Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021

The AmericanExperience: Palestiniansin the U.S.

KathleenChristison*

Withbetween 150,000 and 250,000 members, the Palestinian commu- nityin the accounts for only approximately 10percent of the twomillion-strong Arab-American community (numbers that also equal somethingless than 4 percentof the American Jewish community). No reliableimmigration or census figures exist for Palestinian Ameri- cans.Because the U.S. Immigrationand Naturalization Service has only rarelyrecognized "Palestinian" as a nationality,meaningful immigration statisticsare lacking. In the1980 census, the first in which respondents had an opportunityto list theirancestry, only 21,288 individualslisted Palestinian.1The PalestinianStatistical Abstract for 1983 lists 108,045 Palestiniansas livingin theU.S.,2 buteducated guesses by those active in Arab-Americanorganizations seem to fallin the200,000-400,000 range. The latterfigure is probablyhigh, but a rangecentering on the200,000 figureseems reasonable. Whatever the exactnumber, it is quitesmall comparedwith other ethnic minorities. IfPalestinian Americans are difficult to pinpoint numerically, they are anythingbut politically indistinct. A surveyof the Palestinian community in theU.S. indicatesthat, while first-generation Palestinian immigrants tendto makea rapidadjustment to Americansociety, they remain, to an unusualdegree among immigrant communities, highly conscious of and

*KathleenChristison worked as a politicalanalyst with the CIA from1964 to 1979and writesabout the MiddleEast. PALESTINIANAMERICANS 19 deeplyinvolved in the politics of their native land. Even more unusual, the American-bornsecond generation of also exhibits a highand growingdegree of political consciousness and ethnic pride. This politicalconsciousness tends to affectthe degreeof political Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 acculturationin thiscountry. America often demands more of itsimmi- grantsthan it doesof its native-born citizens. Unlike native-born Ameri- cans,immigrants must eschew criticism of anyaspect of the American systemor risk being thought ungrateful, and they must submerge interest in foreigncauses or riskbeing regarded as ofquestionable loyalty. Although manyimmigrants have achievedthis, for a greatmany Palestinians, submergingtheir political identity in orderto become"American" in this sensehas been impossible. To a greaterextent than is trueeven with the strictly defined refugee communitiesinthis country-who flee their countries, not voluntarily, but to escapepolitical oppression-large numbers of Palestinianstend to be herenot by political choice but simply because there is nowhereelse to go. Forthese Palestinians, becoming American is nota choicemade enthusi- asticallybut a passiveact, takenbecause there is no otheror no better alternative.Other refugees seem in generalnot to harbora lingering attachmentto theirhomelands to theextent Palestinians do-no doubt becausein ,Cuba, theSoviet Union, and othercountries from whichlarge numbers of refugees have fled to theU.S., foreignoccupation andalienation of land are not issues as theyare for Palestinians. Because thereis Palestinianland but no homeland,because that land is under foreignoccupation, and because Palestinians have refused to accedeto that occupationwithout some political compensation, there is fora greatmany Palestiniansa sense of incompletenessin the adoptionof any other homeland,a sense of something still to come that perpetuates the vision of a foreignhomeland and thereby differentiates them from other immigrant Americans. "BeingPalestinian changes your whole life," explains Norma Sayage, a SanFrancisco real estate agent born in the U.S. ofPalestinian parents who fledJaffa in 1948. It meansthat your whole life is circledaround this cause. It is circledaround gainingan identity.It's circled around becoming a personto everybodyelse. It changeswhat you want to study,what your daily schedule is. You wakeup in themorning and you think,"What can I do today?"Being Palestinian is first and foremostwith most Palestinians.3 The followingpreliminary study of Palestinian-Americanattitudes towardbeing American is basedon interviewswith seventy-two Palestin- 20 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES

iansin Los Angeles,San Francisco,Houston, Albuquerque, and Washing- ton, D.C. conductedbetween October 1987 and November1988. The interviewsubjects were chosen at random,largely through referrals from Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 otherinterviewees. Subjects include resident aliens as well as American citizens,in a ratioof slightly less than one to three.Most of the seventy-two intervieweesare immigrantsto the U.S.; onlyten wereborn and raisedin theU.S. or camehere at a veryearly age. Mostare also fromthe West Bank orGaza; onlytwenty-five are from areas of Palestine taken by in 1948. These includetwenty who fledor whosefamilies fled in 1948 and fivewho remainedin Israeland retainIsraeli citizenship. Of theten who grewup in the U.S., nine are fromWest Bank families.Locating women willing to offertheir views has been difficult;only fifteenof the total sample are women,all but threeof whomare fromthe West Bank. Eighteenof the seventy-twoare Christian.Ages in the sample range fromfifteen to sixty-eight. Assimilation

Assimilationis an internal,very individual process, and it is virtually impossibleto makegeneralizations about Palestinian-American adjustment to Americansociety. There is no correlationbetween Palestinian nation- alismand the degreeof assimilation.The bestPalestinian nationalists are not byany means the leastAmerican; nor are themost assimilated, or the completelyAmerican second generation, necessarily lacking an acutesense of beingPalestinian. Failure to. speak Arabic in the home, the abilityto speak unaccentedEnglish, marriageto a non-Arab,socializing with non-Arabsare all signsof assimilation, but they need not also indicatethe loss of a Palestinianidentity.

