Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity

by Randa Abdel-Fattah (Editor), Sara M. Saleh (Editor), Paula Abood (Contributor)

Although there are 22 separate Arab nationalities representing an enormous variety of cultural backgrounds and experiences, the portrayal of Arabs in Australia tends to range from homogenising (at best) to racist pop-culture caricatures.

Edited by award-winning author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, and activist and poet Sara Saleh, and featuring contributors Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Ruby Hamad and Paula Abood, among many others, this collection explores the experience of living as a member of the Arab diaspora in Australia and includes stories of family, ethnicity, history, grief, isolation, belonging and identity.

CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE:

Paula Abood | Nokomi Achkar | Michael Mohammed Ahmad | Rooan Al Kalmashi | Ryan Al-Natour | Rawah Arja | Hana Assafiri | Sarah Ayoub | Omar Bensaidi | Sara El Sayed | Asma Fahmi | Farid Farid | Ruby Hamad | Abdulrahman Hammoud | Lamisse Hamouda | Amani Haydar | Miran Hosny | Lora Inak | Elias Jahshan | Nicola Joseph and Huna Amweero | Zainab Kadhim and Mohammad Awad | Wafa Kazal | Yassir Morsi

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia, Memoir, Anthologies, Sociology, Race, Social Justice

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 2019

About the author

Randa Abdel-Fattah was born in Sydney in 1979. She is a Muslim of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage. She grew up in Melbourne and attended a Catholic primary school and Islamic secondary college where she obtained an International Baccaularetate. She studied Arts/Law at Melbourne University during which time she was the Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic council of Victoria, a role which afforded her the opportunity to write for newspapers and engage with media institutions about their representation of Muslims and Islam.

During university and her role at the ICV, Randa was a passionate human rights advocate and stood in the 1996 federal election as a member of the Unity Party-Say No To Hanson. Randa has also been deeply interested in inter-faith dialogue and has been a member of various inter-faith networks. She also volunteered with different human rights and migrant resource organisations including the Australian Arabic council, the Victorian migrant resource centre, Islamic women’s welfare council, Palestine human rights campaign, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, to name a few.

Randa has used her writing as a medium for expressing her views about the occupation of Palestine. Her articles about Palestine, Australian Muslims and the misunderstood status of women in Islam have been published in the Australian, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times, New Matilda, Le Monde (France).

Randa is frequently sought for comment by the media on issues pertaining to Palestine, Islam or Australian Muslims. She has appeared on SBS’s Insight, ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club, ABC’s Q & A, Channel 7’s Sunrise and Channel 10’s 9am.

Randa is also a regular guest at schools around Australia addressing students about her books and the social justice issues they raise. Randa has also been a guest at Sweden’s Gothenburg and Litterlund book festivals (2007 and 2008) and Kuala Lumpur’s Book festival (2008). She has also toured in Brunei and the UK.

Randa lives in Sydney with her husband and their two children. She works as a litigation lawyer.

Reviews

[rachel, x · Rating 4 out of 5]

➸ Trigger warnings for racism, Islamophobia, gang rape discussed, child abuse, grief & loss depiction, death of a father & mother, murder, gang violence, war themes, deportation, displacement, and bullying.

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph

[Rania T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Identifying as Arab, living in Australia on borrowed land means different things to different people in this wonderfully put together Anthology, that pulverises the perceived stereotypes white, middle-class Australia is constantly fed, rather than the can of Cortas they should be eating instead.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

'In reflecting on my feminist selving, it is the promise of my grandmothers I recall: warrior women who yearned to write their names, to read poetry, letters and books, to be free of the shackles of drudgery. Women like my mother, figure forcefully, wielding subversive power under the cover of domesticity, finding creative ways to express themselves in a world that devalues bold women who rock the patriarchal boat, finding them adrift in the sea of forgetfulness.' 'Once Upon a Time in the Diaspora' by Paula Abood

This book is a collection of essays that reflect the lived experience of being brought up Arab in Australia. It explains the every day ignorance and objectification that is imposed on people whose culture is different, yet diverse and enriching. The assumption that all Arabs are the same, is totally shattered here, exposing the ignorance such marginalised views hold.

'While studying at Punchbowl Boys High School, I hung out with eight young men who called themselves Lebs, even though three of them had parents who migrated to Australia from Syria, two of them had grandparents from Palestine, one of them had parents from Jordan, one of them had a Lebanese father and an Anglo-Australian mother, and one of them had two parents from Indonesia.'
'The Origin of Leb' by Michael Mohammed Ahmed

There is pressure to conform to white society. To change your name to something that is pronounceable. Even in school yard culture your diversity is analysed over the contents of your lunch box.

'In many ways his dual identities informed my own. They let me shy away from Arabness when it seemed too much, too different. His changing between Baba and Dad gave me permission to change as I saw fit.
And so I did.
And so I do.' 'What's in a name?' by Wafa Kazal

It also expresses the expectation of parents on their children to succeed in this new country.

'It was a miserable and lonely time and I was too young to understand that my parents were trying to remedy their losses and anxieties through me.' 'The Pleasure and Privilege of Painting Flowers' by Amani Haydar

It generously shares the cultural wisdom that is passed on.

