Arabian Dream Review by Leila DiabMiddle East online

First Published 2005-10-05
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=14702
Review of ‘The Arabian Dream’ documentary
The Arabian Dream was the new wave of immigrants who arrived from many Arab countries and landed on the shores of America and Ellis Island in the early 1800’s. They came seeking freedom from social, economic and political turmoil and persecution and they found and lived the American dream, says Leila Diab.
Throughout world history, in the then and now, people from a rainbow of colours and cultures have dreamed of a life in America as one of acceptance, love not hate, freedom of expression, tolerance and honest choices to make a difference. Neal AbuNab, an Arab American of Palestinian descent is one such person whose encumbrances are to keep the Arab traditions and culture alive while being connected to the cultural mosaic of America.
While on a recent visit to Chicago to promote the screening of his first awarding winning documentary, The Arabian Dream, which was filmed in Dearborn, Michigan, and home to more than 100,000 Arab Americans, the Southwest Arab Coalition of Orland Park and its host, Ray Hanania, set the stage for Arabs and non Arabs alike to unmask and trace the reality of life for Arab Americans before and after September 11, 2001.
AbuNab’s documentary, the Arabian Dream, starts out as an eight Act dramatic story similar to the likes of a modern day Shakespearian play, filled with the Arab people’s struggles of love and tragedy throughout history and on the shores of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. Act upon Act, we are witness to an Arab American paradise lost and then found again, as Arab Americans demonstrate their determination to reclaim their legitimate rights as citizens of America, as well as their ancestral homeland. Arabian Dream is a film that replays the essential message of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, ‘I Have a Dream.’ And Abunab presents the reflections of Arab Americans, both Christians and Muslims, and African Americans as one people who have ventured down the same abysmal and rocky road of discrimination and racism, and together they reverberate with affirmation their will to reclaim their civil rights, freedom, equality, and dignity for all in America.
“We are the United States of Arabians,” declares Neil AbuNab. However, after 911, that dream was shattered.
Throughout the movie we see and hear Arab Americans stand up for what they believe is right in a country they call home, in a country that they have lived and died for, and in a country where they are free to expression their First Amendment right against injustice. And they sing, ‘God Bless America and I’m Proud to be an American.’
After 911, this film zooms in on the images of the trials and tribulations of Arab American life due to deportations, imprisonment without trial or charges, profiling of Asian and Middle Eastern people and new inhibiting laws such as the Patriot I and II which places infringements upon the basic rights and freedoms of American citizens.
The Arabian Dream was the new wave of immigrants who arrived from many Arab countries and landed on the shores of America and Ellis Island in the early 1800’s. They came seeking freedom from social, economic and political turmoil and persecution and they found and lived the American dream. The sons and daughters of the new generation of Arab Americans in this film are still hoping that the love and fondness for the America their parents experienced will one day be their Arabian Dream.
Act upon Act, Arabian Dreams, portrays Arab Americans as people who love life, freedom and their quest for social, economic and political justice. As Arab Americans, they continue to blend into the American way of life, as they exert their fundamental constitutional rights and freedoms. This is a story of how Arab Americans won their place in American society and how Arab destiny and fate contributed to the rich mosaic of the American cultural heritage. The Arabian dream will never die. Why? Because that dream is a dream of love of country and people.
“This is a serious movie about my life as a young man, an activist and a businessman in America. It is my hope that this film will help heal any anti-Arab sentiment and hatred tin America, with renewed attitudes of hope, tolerance and optimism,” says Neil AbuNab.
Arabian Dream is a never ending journey and a thousand and one Arabian nights.
The film is available for purchase online..just click the link below.
http://www.filmbaby.com/product_info.php?products_id=425

Arabian Dream wins Best Documentary Award in EnglandStratford-Upon-Avon film Festival, August 29, 2005

http://www.stratforduponavonfilmfest.com/winners05.htm

Award Winners 2005

It is with great pleasure that we announce the Award Winning Films of the 2005 Stratford Upon Avon International Digital Film Festival.

Best Midland Short Film
The winner of the 2005 Midland Short Film Competition was Jordan Cadby from Solihull with his Short Film ‘The City’ an outstanding Short Film with amazing visual imagery, great sound and very deep, gripping narrative. Jordan is pictured below receiving his award from the Mayor of Stratford upon Avon, Councillor Bill Lowe at this years Final Awards Ceremony.