Alienation The degreeof Palestinianadaptation to Americansociety covers the spectrumfrom total alienation to totalembrace. Alienation is rare,but it is stillpossible to live in this countrywithout ever becominga part of it. Culturalalienation is moreoften the case withwomen, who, because of Arabcultural strictures, are often-perhapsusually-prevented from inte- gratingin Americansociety. Based on a studyof Muslim Palestinian women in Chicago, Louise Cainkarhas concludedthat because womenare the principalprotectors and transmittersof Palestinianculture, they are often deliberatelykept apart from the Americanmainstream. "Many Palestinian PALESTINIANAMERICANS 21 menand women fear that the entire familial foundation of the society will collapseif women focus their energies elsewhere than the family."4

Alienationis also often true of the elderly, who might come to the U.S. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 accompanyinggrown children who immigrate. These elderly immigrants mostoften live withtheir children, never learn English, do not work, dependon familyfor transportation, andsocialize only with family or other Palestinians."I think for the elderly people, it is very hard to get acquainted withAmerican society," says Nahil Abid, a youngSan Franciscogrocer fromthe West Bank town of Dayr Dibwan, who was himself born in the U.S. butgrew up in DayrDibwan and still identifies himself as primarilya Palestinian."We are very close, the Palestinians. But when you come here, youare isolated.It's differenthere. Everybody is not too close to each other."5 ManyPalestinians are harshlycritical of Americanmores. Qassem Khalil;a physicianin Los Angeles who arrived in 1986from medical school in Cairo,says he can neverbe whollyAmerican because he cannotaccept manyAmerican mores. "I can'tbe pure,"he says."To consideryourself an American,you should accept a lotof traditions. I can't accept a lotof them, so I can'tbe an American."A Muslimand unmarried, Khalil is opposedto the prevalenceof alcohol,sexual freedom, and divorcein American society."I don'tlike to raisemy kids here and havemy daughter have a boyfriend.No way.This is your dignity. That's the most major problem for AmericanPalestinians, to havekids in thiscountry."6 IbrahimM., anotherLos Angelesphysician, has evenless affinity for Americanculture and society.He is herefrom a WestBank town, still carryingan Israeliidentity card or hawiyyah,and will stay for as longas is necessaryto makehis fortuneand returnhome. He has an American passport,but it is a conveniencerather than a statementof allegiance. Askedwhat it meansto himto be an American,Ibrahim asks in turn, "Whatdo youmean by this question?" and when the question is rephrased, he repliessimply that it is goodto be an Americanbecause with a U.S. passport"you don't feel that you are a foreigner." Ibrahimsocializes almost exclusively with other Palestinians, largely thosefrom his hometown, and controls his children's friendships. He sends thechildren back to theWest Bank for schooling during what he callsthe dangerousage in theU.S., fromtwelve to sixteen, and his oldest son, who spentthe lasttwo years of highschool here, has no Americanfriends becauseIbrahim believes "this is what is going to change his mentality todo whateverhe wantsand do againsthis father."7 Such restrictions placed on 22 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES

Muslimgirls are not uncommonin thiscountry, but so controllinga boy's friendshipsis rare. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021

"100 PercentAmerican" The alienationevident in these examplesis not the norm,but few Palestinians,even of the second generation, can escape-or indeedwant to escape-the dualityof theiridentity as bothAmericans and Palestinians. Many PalestinianAmericans eat hamburgers,join Kiwanisand Rotary clubs, vote forRonald Reagan, servein the army,and root fora local baseballteam, but theystill, as Norma Sayage puts it, "wake up in the morningand think,'What can I do today?'" UnquestioningU.S. support forIsrael still makes them mad; the intifadahstill fills them with pride as a symbolof their own will to surviveas a people.Being 100 percentAmerican does not preventalso being,to someextent, Palestinian. Naim Assedis a Palestinianwho identifieshimself as bothan American and a Palestinian,but as an Americanfirst. He came to thiscountry as a seven-year-oldfrom Bayt Hanina on theWest Bankand grewup unableto separatebeing a Palestinianfrom being an American.At theage offourteen he marrieda girlfrom Bayt Hanina and broughther here. His fatherretired to theirhometown after himself growing up in the U.S., and the younger Assedhopes some day to retireto BaytHanina as well. At the sametime, Assed, who is knownto his Americanfriends and businesscolleagues as Norman,is active in businessand in local politicsin Albuquerque,, wherehe owns a jewelrystore, and may be describedas the consummateextroverted American politician. He is on a first-namebasis withthe Albuquerque mayor, as wellas withseveral other officials in local Democraticpolitics. Much of his involvementin politics is directedat promotingthe Palestiniancause. Assed is a memberof the executivecommittee of the American-ArabAnti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and was a dele- gate forJesse Jackson at the 1988 Democraticconvention, one of eight Palestinian-Americandelegates.8 He was urgedto runfor the positionof local countyDemocratic party chairman, but refusedbecause "I was involvedin thisone issue,and I thinkit would be unfairto be chairmanand representeverybody." Assed is convincedthat working within the Amer- ican politicalsystem is one of the bestways of advancingthe Palestinian cause. "I knowit's hard," he acknowledges,"like a dropin a bigocean right now, buthonestly, it can be done. I believein the system."9 PALESTINIANAMERICANS 23