'Staring at the vanishing kite, with my uncle's hands on my shoulder, I hear him tell me, khalas habibi, keir, everything is meant to be. It's nasseb'. I never understood the pain behind his words 'lost forever' until he died years later.' 'Ros Bil Laban' by Yassir Morsi

This is a fabulous collection of essays that will broaden you perspective, make your mouth water over all the descriptions of traditional food and create insight into the 22 separate Arab nationalities and their religions.

[Harinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a wonderful collection of stories to dip in and out of. Its range is fantastic - covering the full texture of Arab experiences - Lebanese, Palestinian, Christian and Muslim. The stories are funny, heartfelt and poignant (Ruby Hamad's The third time I broke my fathers's heart is so relatable and sad at the same time). As well as exploring and celebrating Arab diaspora experience, collectively these stories also expose how much, nowadays, to be Arab is political in its own right. And some of them make no bones about this (Michael Mohammed Ahmad's The story of Leb, for instance). But the effect of all of them collectively is -I hope - is to remind us that, like all of us, Arab Australians are a diverse group of individuals with different experiences, interests and points of view. Their contribution to our society - as this book highlights - is truly something to celebrate.

[Amra Pajalic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection essays about the varied experiences of being Arab. Not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs. Love the varied experience of identity and explores multiculturalism, stereotyping, racism and finding self acceptance to deal with the community at large.

Aerobics for Arabis by Sara El Sayed was so poignant about her attempting to do aerobics and contending with her parents conservative attitudes and racism by her fellow classmates.

A poem by Rooan Al Kamashi The Personal Discourse of a Young Refugee is resonant as she compares her experiences to those of her family.

[Silda · Rating 5 out of 5]

As children of immigrants, it can be tiring constantly navigating the various worlds we are a part of and resisting the narratives enforced upon us. Growing up in Australia, there were times I felt so out of place and invisible (for being so visible). This book made me feel seen and heard. Thank you, sincerely.

[Merryana · Rating 5 out of 5]

what can I say that is unbiased about a book that articulated feelings I have had about being Arab Australian with such aptness that I felt a little unravelled whist reading? Nothing. But that is the highest compliment I am able to give.

[Trigger Warning Database]

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Islamophobia
Gang rape discussed
Child abuse
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father & mother
Murder
Gang violence
War themes
Deportation & displacement
Bullying

[Lauredhel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stories, vignettes, and short essays on being Arab- Australian. This book on micri-memoir was varied, engaging and important.

[Amy Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

.....📚 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 📚.....

Arab, Australian, Other: stories on race and identity, edited by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Sara Saleh is a collection of stories of Arab Australians and their experiences of racism, culture and identity in Australia.

As one author, Sarah Ayoub, contributes,
"𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 - 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆... 𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝑰 𝒂𝒎."

This work is so important to understand the experience of Arab Australians and to face the uncomfortable truth about the rampant racism within the Australian community.
Like all books where people are able to tell their stories and open themselves up for judgement, I have chosen not to give this collection a star rating, however I could not recommend this collection more highly. I would hope that all Australians are open to reading the stories of our fellow countrymen(women), and are open to learning more about the experiences of Arab Australians.

[Natasha (jouljet) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories, poems, and autobiographical or think pieces of being of the Arab diaspora and living in Australia.

Tales of family and disconnection with the "mainstream Aussie", of racism and exclusion, the political, the realities, the efforts to fit in, the riots and media that divides us. Of finding your identity, and returning to the land and food of the homeland.

It's always striking to me how connected and reverent migrants and their generations are with Aboriginal Australia. Such respect and understanding - so much we white Australians can learn from.

The most powerful for me, and which have and will stay with me were the chapter by Amani Haydar, encasing her family story of loss, and violence, and then also Randa Abdel-Fattah's words on being Palestinian, needing to being "balanced" and being sought for comment, and also the goosebump enducing, moving recall of traveling back to the homeland with her father.

[Raneem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the rich and varied contributions; how each transported me to a different time/place and showcased the unique writing styles of each author.

I am grateful to all contributors for allowing me into their homes, minds and hearts; for the sense of belonging I found in some and the surprise I found in others.

As someone who has struggled articulating their own experience of being Arab-Australian, I am so very grateful for this works like this.

[Mohammed Jawad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Aussie immigrant stories. Although not Arab, a lot of the pieces resonated deep within me and I felt represented as a Muslim as well. It is important for these stories to be shared offering unique perspectives to challenging social landscapes. Grateful to the authors for allowing these voices to be heard.

[Monty Sallur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of essays and stories that challenges many of the stereotypes placed on muslims and arabs by white Australia. There are lots of different voices represented in this anthology and they'll make you laugh and cry. A lot.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent excerpts of the endemic struggles of Arab-Australians in their assimilation and fight to be heard in a world which often doesn’t respect or value their religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

[Magenta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant anthology of stories and poems!! I really liked it and it opening my mind to experiences from a range of unique backgrounds in Australia.

[Jay Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! Beautiful combination of heartfelt stories, meaningful poems, biting satire and anger about racism, islamophobia, ignorance and hurt.

Would recommend.

[Susan Wishart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of essays edited by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Sara Saleh. An interesting insight into the lives of Arab/Australians from diverse backgrounds.