Best Animation
L’amour Est Won the Best Animation Award. Created and Directed by Adam Comiskey from Southampton UK.
Best Documentary

Best Documentary was awarded to ‘Arabian Dream’ – A very real, detailed, informative documentary offering an insight into the lives of a group of Arab Americans living in a Democratic society in Dearborn, Michigan. Director Neal Abunab is pictured below delivering his acceptance speech at the Awards ceremony 2005.

Best Short Film
‘Pee Shy’ - Director Deb Hagan keeps you engrossed from start to finish in this fantastic short film from USA that had the audience in applause before the Film had even ended. Superb.

Best Director of a Short Film
Awarded to March De Laurentiis from Canada for ‘Bubbles & Pick’ another quality short Film about two mysterious assassins offering an hilarious and revealing look at the true nature of revenge, incredibly pieced together. March De Laurentiis is pictured receiving his Award from The Mayor of Stratford upon Avon.

Best Feature Length Film
The Award Winning Feature Length Film ‘Soldier of God’ took the honour of Best Feature. This epic picture offers everything one would expect of an Award Winning International Film fantastically acted with a story to captivate until the very end, tremendously shot. Director William David Hogan from the USA receives the award below.

Best Director of a Feature length Film
Awarded to Kevin Kerwin for ‘Filmic Achievement’. A brilliant Film fantastically executed and pieced together offering a revealing look at Film School and the misunderstood and passionate filmmakers of tomorrow. Magnificently Directed. Kevin receives his award below.

The Directors – Craig, Douglas and Samantha - of the Stratford upon Avon International Digital Film Festival 2005 would like to congratulate all of the Award winners this year and everyone involved in the Award Winning Films.

Arab American film to premiere in EnglandPress Release, August 24, 2005

Arab American film to premiere in England
Released by: Neal AbuNab 2005-08-24 02:59:59
Summary:“The Arabian Dream” makes its debut in Stratford, August 28, 2005
Website: http://www.arabiandreamnealabunabhome.com/

For_Immediate_Release:Arab American film to premiere in England
“The Arabian Dream” makes its debut in Stratford, August 28, 2005

September 11, 2001, changed everything for Arab Americans. They were targeted by the PATRIOT Act. Their businesses and charities were raided by the government. They became suspects in the eyes of America.

But they held on to the ideals of America. They refused to give in to tyranny and violence. They insisted on helping America find its heart in the war on terror.

This is the untold story of Arab Americans.

“The Arabian Dream – A Tale of Arab Americans” is the first film to chronicle the experience of Arab immigrants to America. It is a story of blood, sweat and tears to build a dignified life in the land of opportunity.

They are celebrating the values of democracy, liberty and freedom. They are struggling to regain their civil rights and to prove to America that they are contributing citizens that deserve recognition.

“The Arabian Dream” is a scripted documentary film that examines current events in the context of the war in Iraq, the war on terror, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Filmmaker Neal AbuNab says that he made the movie with the aspiration “to join people in their common humanity and to break down external differences and cultural barriers in order to bring them closer to a no-conflict zone.”

The recent London bombings generated interest in the Arab American experience as it contrasts with the British Muslim experience.

“The Arabian Dream” will premiere at the Stratford-Upon-Avon Film Festival on Sunday, August 28, 2005.

It will be shown to a general audience at the Civic Hall at 1:00PM. For more information regarding the festival please go to: www.stratforduponavonfilmfest.com

Filmmaker Neal AbuNab will be at the premiere to promote his movie. The film is available for purchase on the internet starting September 11, 2005, at: www.Filmbaby.com

Distribution opportunities are still available for Europe and North America.For more info please visit: www.ArabianDreamNealAbunabHome.com

Website: http://www.arabiandreamnealabunabhome.com/
For more details: Please Contact
Neal AbuNab
nealabunab@todaylink.com
313-506-4409
Aramedia Productions LLCPOBox 7596Dearborn, MI 48121, USA

Pullout from Gaza is cause for celebration Arab American News, August 17 2005

By Neal AbuNab --

Liberty for the Palestinians has always been the issue. The word “occupation” does not mean much to Americans because they’ve never been occupied. The war of independence was about taxation without representation.

We don’t celebrate Liberty Day or Freedom Day. We celebrate Independence Day on the fourth of July. The British never occupied America because the early colonists were mostly English and European. One can not occupy himself. Therefore, there must be a foreign element involved in occupation. European Jews immigrated to Palestine with the intention to establish a state just for Jews. That is called Zionism. It is the displacement of the original inhabitants of the land with another people.

