Letter to Barack Obama from an Arab-American Democrat: On Rahm Emanuel and More

November 13, 2008 – 9:07 am

Congratulations!

The road to the White House has been extremely long and highly entertaining.

Thank you Sarah Palin for showcasing Tina Fey’s comic genius. Thank you Barack Obama for showcasing American meritocracy at work.

You ran an impeccable campaign and I am proud to have a President who knows what the word impeccable means. But most of all thank you for inspiring us to get involved in politics. It has meant the world to me and to many Arab-American democrats.

Let me share with you what I saw:

I saw Arab-Americans young and old volunteer their time. They donated money like many other Americans who responded to your message of hope. They urged their friends and families to become registered voters. Many voted for the first time in their lives.

On election day I saw young kids with loud speakers cheer for Obama on the streets of Paterson, New Jersey. I honked my horn and was happy as a lark. It felt good to be on the winning side for a change. It feels good to be an American. I know this isn’t possible in Europe.

But don’t get me wrong. It hasn’t been all good: Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in current affairs, israel, palestine, politics | Comments (5)

Arab Americans, the Election, and Clarion’s Islamophobic Agenda

October 15, 2008 – 10:16 am

Most Arab Americans I know resent the United State’s intimate relationship with Israel and the adverse affect it has on Palestinians. Most Arab Americans I know (myself included) are voting for Barack Obama.

It’s not that we have forgotten Obama’s AIPAC blunder or that we disregard Biden’s outspoken support of Israel. It’s that unlike Senator McCain, Obama’s campaign does not thrive off of the fear-mongering and finger-pointing shamelessly practiced by the Republican campaign. As proof, take the latest McCain ad which falsely accuses Obama of lying about his relationship with “terrorist Bill Ayers.”

Yet too many Arab Americans still associate with the GOP. And this association may prove disastrous for our future as citizens and members of society.

Along with American Muslims, Arab Americans suffered the consequences of the politics of fear; with increased terror alerts came a decrease in their civil liberties, a blow to their reputation (both at work or in social groups), and sometimes even threats to their personal safety. The fact that Obama does not rely on the played-out terrorist card should be reason enough for Arab Americans to support him.

Here is another:

Last month, the Clarion Fund, a supposedly non-profit organization funded by a $400,000 dollar grant from a “secret donor”, paid 70 newspapers in 14 of America’s swing states to distribute their DVD, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.” Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in current affairs, election 08, immigrants | Comments (5)

Laughing in Amman: Arab-American Comedians Look into the Future

August 22, 2008 – 2:05 pm

Amman, Jordan - Last week, I had the chance to speak to comedians Dean Obeidallah, Maysoon Zayid, Aron Kader, and actor and producer Waleed Zuaiter. We spoke about humanizing the Arab\Muslim “Other” to Western audiences and promoting comedy and self-expression in the Middle East.

The visiting celebrities were eager to talk about their experience at a workshop in Jordan’s SAE Institute, a media technology training institute, pointing out that the country has a lot of local talent just waiting to take off.

One SAE student later told me that he personally wasn’t impressed with the workshop at all, though I immediately wondered how much of the negativity stemmed from simple inertia: the lingering idea that nothing with artistic or entertainment value could possibly be created in Jordan, ever (the same student told me he despises the recent Jordanian film “Captain Abu Raed,” a ground-breaking movie I adored).

I have heard repeated statements that Jordan in particular is an “anti-intellectual” environment, as opposed to, say, Lebanon or Egypt. I asked Waleed Zuaiter, whose parents divide their time between Amman and Ramallah, what he thought about said claims of anti-intellectualism:

Waleed, who co-produces the New York Arab American Comedy Festival besides working as an actor, told me: Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in entertainment, humor, jordan | Comments (2)

Iraq’s Money and America’s Responsibility

August 13, 2008 – 5:44 pm

$80 billion can buy a lot of things – a tropical island or ten Caecescu palaces jump to mind – but what it can’t buy is infrastructure for a country with a population of almost 28 million people that is emerging from five years of ruinous geo-political and sectarian conflict.

As violence tapers off, oil exports increase, and global crude prices remain high, Iraq’s economy is set to grow by 8 percent in 2008 and will end the year with a predicted $79 billion budget surplus, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

But with the U.S. presidential campaign in full swing the Democrats are lashing out at Iraq for draining American money and American lives. The media machine has been in overdrive, with scathing attacks from both neo-con and liberal commentators scoring points on the same issues: U.S. lives, U.S. money, and the impact on the lives of U.S. consumers.