A manlike Assed cannot really distinguish where being Palestinian leavesoff and beingAmerican begins, and he is representativeof large numbersof Palestinian Americans who are completely at ease withtheir Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 dualidentity and who regard the two aspects of that identity as mutually supportive. HazemMonsour is anotherPalestinian like this.His fatherwas an Americancitizen who began coming to theU.S. in the 1920sfrom his nativeWest Bank village of Dayr Dibwan and alternated working here for a fewyears with returning to DayrDibwan for a fewyears. When the youngerMonsour was born, his father registered him at theU.S. consulate inJerusalem as an Americancitizen. Monsour has lived in theU.S. since 1956,when he arrivedas a teenager.At thetime, he andhis family called themselvesSyrians rather than Palestinians, a late but not unusual holdover fromthe pre-World War I periodwhen all immigrantsfrom Lebanon, Syria, andPalestine were called )yrian. Monsour,like Naim Assed, owns a jewelrystore in Albuquerque and is activein the community. He servesas a deputyon thelocal reserve sheriff's force.After more than thirty years here, Monsour, who goes by the name Mikeamong his American friends, feels like an American.But he stillhas familyin DayrDibwan, is marriedto a womanfrom Dayr Dibwan, has sent each of his childrenback to theWest Bank for schooling, and travels aroundthe U.S. speakingon behalfof the Palestinian cause for the ADC. WhenMonsour retumed to Dayr Dibwan in April 1984 for a visitto his mother,he was arrestedby the Israelis, imprisoned for three weeks, and tortured.No chargeswere ever brought, and he was releasedapparently only becauseof the interventionof his congressmanand senator.10 Monsour'sreaction to theordeal provides a striking example of the duality thatmost Palestinians feel about their American versus their Palestinian identity.Monsour approached his trip to theWest Bank, his first in overa decade,as an American,with an Americanmentality. "I forgot that I was bornthere," he explains,

andfor a momentwhen I wentback, I thoughtof the American due process of law.I neverin mylife thought that they will do whatthey did to me,on the groundthat I wasinnocent-, I never done a doggonething other than shoot my mouthhere and there and articulate my thought as an Americancitizen, just usingthe First Amendment and my rights as an American.

Buthe reactedas a Palestinian."I feltthe nationalism more so thanat anyother time in mylife," he says."I thinkI wouldbe lyingif I toldyou thatI didnot get involved emotionally to thepoint where I feltlike I'm 24 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES moreof a Palestinianthan an Americanwhen I was in prison.""1That renewedPalestinian consciousness has not lefthim, but he againthinks of himselfas an Americanfirst. "This is myhome, this is mycountry. I am an Americanby choice," he saysnow. Here,he can bothbe an Americanand Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 a Palestinian.12 Despite the complaintsof some conservativePalestinians that it is difficultor impossibleto raisechildren according to traditionalstandards in America,many parents do give theirchildren a fairlystrict upbringing withoutdiluting their Americanness. Naim Assed had a Muslimupbringing in Dearborn,Michigan. Omar Kader, formerexecutive director of the ADC, grewup in a Muslimhousehold in Utah in the 1940s and 1950s. Kaderrecalls once in highschool being accompanied home by a malefriend and, becausehe had a sisterat home, askingthe friendto wait outside. When the friendcame in anyway,saw the sister,and commentedthat he had not knownKader had a sister,Kader responded,"It's none of your businessthat I have a sister."He recountsthe storynow with some bemusementbut recallsthat at the timehis reactionwas automatic,the ingrainedresponse of a Muslimman protectingfemale family members. Kaderis also, however,thoroughly American, and whenhis father took himback at age eighteento thefamily home in Shu'faton theWest Bank and arrangeda marriagewith his firstcousin, Kader backed out. His father was tryingto "regenerate"the family, he says,after four older brothers had scatteredin the states,but "I couldn'tmarry her. I couldn'teven let him readthe engagement ceremony." Kader credits his upbringing,though, and thevalues instilled by his traditionalparents for helping him succeed when he returnedto the U.S. alone and withonly $20 in his pocket.It was not a matterof pullinghimself up by his bootstraps,he says;"I inheriteda wonderfultradition of Utah Palestinian."13 Maintaininga traditionalhousehold is possibleeven in the 1980s. Nawal Hamad, an Arlington,Virginia bank vice president,has givenher fivechildren a Muslimupbringing. None of the threegirls has everbeen allowedto date,go to parties,or wearshort skirts or sleevelessdresses. Two of the girlsare now marriedto men, whom she had a large hand in selecting,from Hamad's hometownof al-Birah.The boys, over whom Hamadcannot exercise as close control,are not allowedto bringgirls into the house. "We were differentfrom everybody," says Fadwa Hasan, the youngestdaughter, matter-of-factly, and even now thatshe is marriedand working,she encounterspeople who "can't believeI was bornand raised hereand I reallyfollow my religion." The olderson, Nader, now nineteen, sayshe had a "rebelliousperiod" five or six yearsago whenhe chafedunder PALESTINIANAMERICANS 25 therestrictions. But the family is obviouslyquite close and affectionate; noneof the children seems to be resentful,and all feelfree to discusstheir upbringingin frontof theirmother, even to teaseher about her strict enforcementofrules. None givesthe impression ofbeing alienated; each Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 comesacross as atonce completely American-as much so as anyAmerican ofnon-Muslim, non-Arab background-and completely Palestinian. 14

In theMiddle Thereis a vastmiddle ground of Palestinians between the alienated and thefully adjusted, who are reasonably comfortable inthe U.S. butregard it as a kindof temporary stop on theway to a fullPalestinian identity. Within thismiddle area, the rangeof commitmentto the U.S. is great;the symbolismofan Americanpassport varies widely, as do thedegree of social adjustmentand the perception of ethnic and political discrimination faced here.One encounters,for instance, Palestinians who feelcomfortable socializingonly with other Palestinians but who regardthemselves as sociallywell-adapted to theU.S. or,on theother hand, Palestinians who socializeeasily with non-, even sometimes count no Arabsamong theirclose friends, but who refuse to take out American citizenship because theycannot make a fullcommitment to the U.S. Somecan separatetheir policydifferences with the govemment from other aspects of their Ameri- canness;others cannot. Some are sensitive to politicaldiscrimination, to beingautomatically associated, for instance, with terrorism simply because theyare Palestinians; others can shrug it off as oflittle consequence to their integrationinto American society. Not a fewPalestinians openly identify themselves as Palestinianfirst. RafiqT. is a grocerin San Franciscowho came to this country from Nablus in1969 to study business administration, intending toreturn after obtaining a degreeto help runhis family'sbusiness. Israeli officials allowed his hawiyyahto expirewhile he was herestudying, however, and he has repeatedlybeen refusedpermission even to visit.He and his wifethus considerthemselves American by necessity, not by choice. "But that is not to saythat we do notparticipate," he notes."Just by being here, we mix, we paytaxes, we vote,we speakthe language, we aretaking part in the socialculture-in social aspects that do notnegate the fact that we are Palestiniansfirst. "15 Othershandle similar situations differently. Samir Ashrawi, a Houston chemist,also lost his hawiyyah while a studentat theUniversity ofTexas. He is an Americancitizen but, unlike Rafiq, he is acutelysensitive to 26 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES

chargesof dual loyaltyand bristleswhen asked whether he feelsmore Americanor morePalestinian. "Palestinians here have both gained and

given,"he pointsout. "Whatever they have taken in termsof opportunity, Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 in termsof education, I venture to say they are very productive citizens."'16 Some Palestiniansreconcile this dualityby not fullycommitting themselvesto theU.S. Abdur-RahimJaouni, a Berkeleygeochemist, has beenhere since 1972 but does not intendto becomea citizen.He also, however,scoffs at the notionof, forinstance, socializing only with Palestiniansand sayshe wouldnot necessarilyreturn to live in an independentPalestinian state. 17 SamiraF., a San Franciscolibrarian, lived in thiscountry for over thirty years on a greencard after her family fled Jerusalemin 1948. She didnot become an Americancitizen until 1986, in partbecause she wanted to be ableto vote for Jesse Jackson in 1988,but in largemeasure because she began to fearthe Reagan administration. "I felt somedaythey're going to roundpeople up andput them in concentration camps,so maybehaving citizenship is better than not having citizenship." Atthe same time, she has become comfortable enough here, largely because her childrenare American-bomand whollyadapted, that she would probablynot returnto live if an independentPalestinian state were established.18 NajatArafat Khelil, a nuclearphysicist in theWashington, D.C. area originallyfrom Nablus, has not become a citizen,but considers it vitalfor Palestiniansto workwithin the American system for the Palestinian cause. She hasgiven up herown work in thefield of nuclear physics and spends allher time as chairof two Arab/Palestinian women's organizations. Despite notbeing a citizen,she worked hard for Jesse Jackson's campaign last year andis a nationalboard member of the Rainbow Coalition. "I tryto kindof softenthe factthat I'm here,"she says,"to use mypresence by doing somethingfor the cause. Otherwise, there's no wisdomin mebeing here. Otherwise,it wouldbe a doubleexile." Khelilexpresses the sentiments ofa greatmany Palestinians in theU.S. whocan adjustto Americansociety, but in theabsence of a Palestinian statecannot make a fullpolitical commitment to the United States. She feelsso stronglyabout the Palestinian cause, she says,

thatI feelI don'twant to identifyin anyother way. But maybe if I wasa full-bloodedJordanian, I might not feel this way, because I wouldhave it [a stateand an identity]and takeit forgranted. But when I don'thave it, it's somethingmissing in my life. I feelI cannotidentify with any other part of the worlduntil I getmy full identity first as a Palestinian.Then I wouldsay, "Okay, PALESTINIANAMERICANS 27

I'm an American."Because the other identity would be there,clear, settled withinme, and I'm satisfied with it. 19

Khelil'sbelief in the American system, despite an inabilityto commit to Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 Americafully, is fairly typical of the vast middle ground of Palestinians who areneither wholly alienated nor fully adapted to American society. Despite theirfrustration with the specifics of U.S. MiddleEast policy, all butthe mostdecidedly alienated express appreciation for American freedoms, particularlythe right to speakout against an officialpolicy, and indicate a beliefthat individual participation in the system, whether through voting or writingletters to congressmenor working in Arab-Americanorganiza- tions,can havean impact,however slight. They recognize the benefits of usingthe system to tryto changethe system. An unusuallylarge number of Palestinians vote in American elections. Of thenaturalized citizens who responded to a recentpoll of Palestinian Americans,fully 58 percentsaid they vote20; only 52-53 percentof the generalAmerican population of votingage have exercisedthat right in recentpresidential elections. "I feelevery little bit helps," Najat Arafat Kehlilsays. "Anyone who says it's not going to helpis justgiving himself an excusefor not doing anything. Just like the saying in Arabic that says the dropof watereventually will put a hole in the rock.And it will. "21

Discrimination A surprisingnumber of PalestinianAmericans say theyhave never directlyencountered ethnic discrimination, and most seem not to regardit as a verylarge problem. Many do describe,however, a sense of being made tofeel foreign, often from subtle, unspoken barriers placed by native-born Americans.Mohammad Busailah, a retiredReynolds Tobacco executive in LosAngeles who has been in the U.S. since1957, feels this. "I don'tfit 100 percentwith this society," he laments. WhenI camehere, I cameto be an American.But [they say], "No, youare Arab."No, I'mnot, I'm an American.I'm a veteran,I have the right to vote, I servedin juries, but yet I'm not accepted by the society. I want to assimilate, butI can't.I don'tlike to see it thatway. When you are an American,you shouldbe an American.22 "I wouldlike to be ableto wearmy ethnicity on mysleeve," says the Houstonchemist, Samir Ashrawi, taking a slightlydifferent tack, "and I wouldlike to have the freedom to fail, as wellas thefreedom to excel."He wouldlike, in otherwords, to be able to be botha Palestinianand an 28 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES

American,expected to achieveno moreor no less than any other American.But American society cannot tolerate such nuances. "You get putinto that position where, if you excel-'Oh, thosedamn foreigners, Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 theystudy too hard'-and if you fail-'Well, they're dumb anyway.' " Many experiencethese barriers as politicalprejudice-a sense of politicalenmity and a feelingthat they must compete with Israel for America'saffections-which is every bit as painfulas ethnicprejudice, and generallymuch more common. "Your word is suspect,"says Ashrawi. It is labeled. You feel that even some of the people born Anglo-Saxon Americanwho are yourfriends, when it comesto who youare-and theylike you as a person,they really do-but because of all theyhear fromtheir government,from all theyhear in the papers,they have thisone barrier.I've had it said to me, "We likeyou, but we don'tlike your people." My reaction to that is, what am I withoutmy people? What I'm lookingfor is not just personalacceptance, because my personis to a greatextent determined by whereI came from. Ashrawifeels that the dual loyalty issue is part of this ever-present need to compete."I don'tthink we have a loyaltyproblem," he asserts."It's thrustupon us as a litmustest." The loyaltyquestion is thrownup to Palestiniansby the American tendency to judgethem only in relationto Israel."It's not an Americanlitmus test; it's not a questionof whether we knowthe Constitution orcan recite the Pledge of Allegiance with comfort. I'msure we couldall do that.It's a foreignpolicy test."23 Thispolitical non-acceptance affects Palestinians differently-some are lesssensitive to it, most do notlet it affect their daily lives-but it seems to be thereto somedegree for everyone. It can oftencreate a kindof painful internalparadox. Hasan B., forinstance, who has been in thiscountry for thirtyyears, explains that he feelshe cannotfit in here as muchas he would like,but at thesame time, he hascome to appreciateAmerican freedoms to suchan extentthat he alsodoes not fit in in theArab world. "When I go overthere," he says,"I cannotstay because I knowI'm losingmy freedom.Maximum I can staythere is two,three weeks, then I have to comeback." But when he returnshere, he findshimself again confronted withAmerican barriers and he wantsto be backin theArab world, where beinga Palestinianis not so muchof a problem."So I'm tortured,"he concludes.24 ThePolitical Issue Rarelyin theU.S. doesattachment to a foreignor parental birthplace translateinto political nationalism. But this is decidelynot thecase for PALESTINIANAMERICANS 29

Palestinians.For the veryreason that thereis no sovereignPalestinian state,Palestinian Americans tend to be acutelyconscious of the Palestinian problemin all its aspects,and it is virtuallyimpossible to be a Palestinian Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 in Americawithout also beingpolitical about it. Politicalorganizers in theU.S. complainabout the degree of participa- tionamong Palestinians here. Najat ArafatKhelil, the Washington, D.C. activist,often has difficultygenerating active participationin women's organizationsbecause women usually are not active unless their husbands or fathersare active.She frequentlyencounters women who will not even fill out a membershipapplication until they have shownit to theirhusbands.25 But a distinctionmust be madebetween political activism and political consciousness.Most PalestinianAmericans, like mostAmericans in gen- eral,are not politicallyactive; the vastmajority do not attendlocal ADC functionsor participatein demonstrationsor even writeletters to their congressmen.At the same time, it is rare to finda Palestinianwho is ignorantof the origins of the Palestinian problem or unaware of the political issuesinvolved in the Arab-Israeliconflict. Hisham D., a Los Angeles liquorstore owner, is typical.Although too busywith his businessand too cautiousabout his security to takeactive part in Arab-Americanpolitics, he can cite the dates,circumstances, and outcomesof everyArab-Israeli war and everyPalestinian massacre over the lastforty years. Hishamand his wifelive theirPalestinianness, but in theprivacy of the family.They taketheir three young daughters to Arabicclasses at a nearby mosqueand talkabout sending them to theWest Bankfor schooling "just to makethem feel how does itfeel to be a Palestinian."Hisham's wife wants to have at leasttwo more children to helppreserve the Palestinian people. "If I wasn'tPalestinian," she says,"I probablywould be happywith two children.Now I thinkI wantto have morebecause I thinkmaybe when my childrengrow up, theywill have fivekids and we willnever disappear. "26 This kind of non-active,but acute individualpolitical consciousness is pervasivein the Palestiniancommunity in the U.S. PalestinianAmericans tend to be more active in churchor mosque groupsand social organizations,particularly town associations,than in explicitlypolitical organizations, but it is difficultto drawthe line between the social and the politicalor to say with any certaintythat a social gatheringis not by its veryoccurrence a politicalstatement. Researchers whohave studied Palestinian diaspora communities in theArab world have concludedthat the familynetworks and village ties that held pre-1948 Palestiniansociety together have continuedto functionin thediaspora and thatindeed these networks, along with a widearray of popular organizations 30 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES formedafter 1948 specificallyto bringthe diasporatogether, have ac- countedfor the Palestinians' political survival. "Without the family and otherbasic social relationships," one researcherconcludes, "Palestinian Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 societywould have been totally fragmented and almostnonexistent after 1948."27 Survival has also required, according to another researcher, "a new frameworkcapable of mobilizing a once unified, now scattered people to reasserttheir identity and national rights," and this has taken the form of a varietyof sociopoliticalorganizations of students,women, laborers, teachers,and so on.28 Familyand village networks and sociopolitical institutions also operate in theU.S. and serveto forgea commonpolitical identity. The gradual politicizationofthe American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine which has 20,000-25,000members in the U.S., illustratesthe growingpolitical consciousnessof the Palestiniancommunity as a whole.29According to GeorgeSalem, who grewup in the Ramallahcommunity in Jacksonville, Florida,and servedas Solicitorof Laborin the Reagan administration,in the 1950sand early1960s the community did nothave a broadPalestinian identity."It was moreof a villageconsciousness," he says."We knewwe were fromRamallah; we didn't reallyknow whetherit was Jordanor Palestineor what."30The majorfocus, according to Susan Ziadeh of the Arab-AmericanInstitute, daughter of noted Islamic scholar and Ramallan FarhatZiadeh, was originallyon Ramallansin theU.S. ratherthan on the Palestinianproblem as a whole.31 The awarenessof beingPalestinian rather than Ramallanand of the Palestinianissue as somethingbroader than the Ramallahcommunity in Americadid not come untilthe mid-1960swith the formation of the PLO and theIsraeli occupation. Nonetheless, the close ties among the Ramallah communityon a sociallevel, and theformation of the Ramallah federation in 1958, servedto sustaina distinctethnic identityamong Ramallans scatteredthroughout the U.S. that laterformed the basis fora political identity.The communityhas tendedfrom the beginningto be somewhat insular.George Salem grewup withthirteen Ramallah families within a three-blockradius of his house. He recallsthat his parentstried, unsuc- cessfully,to discouragehim from running for student council president in high school because it indicatedhe was "becomingtoo much of an American."The Ramallahfederation was formedlargely so that young peoplecould meetother Ramallans and "continuethe lineage,"and there are dabkahtroupes and youthclubs within the federationto bringyoung peopletogether.32 A majorityof youngRamallans still marries within the community. PALESTINIANAMERICANS 31