Occupation is enforced by a foreign army against the will of the legitimate owners of the land. The foreign army occupies cities by building police stations in city centers with big jails barricaded by high fences and barbed wire. The occupied people do not have the right to go to a court to contest the confiscation of their homes or their land. The occupied people do not have the right to bear arms to defend themselves when soldiers shoot at them with M-16’s. The occupied people do not have a single political choice that determines their destiny. The occupied people are slaves subject to the will of their masters, the foreign soldiers.

The regime of occupation is enforced by a military commander who sets up check points on every major road and requires the occupied people to carry an identification paper issued by his soldiers. This ID paper is a privilege and a recognition that a person exists as a valid slave.

My family lived in Ramallah in 1967. After the war we were forced out of our home at gunpoint and put on a dump truck and transported to Jordan. We attempted to sneak back to our home as we did not find the refugee tents too comfortable. We did not like being beggars waiting in line for a handout of wheat and sugar. We did not like being bare footed. We did not like sleeping on top of each other in a tent with no plumbing or air-conditioning. We really hated it when it rained and we had to sleep on muddy ground. It was not nice.

My father borrowed money from relatives and bought a small VW bug. One day, before the crack of dawn, he woke us up and packed the family of seven into the tiny car. He drove up North and crossed the low Jordan River near the town of Nablus in the Galilee. We were back on the road to Ramallah. People warned us about the many army checkpoints. We did not know what to expect. But we were so happy to be back in our land. On the road we sang, joked and played. I was only five years old but I remember every moment of that drive like it happened yesterday.

Some water had leaked into the car when we crossed the low river. Then, we came upon a traffic jam. All cars just stood still and we waited in the early morning sun for a couple of hours. We got to a military checkpoint. There were tanks and many mean looking soldiers with lots of guns and hats. My father had a pleasant smile for everyone, even the soldier who shouted at him asking for papers in broken Arabic. My father showed him his driver’s license but the soldier was asking for the “ID”. Well, we did not have one and we could not tell him that we just smuggled ourselves back into our own country.

In the eyes of the soldier, it was now his country and we were unwanted pests. He let us through and we were back on the road again. In less than fifteen minutes we hit another roadblock. We waited and then we reached another camp full of soldiers. This time my mother volunteered to chat to our interrogator, and she was so nice to him. She told him that we were visiting some relatives in Nablus and we got stuck there when the war broke out. He bought the story.

The distance was less than sixty kilometers but it felt like a drive across the universe. It was early afternoon when we got to the outskirts of Ramallah and I could smell the sweet aroma of my secure home. My mother had instructed all the kids to tell the same story that she had been saying. We hit another checkpoint. We waited our turn. There was a big soldier with a long red beard asking questions. I was petrified. My mother gave him the usual story but he was not buying. He looked inside the car, stared at the wet carpet, and told me to get out. He took me to the side and lifted me up with one hand like I was a chicken about to be strangled. He shouted at me and said: “You just came from Jordan, didn’t you?” I said: “yes”, as salty tasting tears mixed with the words.

He pointed his large rifle at my father and ordered him to get out. He told him to put his hands up above his head and to go stand in a fenced area. Then he got everyone out of the car and he told another soldier to take the car. We stood in a fenced area guarded by a younger soldier. We stayed there for hours sweltering in the heat of the July sun. Finally, a big dump truck arrived and we recognized it. We were put on it and sent back over the Jordan River. Back to the valley of death that was full of white tents.

Thirty eight years later and I still can’t forget the stench of the human flesh that was packed in that dump truck like sardines. I can never erase that from my memory. I cried because I caused my family to become refugees. My father comforted me and told me: “for as long as you live keep telling the truth.”

We tried for many years to obtain that precious “ID” card. The application was always denied. The masters would not accept us as slaves and let us back into their plantation. We applied to be free men everywhere we went in the Arab world, but no one accepted our application.

In two weeks the Israeli army will leave the Gaza strip and let go of the Palestinian slaves there, after 38 years of torment. It is a big thing. It is a cause for great celebration. Liberty from the foreign master has finally arrived for some Palestinians.

