In the “Age of Terror” information can either lessen or increase our fear. When it comes to the Middle East, Palestine, and the War on Terror, infromation portals like Electronic Intifada (EI) have been attempting to educate people, in particular Arab Americans, about the side of the coin the Bush Administration doesn’t want anyone to see.
EI is a powerful blend of news and analysis. The website also features a strong Arts and Culture section. It is believed to have been pivotal in shaping an increased sense of cultural diversity amongst members of the Arab American community since 9/11.
Exhibitions like the Arab American National Museum’s 2005 Invisible have reflected this identity by curating artworks with a subtle, or not so subtle, emphasis on how Arab-American artists have “engaged in redefining their relationship with the geopolitical environment and the forces that are shaping their world.”
Post 9/11 is there undue pressure on Arab-American artists to create work that is in some way politically charged?
For many Arab-Americans that’s a mute point.
Los Angeles rappers Omar Offendum and Ragtop (aka Omar Chakaki and Nizar Wattad) have been touring nationwide to promote the launch of their new album “Free the P”, the ‘P’ in this case standing for Palestine. The rappers are at the forefront of a burgeoning hip-hop movement featuring the lyrics of Arab-American rappers. Interviewed earlier this year, Chakaki said, “If you’re growing up Arab, politics are very important, because they affect every level of your life in many different ways.”
Mayida Zaal, a 27-year-old design student, agrees: “They [Omar Offendum and Ragtop] are very political but that is part of who we are,” he said. Neither Chakaki or Wattad are out to insult their home country but they are voicing the concerns and difficulties experienced by family members in places like Palestine. It’s a voice of American consciousness speaking from within. The question is, who’s listening?
Most of the rapper’s fans are also of Arab-American decent. This may not be surprising given the in-your-face style adopted by the performers, who perform in both English and Arabic. Still, they hope to broaden their fan base to include people beyond the Arab-American community.
Reaching out to “ordinary” Americans has also been a key aim for the Network of Arab-American Professionals of New York (NAAP-NY), which recently announced the launch of a new radio show on NYC’s WBAI radio station. The show, “Fen Mejnoon with Dean and Maysoon” (“Crazy Art with Dean and Maysoon”), puts the spotlight on Arab-American artists.
Dean and Maysoon are two of New York’s most prominent comedians. They also happen to be Arab Americans.
The shows co-hosts are also the co-founders and producers of The NY Arab-American Comedy Festival. Since 2003 the festival has managed to put a humourous slant on Arab stereotypes, the War on Terror, and suicide bombers. Like the much stiffer Arab American Institute, one of the aims of the festival and of its founders is undoubtedly to bring the concerns of the Arab American community out in the open, and then crack jokes about them until they don’t seem so threatening. The reviews for last year’s festival indicate they’re on the right track.
Without doubt the world changed for young Arab Americans after 9/11. Dean Obeidallah’s latest semi-autobiographical comedy show, which has just wrapped up in New York, focuses on exactly this theme. The premise is that before the planes hit the Towers Obeidallah was just an typical white guy out of touch with his Middle Eastern heritage,living an ordinary white guy life. But in the wake of the terrorist attack he has become “super Arab.” And as much as he feels he has changed, the perspective of people around him has shifted too.
If there is one message that comes through the work of virtually every artist of Arab-American decent, it’s that people and politicians must be tolerant enough to listen to both sides of the argument that underscores acts of terror. That way Islamists and Christians, East and West, Brown and White, and Arabs and Israelis will be able to enter into meaningful dialogue without having to shout over the terrible sound of exploding missiles and suicide bombs.