Thereis stillsome argument over how explicitly political such organi- zationsshould be. Someof the old guard of the Ramallah federation, who, accordingto GeorgeSalem, tended to resistpoliticization in the 1950s Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 preciselybecause the situation at homewas so political,3still insist on the organization'sprimarily social cast. But politics have intervened inevitably. The word"Palestine" was added to thefederation's name in the1970s-a clearpolitical statement; Samir Totah, a Berkeleypharmacist, was selected severalyears ago to serve on thePalestine National Council because he was presidentof the federation; and lastyear the federation later elected two othermembers, Salameh Zanayed from Chicago and HannaAjluni from Detroit,to servetwo-year terms on the PNC beginningwith its next session.34 "The natureof being Palestinian means you are political," says Fuad Mogannam,a leaderof theRamallah community in San Francisco.If a Palestiniandenies being political, he says,"nobody's going to allowit. The factthat you are makes you political."35 Any organization that specifically drawsPalestinians together for whatever purpose, even if nominally social, can no longerbe thoughtof as merelya familyor village affair. TheSecond Generation The conventionalwisdom about the American-born children of immi- grantshas always held that they reject their parents' ethnicity in theireffort tobe whollyAmerican. However, this generally tends not to be truewith Palestinianyoung people. There are obvious exceptions: some young people cannotdeal withthe politicalstigma that often accompanies being a Palestinianin thiscountry; some push their Palestinian consciousness into thebackground inthe press of trying to succeed in business and integrate in society;and some simply cannot handle the burden of balancing both an Americanand a Palestinianidentity. The majorityof second-generation PalestinianAmericans generally are able,however, to handletheir dual identitiescomfortably. This is so fortwo principal reasons-the increasing ethnicconsciousness in Americansociety as a resultof growingethnic diversitythroughout the country,and the heightenedvisibility of the Palestinianstruggle as a politicalissue. Thevery tendency in America to categorizeby ethnic background that MohammadBusailah, the retired tobacco executive, complained kept him fromtruly integrating into American society has also tendedto ease the burdenof ethnicityfor American-born Palestinians. Nader Hasan, the nineteen-year-oldson of theArlington banker Nawal Hamad, says that 32 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES amonghis friends "everybody's looking to wheretheir heritage is." Roots havebecome important toyoung people now and, according to Hasan, "it's sortof prestigious"to be able to speaka languageother than English.36 Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 Othersconfirm this tendency. "This country is moretruly pluralist than it usedto be," MuhammadHallaj, a widelyknown commentator and editor ofPalestine Perspectives, believes: Americansociety now acceptsmore than before the idea thatthere's nothing wrongwith people holdingon to the memoriesand the heritagethat they broughtwith them to thiscountry. So you don't have thatcompulsion with [second]-generationAmericans to provethat they'reAmerican by shedding theirparents' identity. It's whymy children don't have thatproblem. They're not tryingto proveanything to anybody.37 To a surprisingdegree, according to thetestimony ofboth immigrant parentsand American-born children, balancing two identities has not been a burdenfor the American-born.38 Most parents seem to make an effortnot toforce feed Palestinian culture to their children but to allow them to make theirown choices. This is particularlytrue with those who are married to Americansof non-Arabancestry (just underone-third of the married intervieweesin this sample have non-Arab spouses), but even where both parentsare Palestinian, there seems to be an awarenessthat the children are growingup in a non-Palestinianculture and must adjust to it evenif they maintaina Palestinianconsciousness. "I wasraised to be in themiddle," says Hanan T., thesixteen-year-old San Francisco-borndaughter of parentsfrom Nablus and Bethlehem, "betweenthose who totally reject the fact that they're Palestinian and those who are so totallyinvolved that they don't fit in here."Reflecting her parents'sentiments, Hanan considers herself a Palestiniannationalist and identifiesas a Palestinianfirst, but she is also totally an American.Her best friendsat schoolare non-Arab, she takes part in extracurricularactivities and,when asked if she would like to livein Palestinein an independent state,she is surprisedbecause she has never thought about it.39 SusanZiadeh of the Arab-American Institute believes that for Pales- tinianAmericans the "sense of ethnicity is so importantthat their need to passit on totheir children isprobably a little bit more heightened than with otherpeoples." But it is equallyimportant, Ziadeh believes, not to forceit on thechildren. Her parents, both from Ramallah, didn'timpose things on us, theyjust taughtus to enjoythose aspects of our culturethat were important. The identitycame to growon us becausewe liked Arabicmusic, we likedArabic food, we likeddressing up in Arabiccostumes whenthere was somethingat school. PALESTINIANAMERICANS 33