Neal AbuNab is a filmmaker and columnist for The Arab American News. He can be reached at: 313-506-4409 or nealabunab@todaylink.com

Living out 'The Arabian Dream' Dearborn Press & Guide, August 3, 2005

... But Midwest Muslims share the American dream London Times, July 31st 2005

In the suburbs of Detroit, the largest Arab city outside the Middle East pledges its loyalty to the stars and stripes, says Douglas Rogers

Drive the suburban streets and bustling freeways of Dearborn, Michigan, a city suburb of Detroit, and you could be in any fairly prosperous middle-American town.

There are sprinklers on the lawns, SUVs and Ford Broncos lining up at petrol stations and rows of low-rise shopping malls and fast-food outlets on its main streets.

Look closer, though, and you see something else. The McDonald’s is halal. A supermarket is called Al Jazeera. A bearded Arab in long robes walks past, his wife, head-to-toe in black abaya and hijab, follows yards behind.

Most astonishing, head west on Ford Road and there, looming over the freeway, its minarets and gold domes dwarfing two Christian churches that flank it, is the Islamic Center of America, the largest mosque in the western world.

How is it that in this time of clashing civilizations, of Al-Qaeda terror and “with us or against us” rhetoric, when many Muslims in Europe appear to believe the West is waging a war on Islam, that in the heartland of America, 300,000 Arabs and Muslims, the largest concentration for any urban area outside the Middle East, live side by side and seemingly in peace with their Midwestern neighbours?

Look closer still and you see more. Many of those SUVs and Broncos are driven by veiled women. A gleaming glass and chrome building declares itself the “Arab American Museum”. Walk into any of the dozen Lebanese restaurants on Warren Avenue and the customers — firemen, businessmen, imams in turbans — flit easily between Arabic and Midwestern drawls.

In Dearborn it is strange and somewhat inspiring to hear them talk proudly of being American and of defending their country.

“We are American first, Arab second,” said Neal AbuNab, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian businessman, film-maker and columnist on Dearborn’s Arab American News (circulation 30,000), who has lived in the US for 25 years. “After September 11 our community was under siege, we faced the backlash,” he says. “I lost a business. But I weighed my love for the country that had given me a home and the love for my faith and I found no contradiction.”

Arabs started coming to Detroit in the early part of the 20th century to work in the auto plants of Henry Ford, who established his first factories and Ford headquarters in the city.

The original arrivals were mostly Yemeni Muslims and Christians from Syria, Jordan and Iraq. A mass influx of Palestinians and Lebanese came in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s during the Arab-Israeli wars. Later, in the 1990s, more than 20,000 Shi’ite Iraqis, crushed by Saddam Hussein after the uprisings following the Gulf war, made their way to Dearborn. The Karbala Islamic Center on Main Street became the focus of exile opposition to Saddam in America.

Back in the 1980s there was barely a Dearborn Arab “community” to speak of. The city was as economically downtrodden as crime-ridden Detroit next door. Gradually, however, as Arabs have become part of the American economic system, they have made their mark.

Dearborn’s religious and business leaders — from Hassan Qazwini, the Islamic centre’s Iraqi imam, to the Lebanese oil company tycoon, Ali Jawad — are feted by presidents, courted by congressmen.

Fifteen years ago there were few Arab restaurants or businesses here. Today there are dozens, and property prices have risen by 300%. Dearborn is growing culturally, too.

The Arab-American Museum, the first in the US, opened this May. There is an Arab poetry society. Every June, Dearborn hosts the Arab International Cultural Festival (co-sponsored by Ford), which is attended by more than 200,000 Americans and beamed by Arab television networks back to the Middle East.

For AbuNab it is the open business culture of America that has made Arabs feel part of the country, invested in it and determined to protect it, something he believes Europe does not offer.

“In Europe, as a migrant you are welcomed, but it is insular, you stay in your quarters,” he says, reflecting on three years he spent working in Birmingham as an engineer for Ford in the 1980s.

“In America the economic system is based on diversity. You have to be open to every culture in order to sell them your product, otherwise you won’t survive. So, sooner or later, everyone ends up in bed together.”

Eide Alawan, the interfaith and outreach liaison officer for the Islamic centre, has no problems with loyalty to America. “We are as American as apple pie,” he said.

A second-generation Syrian American in his fifties and the son of a car factory worker, he speaks in a broad Midwest accent and wears not robes or a long beard but a blue suit, shirt and tie. When he heard that some mosques in Britain have become platforms for extremist clerics, he was appalled.

“I cannot believe this,” he said. “How did they allow that to happen? You occasionally hear about this in parts of the US but here, this would never happen. We would not allow it to happen. We police ourselves and we would turn these people in.”

