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Thursday, August 06, 2009

Arabs Continue To Find N.M. a Welcoming Place

By Jim Scarantino
For the Journal
      The car in front of me had Arabic letters pasted across its rear window. We're accustomed to University of New Mexico decals or Our Lady of Guadalupe adorning automotive glass. Arabic calligraphy on a Ford rolling down Lomas was something new.
       I pulled alongside at the light and asked the driver what the writing meant. He took a few seconds to conclude my question was sincere. He answered, “Salaam.” Then he smiled and flashed a peace sign.
       We've forgotten our New Mexico Arabic history. Our city's name echoes the golden age of Arabic culture. “Albuquerque” is very close to the Arabic phrase for “father of cork oaks.” The Spanish village of Alburquerque, to which we owe our name, has been the center of the cork industry since Islamic caliphs ruled the Iberian Peninsula.
       The Southwest's first wave of Arab immigration came under Spanish kings. Moors helped hunt for the Seven Cities of Cibola. Spanish Arab settlers followed in the 16th century. Their descendants are named Herrera, Alire, Madrid, Azar and Medina.
       The next wave arrived at the dawn of the 20th century as Lebanese fled poverty and conscription into Ottoman armies. The Grant County village of Bibo carries the name of Lebanese merchants. The first Maloof, one of New Mexico's wealthiest family, arrived in 1892. Farther south, the Lebanese parents of Carlos Slim, considered the world's third richest man, launched that family's empire in Mexico City during the first World War.
       Many of today's Arabic immigrants find their way to the Sahara restaurant on Central Avenue across from the University of New Mexico. The restaurant is owned by Hantham Khalil and is operated by an extended family of Jordanian immigrants. They also own the Times Square Deli on Yale, a supermarket in Belen and are opening a Sahara Express inside UNM's student union building.
       “Every month we see new Middle Eastern faces,” says Ahlam Nesheiwat, matriarch of this enterprising family. “They come looking for food they knew at home. We see people from Egypt, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. They are students, doctors and many, many business owners. In America they all want their own businesses.”
       She introduces me to a Palestinian who has gas stations here and in Gallup. I meet another Palestinian who owns the Tri H at Yale and Lead, very likely the only establishment in New Mexico that sells gasoline as well as ground sumac, olives in brine, halvah, apricot paste, a dozen varieties of fava beans and charcoal for hookahs. Nine businesses owned by recent Middle Eastern immigrants can be found within a mile of UNM's main entrance.
       The earliest Arabs in New Mexico were Catholics and Jews. Last century's Lebanese pilgrims were Maronite Christians. This latest wave is mostly Muslim. “But we are all one people,” insists Nesheiwat, who hails from Jordan's Christian community.
       The influx will continue. The word about New Mexico is out in the Middle East . “I swear the weather is exactly the same,” says Nesheiwat. “There is opportunity here. It is safe. This is a very good place.”
       A glass case inside the Sahara displays cheese and meat pies Nesheiwat bakes every morning. She also makes zatar pies. Zatar is a cherished Middle Eastern herb, a sort of robust thyme.
       Zatar grows outside my kitchen door. It is one tough, beautiful plant. It survives drought, heat and cold. It bounced back after being crushed by a landscaper's bulldozer. It reminds me of the New Mexico Arabs I have met.
       The gift of a zatar sprig delighted the Newsheiwat family. It quickly took root in their backyard. Their son, Omar, tends it every day. Next spring it will bloom with exquisite white flowers.
       So now I know how “peace” looks when written in Arabic letters. Here's an Arabic phrase I've just learned to say, “Ahlan wa sahlan.” It means, “welcome.”
       Jim Scarantino spent 25 years practicing law, including time as a prosecutor in Philadelphia and New Mexico. He concluded his legal career as the ACLU-New Mexico's lawyer of the year in 2006. Scarantino also served as executive director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and Republicans for Environmental Protection. He currently writes a monthly report for the Rio Grande Foundation. E-mail: jimscarantino@gmail.com.
       

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