly, in “Arab ‘Amirka’: Exploring Arab Diasporas in Mexico and the United States”, the migration of Arabs to Mexico and the U.S. is addressed.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found to be most interesting this week was the Alfaro-Velcamp reading. This piece defines the “Arab diaspora” in particular, and explains it as something that there is multiple of. Alfaro-Velcamp writes: “for the most part, there has not been a historically singular “Arab diaspora”; rather there are multiple diasporas whose members have been identified as “Arabs'' by themselves and others. The term has tended to mean Arabic speakers inclusively and generally encompasses those immigrants from member countries of the Arab league” (Alfaro-Velcamp, 283). In the readings comparison between the way that the U.S. addresses Arab immigrants vs. Mexico, I couldn’t help but feel ashamed to be an American, especially after the way that the U.S. government reacted to 9/11. It seems that Mexico has allotted much more time and energy into making immigrants feel at home, whereas the U.S. has a strong tendency to favor white Europeans. Another interesting point that came up is the conflation between Muslims and Arabs, which is something that has been on my mind throughout this class. I think that a lot of people in the U.S. don’t have a clear understanding or definition of the difference between being an Arab and being a Muslim, which has definitey caused the divide to greaten between immigrant Arabs and the U.S., as the U.S. doesn’t seem to take the time to be cautious and understand the correct terminology that ought to be used.
Another aspect that I found intriguing was the importance of periodicals, as mentioned in my first paragraph. In the “Palestine West of the Andes” reading, the authors bring up the importance of the newspaper as a source of information for people all across Chile. These newspapers specifically covered Palestinian experiences, which created a stronger bond within the Palestinian community in Chile. This is a great example of a way, similar to Mexico with Syrians, that a country can include immigrants into their community– through diversifying news sources and creating an inclusive environment.
Can we go over the definition of the word “jaaliya”? When I googled the term it gave me a different answer from the “Palestine West of the Andes” reading. (That reading said it is a “migrant community”).
Why exactly did Syria pick Mexico to come to as a result of fleeing the Ottoman Empire? I have the same question with Palestinian citizenship in 1925 when Britain took over– was the Palestinian Citizenship Order-in-Counsel the reason that so many Palestinians came to Chile? If so, why Chile?
What is the reasoning behind Mexico and Chile being so much more inclusive and open to immigrants than the U.S.? Or did a lot of this prejudice occur in America as a result of 9/11?
love the personal aspect of your response as you reflect on U.S. vs. mexican immigration policies as well as the conflation of muslims and arabs. your questions are also excellent.
Delete“Identity”
ReplyDeleteThe readings for this class focused on the Arabian Diasporas in the America “Whether the North or the South”. After the first World War following the end of the Ottoman Empire, a lot of Arabian from “Palestine, Lebanon and Syria” went to South and North America to get rich fast and come back home. What I found interesting that during these times, countries such as “Palestine, Lebanon and Syria” still didn’t declare its dependence and it caused a problem in identifying the Arabian emigrants. As what is mentioned by the readings, people specially in South America identified the Arabian emigrants as “turco” which means “Turks”, which is another name that is affiliated with the ottoman empire.
I was surprised that a number of Arab immigrants, didn’t know that they were immigrating to North America or South America, as the two continents have different types of business opportunities, cultures, laws and competition. As I have to mention, that the migration experience differs a lot from the two continents. As Theresa mentioned in her paper, that Arabs who immigrated to north America suffered a stricter lifestyle comparing it with the south. By that I mean, that Arabian immigrants had always been linked to a religious believe, which is “Islam”. Given that, the majority of the Arab immigrants are Catholic 35 percent. This may have caused a racial problem for all Arabs that immigrated to the North. However, the economic gains that those people obtained given the situation of a new country/economy that needed labor is substantial.
As the case for the “South”, I read the paper about Arabs in Chile. I witnessed that there are still some racial or national abuse towards Arabs in Chile or other counties, such as what I mentioned earlier identified the Arabian emigrants as “turco” which means “Turks” or banning Syrian immigrants to enter Chile. However, the level of journalistic freedom and the influence in sports had a better value or voice that the Arabian immigrants have experienced. I was really surprised that certain newspaper was even written in Latin to a larger target audience. Also, the integration between the soccer teams and the newspaper in focusing to support Palestine made them stand against the British. It is also important to mention that there is also a level of segregation between Arab immigrants. In Mexico, for example it is more powerful to identify yourself as Lebanese rather than an Arab.
To be Honest, I didn’t understand the situation between the identification of a Palestinian passport for immigrants and what did they fight for. For example, the fight against the British.
Also, it is worthy to mention, that I was looking for the cultural effects from those Arabian Diasporas and how can this cultural changes might reach back home. An example is, the Mexican Shawarma.
Deleteto your last point--very true! the cross-cultural effects of migration is one of the key aspects of diaspora studies. that is why the creation of arabic-language newspapers, palestinian sports teams, and the other cultural formations we cover in the readings are so crucial to study
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