Most of all, though, he reserved his anger for Muslims around the world who equivocate about suicide bombings, such as the attacks in London. “These people say they understand these bombings because of the suffering they see in Iraq. But where were they when Saddam Hussein was killing hundreds of thousands in Iraq?” he said. “And why are they not angry about the daily murder of ordinary Iraqis by extremists in Iraq?”

Living together peacefully in heart of Arab AmericaThe Indianapolis Star, July 28, 2005

by Pierre M. Atlas

DEARBORN, Mich.-- I traveled to Dearborn with my friend Charlie Wiles, a third-generation Hoosier and Lebanese American, to soak in what might be called America's "Arab street."

About 300 miles northeast of Indy, Dearborn is home to the largest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East. Thirty percent of Dearborn's residents are of Arab origin, as are half the kids in its public schools.

Storefronts have signs in Arabic as well as English and shopkeepers bid goodbye to customers with "Allah Ma'ak" or "God be with you." Arab markets, bakeries and halal butcher shops line West Warren Street, and many shops display large inventories of narghilas, the traditional water pipe smoked in the Middle East.

The sights, sounds and smells reminded me of my visit to Jordan last summer. But Dearborn is unlike any city in the Arab world -- because it is also American.

The first Arab-American museum in the country recently opened here. Its wall of fame identifies notable Arab Americans in various fields. Famous sports figures include pro football stars Darren and Doug Flutie, Indy car champ Bobby Rahal and bowler Eddie Elias. Famous political figures include Ralph Nader, John Sununu, former U.S. Sens. George Mitchell and Spencer Abraham, and Gov. Mitch Daniels.

America has always attracted people from around the world because of its religious and political freedom, tolerance of difference, and economic opportunity. Dearborn epitomizes these traits. The Arab population is Christian and Muslim, Sunni and Shia, pious and secular, and they live, work and eat side by side. Dearborn has a palpable sense of "live and let live," and we were told this also applies to relations between Arabs and the non-Arab majority.

"Arabs came to the U.S. to realize the American Dream," says Adnan Baydoun, president of the Bint Jebail Cultural Center and editor of the Arabic language section of the community's newspaper, the Arab-American News.

Neal Abu Nab, a Palestinian American originally from Ramallah, agrees. He has filmed a documentary about the Arab-American experience called "The Arabian Dream."

Abu Nab is Sunni and Baydoun is a Lebanese Shiite. These distinctions made little difference to them as they sat in Baydoun's office smoking cigarettes and talking of Dearborn. Abu Nab suggests that "Dearborn is a model of how Arabs can get along in a democracy."

The largest Arab community here is from Lebanon, followed by Iraq and Yemen. Dearborn's Iraqis are mostly Shiites, refugees from the failed uprising against Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Gulf War. In typically American fashion, the Dearborn community has held pro- and anti-war rallies.

Dearborn is home to the largest mosque in North America, the Islamic Center of America. The massive, $14 million structure opened this May and is nestled between Armenian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches. It is technically a Shiite mosque, with an Iraqi imam. But as several people at the mosque told us, Sunnis also pray here and people of all faiths are welcome. Worshipers leave any political differences at the door.

The city came under intense scrutiny after 9/11. But federal law enforcement and the Dearborn community have since come to terms. The Michigan chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the local U.S. attorney hold monthly meetings to air problems and ask questions, often stemming from the Patriot Act.

Rana Abbas-Chami, the ADC's Michigan deputy director and an American-born Lebanese, says that the locals and the Feds "don't always see eye to eye, but we meet and discuss community concerns. The monthly meetings keep the lines of communication open and help establish a sense of trust."

Our visit to Dearborn occurs in the shadow of the London bombings, perpetrated by British-born Muslims (who were Pakistanis, not Arabs). Are there any concerns of a parallel development in the heart of Arab America? Everyone we spoke with rejected such a possibility out of hand. Dearborn is not Leeds.

Abu Nab's words were typical. "Arab-American youth are not disconnected from society as were the Pakistani Brits. They are a lot more integrated here and see the promise of America."

Dearborn presents not a threat, but an un-seized opportunity to serve as America's bridge to the Arab and Muslim worlds.
Atlas is assistant professor of political science and director of the Franciscan Center for Global Studies at Marian College.