They demand that Iraq now pay is own way for reconstruction and embrace a potentially tragic cut-and-run strategy that could lead to further internal and regional instability. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in business world, iraq, politics | Comments (3)

An Appeal to Egyptian-American Integrity

June 9, 2008 – 9:37 am

Today I received two emails from a friend. Together they make for an interesting commentary on the divided psyche of the American-Egyptian community.

The first is a flyer for an event sponsored by The Egyptian American Medical Society, Egyptian American Professional Society, Egyptian American Business Association, Egyptian American Group, and the American Muslim Union.

I laud the efforts made by the community to form organizations that seek to enrich our lives in the United States of America. It makes me proud to be an American-Egyptian. One of the greatest privileges we enjoy in this country is the freedom to participate in civic life without government interference. It is a privilege we should never take for granted and always jealously guard.

Yet my pleasure at seeing such civic engagement was tempered by a factual error in the email. You see the event is intended to honor the Ambassador Sherif el Kholy who happens to be a nice man. The only problem is that as far as I can tell he is not the Ambassador. Nabil Fahmy is the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States.

This minor detail matters immensely. As an American-Egyptian I fret that our propensity to use titles that glorify figures of authority has been carried to our adopted country. Has this mindset, I asked myself, already become entrenched in our civic organizations here in the United States? Didn’t many of us come to the United States and achieve our success as immigrants precisely because we believed in America as a meritocracy?

Why use a title that hasn’t been earned? Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in egypt, immigrants, politics, society | Comments (0)

Muslim Comedians in the U.S.: A PBS Special

May 11, 2008 – 9:59 am

This week on PBS, “STAND UP: Muslim-American Comics Come of Age” premiered as part of the ongoing “America at a Crossroads” series. Five comedians are profiled in this documentary special: Ahmed Ahmed, Tissa Hami, Dean Obeidallah, Azhar Usman and Maysoon Zayid.

ahmed ahmed

Each comedian profiled has their own angle on both the entertainment business and the experiences of Muslims in the United States. Maysoon Zayid talks about being a Palestinian-American Muslim woman who doesn’t cover her hair, a virgin, and a disabled person aspiring to become an actress.

Dean Obeidallah shares the story of how he initially stopped using his Arab last name when performing in the aftermath of 9/11, then had a change of heart and a change of direction.

Azhar Usman, who is shown praying in his dressing room at one point, discusses going through a conservative phase before realizing that his path in life ultimately lay elsewhere.

azher usman smiles

Many viewers will relate to Ahmed Ahmed’s anxiety in regards to air travel, except that in Ahmed Ahmed’s case there is the added “bonus” of traveling while Muslim and enduring extreme suspicion. And Tissa Hami’s account of enduring prejudice both from non-Muslims and Muslims (some of whom have told her that she is “going to hell”) is not exactly a laughing matter.

Yet, staying true to its subject matter, the special manages to be light-hearted as well. The featured jokes could probably make even David Horowitz laugh, or so I’d like to believe.

Prior to the premiere, I was given an opportunity to interview several of the comedians, and here is what we talked about:

Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in current affairs, entertainment, humor, islam, muslim women, religion | Comments (2)

The Mistake Carter Didn’t Make: Why America and Israel Should Listen to Jimmy

April 18, 2008 – 5:50 pm

It’s a sad commentary on international affairs and an insult to the human mind when the terrorism scapegoat is continuously allowed to negate important issues.

The Pope should issue a global fatwa banning newspapers and policymakers around the world from engaging in this infantile, overused discussion of “but what about the terrorists.”

Perhaps then the American citizenry can read about Jimmy Carter man-hugging Hamas official Nasser Shaer with enough neutrality to form an informed opinion.

Carter paid tribute to Arafat by laying a wreath on his grave, before meeting Hamas officials in Egypt after Israel denied him access to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Undeterred, Carter said he would meet with exiled Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal in Syria on Friday. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in current affairs, palestine | Comments (4)

Notes from the Dubai International Film Festival: Things We Lost in the Fire

December 18, 2007 – 8:39 am

This is our final article on DIFF this year. Related stories are here and here.

As the festival wound down, I found myself needing an injection of Hollywood, and Susanne Bier’s “Things We Lost in the Fire” was the ticket. Well, maybe. Susanne Bier is actually Danish, and this movie is somewhat unconventional. I’m not sure if it’s going to get a wide release in the Middle East, but I’m not holding my breath.

