The First Wave
The first wave of Arab immigrants from the Middle East began in the late 19th century. These were mostly Christians from the Greater Syria province that was part of the Ottoman Empire. This province included Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. Although some were escaping religious persecution in the Ottoman Empire, most came for economic opportunity. Most of these immigrants were illiterate and spoke little or no English. Over time, Arab immigrants saved money and invested it in small businesses.
These early immigrants did not identify as Arabs. The Ottoman Empire was the dominant power in the Middle East during the late 19th century. Nearly all of the immigrants from the Middle East came with passports and identification papers issued by the Ottoman Empire. The terms “Turk” and “Syrian” were used interchangeably, including on Port of Entry records in the United States. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed after World War I, most Arab immigrants began to identify by the region in the Ottoman Empire where they were born, usually Syria or Lebanon.
By the 1920s, an estimated quarter of a million Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians were in the United States. The Arab community continued to advance economically, with peddlers establishing stores or small manufacturing plants. Others became importers of items from the Middle East, ranging from rugs to olives.
During the First World War, immigration from the Middle East dropped. Then the second wave of immigration began in the 1920s after the war. These were relatives of those already living in the United States. They heard of the economic success of those living in the United States and decided to join them. This second wave of immigrants was different than the first in that it contained a significant number of Muslims.
The Second Wave
By the 1950s, Arab immigrants had settled in major cities across the United States. This was when the third wave of Arabs began arriving. This wave included our parents Mohamed and Badrieh, who arrived by ship in 1953. These people were a new type of Arab immigrant. They were literate and bilingual. Immigrants in the 1950s and 1960s pursued white-collar or professional vocations. In our father’s case, he had completed medical school at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He came to pursue further training in general surgery. Our mother Badrieh was a nurse trained at the American University of Beirut.
This third wave was about 70 percent Muslim and came from across the Middle East, including Egypt, Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. Then, in the late 1960s, following Palestinian displacement in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, many Palestinians emigrated to the United States. Their unique circumstances meant they brought a greater ethnic pride and political awareness that helped ignite the development of a stronger Arab American identity.
Even among second and third-generation Arab Americans, who barely spoke Arabic, the ethnic and political consciousness of the new Palestinian arrivals generated greater awareness of their Arab identity. As a first-generation son of immigrant parents, I did not really appreciate my Arab heritage until my teenage years. My mother tells me I spoke Arabic as a young child, but my father insisted we speak only English to better assimilate in the United States.
Arab American Identity
This greater ethnic and political consciousness led to the creation of several Arab American organizations, including the Arab American University Graduates, the National Arab American Association, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Arab American Institute. These organizations helped to consolidate and pass along Arab American identity for the new generations. In addition, they strove to promote an accurate and positive image of Arab Americans and protect the rights of Arab Americans. Such focus became all the more necessary as events in the Middle East unfolded. The oil embargo and hijackings, combined with well-organized media campaigns to link Arab Americans with terrorism, made Arab Americans increasingly stereotyped and suspicious to many Americans.
These suspicions grew in the 2000s, following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. In the aftermath, Arab Americans were subjected to hate crimes, racial profiling, and discrimination by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. As a result, Arab Americans became a leading voice in the civil rights community of the United States. Arabs, as a community, have contributed to the United States in many ways, both professionally and culturally. Our parents raised two surgeons and a computer engineer/scientist. Arab Americans have become a vital and valuable thread in the beautiful tapestry that is America, and my brothers and I are proud to count ourselves as members of that community.