Battle for the heart of Islam The London Times, July 24, 2005

The London bombs have created surprising splits among British Muslims and revealed a deep sense of alienation. How can they be turned from hate, asks Nick Fielding

The attacks on London in the past two weeks have sparked a fierce battle among Islamic theologians over how Muslims should react to the atrocities. But the dividing lines are not what might be expected: even some of the most radical clerics are split over whether to condemn the bombings or not.

One of the most extreme Islamic groups in Britain, al-Ghurabaa, laid responsibility for the two waves of attacks not on the terrorists but on the government and population at large.

It also condemned the “secular and moderate so-called ‘Muslims’” whose leaders met Tony Blair and other politicians in Downing Street last week to discuss how to deal with extremists.

Yet the London-based Syrian scholar, Abu Basir al-Tartusi, who has been regarded as a radical close to Algerian fundamentalists, took the opposite tack.

He published a fatwa, or religious opinion, condemning the killing of innocent civilians and describing it as “a disgraceful and shameful act, with no manhood, bravery or morality”.

“We cannot approve it nor accept it and it is denied Islamically and politically,” a statement on his website recorded, emphasising the social alliance of Muslims in Britain with the British government and society. “If this act was done by British Muslims it does not mean that Islam or the Muslim community in the UK approve of this act.”

Even the mentor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man held to inspire much of the carnage in Iraq, has condemned the use of “soft” targets.

Abu Mohammed al-Maqdesi, a Jordanian-Palestinian scholar closely connected to jihadi organisations, stunned many supporters by arguing, just days before the London bombings, that “indiscriminate attacks might distort the true jihad”.

Though he was probably referring to al-Zarqawi’s activities in Iraq, his comments reveal a growing uncertainty even in the most radical circles about the strategic wisdom of killing civilians.

Beyond the radicals and clerics, the broad swathe of ordinary Muslim opinion is clear: the attacks were murderous acts with no justification in Islam. But within that consensus a significant number of British Muslims, according to polls, have some sympathy for the motives of the attackers.

According to a YouGov poll published yesterday, some 6% of British Muslims consider the attacks were justified. That equates to about 100,000 people who, while they may not be willing to carry out such acts, are willing to support those who do.

Meanwhile, one in four British Muslims — while in no way condoning the bombers’ actions — express some understanding for the feelings and motivations that drove them to commit the crimes.

The poll also reveals that some 56% say that, regardless of whether or not they sympathise with the bombers, they do comprehend why some people might carry out such acts.

Also clear from the polling is the level of alienation many British Muslims feel from the rest of society. Nearly one in five (18%) say they feel little or no loyalty to this country, and alienation levels among men, particularly young men, are more than three times higher than those among Muslim women living here.

Some 32% of respondents to the poll believed “western society is decadent and immoral and that Muslims should seek to bring it to an end”. Of these, the equivalent of some 16,000 declared themselves willing to resort to violence if necessary to achieve this.

Coupled with the revelation that 52% of those interviewed believe “British political leaders don’t mean it when they talk about equality”, and that “they regard the lives of white British people as more valuable than the lives of British Muslims”, it paints a picture of a fractured society that is far from the cohesive front that the moderate British Muslim leadership and Downing Street wish to foster.

It also highlights the gulf between the moderate — and older — religious leadership and the impressionable, alienated and politically militant Muslim men to be found here.

Such young men are easy recruits for organisations such as al-Ghurabaa, which is clear about its commitment to radical Islam.

"Any Muslim that denies that terror is a part of Islam is kafir [an unbeliever],” says the statement issued by al-Ghurabaa, which argues that a ceasefire offered by Osama Bin Laden after the Madrid bombings was ignored, and that the public’s alleged silence about military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq means it is to blame for the atrocities visited upon it.

Another, anonymous radical pamphlet believed to have emanated from London argues that Muslims are specifically prohibited from showing any sympathy for the victims of Islamic terrorism.

Such emotionless reaction has been displayed within recent weeks by Mohammed Bouyeri, the alleged killer of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, who in court last week looked the dead man’s mother in the eye and said: “I can’t feel for you because you are an infidel.”

The 9/11 hijackers were instructed to show no sympathy for their victims, and if necessary to slaughter them like sheep.

Is it possible to reach beyond the alienation and extremism? The example of America offers some hope. A graphic illustration of the harmony that can be achieved is Dearborn, Michigan. Not just another middle American town, it is also the largest Arab city in the world outside the Middle East, and together with the wide Detroit metropolitan area of which it is part, it is home to more than 120,00 Arab and Muslim immigrants. And to the vast majority of its inhabitants, feelings of alienation are, well, quite alien.