The one consistently terrific thing about this film is Benicio Del Toro and his brand of awesome. I’m not exactly sure how he manages to take the familiar role of a recovering heroin addict and transform it into something this charming and unpretentious, but I like to think it has something to do with being charming and unpretentious in real life. Either way, this is one performance any self-respecting Del Toro fangirl or fanboy cannot possibly miss out on, no matter where you are.

The rest of the movie oscillates between genuinely grounded, thoughtful material and occasionally coma-inducing melodrama. Halle Berry’s turn as shell-shocked widow Audrey is solid, but her obligatory moment of meltdown and surrender felt as thought it could have come off a check-list. While Del Toro’s heroin withdrawal scene has similar overtones, his inventive facial contortions alone create something original to watch.

David Duchovny, the dead husband who is the link between Berry and Del Toro’s characters, has some potential, but he disappears halfway into the film. The story is fragmented (much like a grieving person’s mind - which I thought to be a nice touch overall), and Duchovny’s character is seen in flashbacks. But the flashbacks just stop all of a sudden, and the film is the poorer for it. We understand that Brian was a righteous dude unjustly taken from his family in the prime of his life, but aside from the great dynamic he has with his drug addict friend, we don’t really get to know him as a human being.

The deadpan John Carroll Lynch is a source of comic relief as a weird but good-natured neighbor, but it’s a bad sign when you realize his character is actually more likeable than Brian’s.

Bier is drawing a fascinating parallel between addiction and grief however, and she does succeed in raising serious questions about the way human beings deal with both phenomena. Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in arts and literature, dubai, entertainment | Comments (0)

Notes from the Dubai International Film Festival: The Battle for Haditha

December 13, 2007 – 7:41 am

This article is part of a series on various films at DIFF 2007.

Nick Broomfield’s “The Battle for Haditha” has not yet gotten enough press. In some ways, this is understandable. Despite the explosive subject matter, this is a low-key film. There are no big-name actors, no enormous budget, and, most importantly, the picture’s stylistic elements tend toward a stark, bare-boned simplicity. Nevertheless, this is a film to see.

Broomfield cast many amateurs for key roles, among them some ex-Marines and Iraqi refugees, and this is both good and bad. There is a definite air of authenticity surrounding the film, yet the acting occasionally appears forced. Some of the dialogue struck me as contrived- although this may have something to do with the subtitles. I do not speak Arabic, but having been accompanied by an Arabic speaker at the screening, I discovered that the subtitles are not as good as they could have been.

This movie is earnest, but, in some scenes, it also comes across as didactic. Do we really need to see the chief insurgent character, a disgruntled former member of the Iraqi army, spelling out the message with lines such as: “The Americans created the insurgency by dis-banding the army”? Does the chief insurgent furthermore have to opine stiffly on the future of Iraq, noting (in a manner that suggests that he is channeling Fukuyama) the bleak possibility of the country inheriting a new leader, someone who will be a helluva lot worse than Saddam?

Yet in spite of a few missteps, this is a haunting picture. I can’t get it out of my head, and I probably won’t for a long time. Broomfield captures the comings and goings of the residents of Haditha, people whose lives are about to be shattered, with intimacy and grace. I was floored by the character of Rashied (Duraid A. Ghaieb), a young man besotted with his pregnant wife (Yasmine Hanani - who attended the screening alongside the director, and ex-Marine actors Elliot Ruiz and Eric Mehalacopoulos), keenly aware of the growing danger of staying with his family in Haditha, and yet unable to do much about it.

Alongside U.S. Marines and Iraqi civilians, Broomfield dares to portray the members of the Iraqi insurgency as human beings. These people are not just fundamentalist foreigners, they are also ordinary locals who are infuriated with what has happened to their country. This simple truth is about as inconvenient as anything Al Gore can come up with, and is bound to make American audiences squirm in their seats. Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in arts and literature, dubai, entertainment, iraq, terrorism | Comments (3)

Things Don’t Work Out

September 5, 2007 – 12:20 pm

I knew when I was in my teens that I wanted to have kids. I would raise them right, they’d grow up to be productive and moral people, and I would feel proud of having raised perfect children.

When I started having kids in 1988, I read the right books, fed them the right foods, bought them the right toys, always put them in a car-seat and went to church every Sunday. And everything went well. They did well in school, they had friends, and people congratulated me on my well behaved children.

And then, something happened. I’m still not sure what, but something definitely happened. My perfect 1st golden boy decided to go his own way. My perfect second boy knew beyond any doubt that he knew more about stuff than I did. My charming and attractive third boy was diagnosed with ADHD, had to repeat the second grade, and endured several summer school sessions in order to proceed to the next grade. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in parenting, society | Comments (0)