The childrenwere also encouragedto participatewith other non-Arab Americansin variousyouth activities, in which"you interact with young peoplewho are purelyAmerican, in a purelyAmerican setting, with Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 Americanobjectives." It isfoolish, Ziadeh believes, to "raise a childtotally alienatedfrom his own environment, because eventually he hasto interact withthat environment."40 NawalHamad's experience with her five children gives a strikingpicture of how, at least superficially,differences in upbringingcan produce differencesin outlook. Hamad was divorced and forced to go towork when heryoungest child, Nael, was three. With the other children old enough to be inschool, Nael, now sixteen, was the only one placed in nursery school. As a result,he likespeanut butter and jelly and drinks milk, while the other childrenhave neverbecame accustomed to either.The otherchildren understandArabic, but to Nael "it'snoise." In addition,because Hamad wasbusy with multiple jobs, she never had as muchchance to familiarize Nael withhis Palestinianheritage. The otherchildren, she says,"had a feelingof beingPalestinian" because they had stayedat homewith her beforethey started school. Ironically,the Israelis succeeded in raising Nael's Palestinian conscious- ness.In July1987, Hamad took four of the five children to al-Birah,but Israeliofficials refused the family entry, held them at Ben-Gurionairport for twelvehours, and without explanation or compensationreturned them to theU.S. Naelhas been acutely aware of being a Palestinianever since. The otherswere also remindedthat no Palestiniancan lose that identity altogether."When I'd sayI'm an American,"Nael's brother Nader says, "I usedto think big." But, despite being born and raised here, in Israel because "myname is different,I have a differentbackground, they spit on my passport."41 The intifadahhas also had a markedconsciousness-raising effect among Palestinianyoungsters in this country. At theheight of television coverage of the uprising,countless parents found teenaged children who usually neverwatched anything but MTV wanderingin duringnews broadcasts to observetheir West Bank-Gaza peers fighting Israeli soldiers. Fuad Mogan- nam,who has been in San Franciscofor over forty years, believes that becauseof the prominence ofthe Palestinian issue in thenews, both before andsince the intifadah, his five children, now grown, are "more Palestinian thanI am."42Israeli Palestinian poet and authorFouzi El-Asmar keeps a picturein hisWashington office of his ten-year-old American-born daugh- terholding several stones during a visit last year to an auntin Israel. "I want herto feelthat she's American," he says.43And she does, but the picture 34 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES recordingher solidarity with young West Bank stone-throwers shows her to be verymuch a Palestinianas well. GhassanBishara, Washington correspondent forthe Jerusalem newspa- peral-Fajr, finds that the Palestinians' diminished use of terrorism has made Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 it easierfor Palestinian-American youngsters to identify with their Pales- tinianheritage. Now, he says,for the past few years and particularly since theintifadah, Palestinians are more often portrayed in the American press as guerrillasrather than terrorists, not desirous of throwing Israelis into the sea butmerely of having a stateof their own, and youngAmericans can identifywith that goal. The effecthas been obviouson Bishara'sown twelve-year-olddaughter. "There isn't that reason for my daughter or for otherPalestinian daughters to shyaway from the factthat theyare Palestinians.My daughter doesn't mind it at all. She bragsabout it."44 Conclusion Whateverthe changingtrends, Palestinians still often face ethnic prejudiceand political stereotyping; they have been the object-although neverthe perpetrators-of terrorist attacks, most notably in theassassina- tionof Los Angeles ADC officialAlex Odeh in 1985;and many have been singledout for investigation bythe FBI or other government agencies for no betterreason than that they are Palestinian. The 1987arrest in Los Angeles ofseven Palestinian resident aliens and the Kenyan wife of one ofthem, whocame to be knownas theL.A. Eight,on chargesof belonging to a subversiveorganization undoubtedly raised doubts in the mindof every PalestinianAmerican about the safety and constitutionalrights of Pales- tiniansin thiscountry. Palestinianshave reacted to theseincidents, however, with consider- ableaplomb. Able to recognize that government harassment when it occurs is an abuserather than the norm, able stillto appreciatethe American systemdespite severe disagreement with American policies, and able to focuson favorablechanges in theAmerican attitude rather than dwell on examplesof discrimination,Palestinian Americans generally have a re- markablyhealthy attitude. Discrimination can alwaysbe foundby those wholook for it, and Palestinians seem not to lookfor it. In anycase, when theydo encounterit, they seem to dealwith it withoutparanoia. At thesame time, the difficulties the U.S. has posedfor Palestinians have servedto reinforcetheir sense of beingPalestinian. Adults and children,immigrants and theAmerican-born are all acutelyconscious of and takeimmense pride in theirheritage. This is as muchthe resultof PALESTINIANAMERICANS 35 officialAmerican non-acceptance of Palestiniansas a people as it is the resultof positivePalestinian accomplishments like the intifadah. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021