“We are American first, Arab second, says Neal AbuNab, a Kuwait-born Palestinian businessman, film maker and columnist on Dearborn’s Arab American News, who has lived in the US for 25 years.

“After September 11, our community was under siege, we faced the backlash. I personally lost a business. But I weighed my love for the country that had given me a home, and the love for my faith, and you know what? I found no contradiction.”

At the Dearborn-based Islamic Centre of America, the largest mosque in the western hemisphere, “we are as American as apple pie”, says Eide Alawan, the centre’s interfaith and outreach liaison officer.

He is appalled that the London bombings have been committed by British-born Muslims and that certain mosques here have become platforms for extremist clerics.

“I cannot believe this. How did they let that happen? You occasionally hear about this in parts of the US but here, this would never happen. We would not allow it to happen. We police ourselves,” said Alawan.

“If anyone preached in favour of bombing in this mosque, the community would be on top of them. There’s no room for a ‘but’ about condemning violence. If you kill me, you kill the whole of humanity.”

AbuNab, who spent three years in Birmingham as an engineer for Ford in the 1980s, says building an Arab-American identity — and thus building a strong British-Asian identity — just as other arrivals, such as the Italians and Irish have, is crucial.

“In Europe, as a migrant you are welcomed, but it is insular, you stay in your quarters,” he says. “In America, the entire economic system is based on diversity. You have to be open to every culture to sell them your product or else you won’t survive. So, sooner or later, everyone ends up in bed together.”

“Our kids are American,” says Alawan. “They realise what this country has done for our people.”

The challenge facing the moderate Muslim leadership in Britain is to get that same message across to its alienated and increasingly radicalised youth.

Homegrown Terrorists, the London Revelation: "The Arabian Dream" Takes an In-Depth Look at Arabs Living in USA(PRWEB) July 16, 2005

Arab American film completed and seeks to record their experience in the conscience of America. A positive story that speaks of peace, love and reconciliation between people.

-- Arab American filmmaker Neal AbuNab recently completed a non-fiction film project called "The Arabian Dream -- A tale of Arab Americans."

The film explores in depth the lives of Arab Americans in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Tracing the life stories of a handful of them, the film boldly paints their criticism of US foreign policy as an American tradition.

Americans have grown suspicious of Arabs living amongst them, especially after the terrorist attacks on America. Recent polls show that an increasing number of Americans favor tighter security controls and surveillance of Arabs in America.

In a recent interview, radio talk show host Frank Beckman (760AM-Detroit) faced the filmmaker with the troubling question. Beckman asked: "when people look at you and they hear Arab they are thinking of the suicide bomber going after our troops in Iraq. They think all these terrorists are hiding out in Dearborn and going to mosques and plotting attacks."

AbuNab said: "Polls show that the paranoia is going up and not going down. It is not as prevalent here in Michigan as it is across the nation. This movie is an opportunity for America to look at Arabs and see them for what they are."

AbuNab hopes to release his movie on the Fourth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. He wants to premiere it in a big way in New York City where the twin towers fell as a result of the terrorist attacks.

Talk show personality, Frank Beckman, reviewed the movie and called it "very interesting, it’ll get some people upset, I guarantee you."

A screener DVD is available for potential distributors, film critics and the media.

Please contact Neal AbuNab directly at 313-506-4409 or by e-mail.

Arab American Film Completed, Seeks DistributorUS Newswire July 22, 2005

To: Entertainment Reporter

Contact: Neal AbuNab of Aramedia Productions LLC, 313-506-4409 or nealabunab@todaylink.com

DEARBORN, Mich., July 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Award-winning journalist and syndicated columnist, Ray Hanania, wrote:

"Like many Arab Americans, Neal AbuNab is not satisfied with the quality of the films and documentaries that have been produced claiming to convey the Arab American perspective.

And he's not talking about the technical quality. He is rightly critical of the quality of the content.

'They don't tell a story. They focus on the message more than on just telling a story,' says AbuNab, a filmmaker based in Detroit who just completed his new film, 'The Arabian Dream: A Tale of Arab Americans.'

Most documentaries focus too heavily on a political message. They are filled with irrefutable facts, and weighed down by one-sided, poorly written scripts that push the political rhetoric more than the compelling tale.

'To reach Americans, you have to tell them the story and focus on the story above everything else,' says AbuNab, who is also a newspaper columnist. 'I think my film tells a story that Americans and Arabs and Muslims can hear and understand.'