1. Censusof Population: Supplementary Report: 13. Interviewwith Omar Kader in Alexandria, Ancestryof the Populationby State: 1980 VA, 25 October1988. (Washington:U.S. Departmentof Com- 14. Interviewwith Nawal Hamad, Fadwa merce,Bureau of the Census, 1983), 21. Hasan, Nader Hasan, and Nael Hasan in 2. PalestinianStatistical Abstract for 1983 Fairfax,VA, 22 October1988. (Damascus: PalestinianCentral Bureau of 15. Interviewwith Rafiq T. in San Francisco, StatisticTs,1984), citedin LaurieA. Brand, CA, 17 April 1988. Palestiniansin the Arab World:Institution 16. Interviewwith Samir Ashrawi in Houston, Buildingand theSearch for State (New York: TX, 22 February1988. ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1988), 9. 17. Interviewwith Abdur-RahimJaouni in 3. Interviewwith Norma Sayage in Daly City, Berkeley,CA, 15 March 1988. CA, 21 April 1988. 18. Interviewwith Samira F. in Palo Alto, CA, 4. Louise Cainkar, "PalestinianWomen in 20 April 1988. the UnitedStates: Coping with Tradition, 19. Interviewwith Najat ArafatKhelil in Po- Change, and Alienation,"Ph.D. Disserta- tomac,MD, 17 October1988. tion (Evanston:Northwestern University, 20. Surveyconducted by Pat El-Nazer,Kenne- 1988), 136. saw College, Atlanta, Georgia, cited in 5. Interviewwith Nahil Abid in Daly City, Fouad Moughrabi,"Palestinian-American CA, 21 April 1988. Opinion:Enviable Unanimity," The Wash- 6. Interviewwith Qassem Khalil in Los An- ingtonReport on Affairs 7, no. 10 geles,CA, 8 June1988. (February1989): 19. 7. Interviewwith IbrahimM. in Baldwin 21. Khelil interview. Park,CA, 12 December1987. 22. Interviewwith Mohammad Busailah in 8. One Palestinian American delegate at- Glendale,CA, 9 June1988. tendedthe 1988 Republicanconvention. 23. Ashrawiinterview. Informationfrom Susan Ziadeh, Arab- 24. Interviewwith Hasan B. in Los Angeles, AmericanInstitute, Washington, DC, in CA, 10 June1988. phoneconversation, 29 July1988. 25. Khelil interview. 9. Interviewwith Naim Assed in Albuquer- 26. Interviewwith Hisham and Laila D. in que, NM, 9 August1988. Walnut,CA, 14 December1987. 10. Fora detailedaccount of Monsour's impris- 27. ShafeeqN. Ghabra,Palestinians in Kuwait: onment,see JohnP. Egan, "An American The Family and the Politicsof Survival Testimonyfrom an IsraeliPrison: The Case (Boulder,CO: WestviewPress, 1987), 169. ofMike Monsour," Journal of Palestine Stud- 28. Brand,Palestinians in theArab World, 221. ies 14, no. 1 (Fall 1984): 118-25. 29. The American Federationof Ramallah, 11. In an interviewimmediately following his Palestineis the largestof manyorganiza- release,Monsour called himself "a Palestin- tions in the U.S. that representPalestin- ian firstand foremost."See Ibid., 124. ian, particularlyWest Bank, towns.There 12. Interviewwith Hazem Monsourin Albu- are organizationsfor the West Bank towns querque,NM, 22 October1987. of Dayr Dibwan, Bayt Hanina, Bir Zayt, 36 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES

and others.Qaluniya, among other villages societies." Their enforcedisolation from destroyedin 1948, has a worldwidevillage Americansociety as a resultof theirtradi- network,of which the Americancompo- tional upbringingkeeps themoutside the

nent,based primarily in Chicago,is a small Americanmainstream, while at the same Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/18/4/18/161399/2537495.pdf by Oregon State University, [email protected] on 01 May 2021 part.Villagers and descendantsfrom Saris, timemembers of the immigrant community also destroyedin 1948, meet annuallyin see themas "culturallydeficient" (Cainkar, PalestinianWomen, 168-9). Cainkar'sfind- Amman;and so on. ingis so muchat oddswith the impressions 30. Telephone interviewwith George Salem, gainedfrom other cities for this study that it 29 October1988. mustbe concludedthat the differencein 31. Interviewwith Susan Ziadeh in Washing- second-generationChicago women arises ton, D.C., 19 October1988. primarilybecause the Chicago Palestinian 32. Salem interview. communityis markedlydifferent from those 33. Ibid. in otherAmerican cities in its socio-eco- 34. Interviewswith Salameh Zanayedin Chi- nomic level, its educationallevel, its ten- cago, IL, 13 February1989, and Hanna dency to clusterin Palestinianneighbor- Ajluni in Detroit,MI, 23 March 1989. hoods, and thereforeits generallevel of 35. Interviewwith Fuad Mogannam in San integrationin Americansociety-all phe- Francisco,CA, 15 April 1988. nomena confirmedin conversationwith 36. Hamad-Hasaninterview. Palestinians.There is also, of course, as shownby Cainkar, a cleardifference in the 37. Interviewwith Muhammad Hallaj in Fair- wayPalestinian men and womenare raised fax,VA, 21 October1988. in thiscountry that affects their respective 38. Louise Cainkar'sresearch among Palestin- levelsof adaptation,but thisdifference too ian womenin Chicagoshows this not to be wouldappear to be accentuatedin Chicago. for second-genera- the case American-born 39. Interviewwith Hanan T. in San Francisco, tion womenin thatcity. Muslim Palestin- CA, 17 April 1988. ian girlsborn in thiscountry and raisedin 40. Ziadeh interview. Chicago, Cainkarshows, "face many chal- 41. Hamad-Hasaninterview. lengesmediating the American culture they 42. Mogannaminterview. identifywith and the Palestinianculture to 43. Interviewwith Fouzi El-Asmar in Washing- which their comiplianceis expected. By ton, DC, 20 October1988. adulthood,they find themselves marginal 44. Interviewwith Ghassan Bisharain Wash- membersof both American and Palestinian ington,DC, 26 October1988.