AbuNab is right. More than any other production I have seen to date, his film captures the secret of filmmaking in America. His storyline is compelling and carries an important message about Arabs in America.

AbuNab may in fact represent a new kind of Arab American filmmaker, one who matches quality filmmaking with quality writing and content, something missing from most other efforts.

The film is an untraditional documentary combined with Hollywood style filming.

AbuNab reaches beyond the top layer that we often see and helps humanize the Arab American story. The script is well written and it drives the story line.

Although the cast is set in Dearborn's and Detroit's Arab American experience, 'The Arabian Dream' is clearly a microcosm of the experience challenging Arab Americans throughout the United States.

AbuNab's production is clearly a major success."

------

The independent filmmaker is seeking a reputable film distributor capable of reaching a nationwide audience. He plans to release the film on September 11, 2005, the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America. He hopes his movie will help heal some of the hatred that caused war between people on that dark day.

Potential distributors, film critics, and media: Aramedia Productions kindly asks media to allow it to send a screener DVD of the film for review.

Please contact Neal AbuNab directly at: 313-506-4409, or e-mail: nealabunab@todaylink.com

http://www.usnewswire.com/

Arabian Dream: A tale of Arab AmericansAl-Jazeera, July 7, 2005

By Ray Hanania

Like many Arab Americans, Neal AbuNab is not satisfied with the quality of the films and documentaries that have been produced claiming to convey the Arab American perspective.

And he’s not talking about the technical quality. He is rightly critical of the quality of the content.

“They don’t tell a story. They are done very well, but they tend to focus on the message more than on just telling a story which is the essence of good writing, good scripting and good messaging,” says AbuNab, a filmmaker based in Detroit who just completed his new film, “The Arabian Dream: A Tale of Arab Americans.”

The fact is most documentaries that are produced focus too heavily on a political message. They are filled with irrefutable facts, but are weighed down by one-sided, poorly written scripts that push the political rhetoric more than the compelling tale.

That may work for Arabs actively engaged in the political dissertation and in debates and confrontations, but it doesn’t work for Americans. As a consequence, most efforts to tell the Arab American perspective fail the most important test of success: will Americans listen and hear what is being said?

“To reach Americans, you have to tell them the story and focus on the story above everything,” says AbuNab, who is also a columnist for The Arab American News. . “I think my film tells a story that Americans and Arabs and Muslims can hear and understand.”

AbuNab is right. More than any other production I have seen to date, his film captures the secret of filmmaking in America. His storyline is compelling and carries an important message about Arabs in America.

“We’re no different than anyone else,” explains AbuNab. “Our experience is their experience.”

AbuNab may in fact represent a new kind of Arab American filmmaker, one who matches quality filmmaking with quality writing and content, something missing from most other efforts.

The film is an untraditional documentary combined with Hollywood style filming. It tells his perspective as a Muslim Arab who immigrated with his parents from Palestine to America, and shares the stories that he encounters around him, the true Arab American experience. It tells the story of Arab American experiences in the wake of Sept. 11, but it goes way beyond.

Perspectives and clips include shots of Imad Hamad, the Palestinian who was singled out for harassment and was threatened with expulsion from the country. The Arab community around the country rallied around the defense of Hamad, who was falsely accused of being anti-American and supporting extremist activities abroad.

In fact, we see that Hamad is very American and is today the Midwest Director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) based in Detroit.

We also see the world through the eyes of many Arab Americans including Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News, firefighter Don Unis, Imam Hisham al-Hussainy, businessman Samir Olabi, Judge Salem Salamey, Judge Billy Shaheen and many others.

The story of Don Unis is a story that many Arabs around the country will easily identify with. AbuNab tells it with grace and detail and human interest.

Unis is a Detroit area firefighter and American patriot. He is also Arab and Muslim. In 2003 and 2004, Arab Americans rallied to name a local school that had a predominantly Arab and Muslim student population in his honor to recognize his achievements as an American and his contributions to the local kids and community.

At first, the school board voted down the proposal, even though the student body is predominantly Arab American. In fact, while Dearborn’s population of 100,000 is more than 30,000 Arab, the population of Dearborn’s schools is more than 50 percent Arab, making it one of the largest Arab school districts in the country.

School officials, none of them Arab, immediately resisted the proposal, coming up with all kinds of excuses to deny the community’s needs. But after a strong fight that AbuNab describes from a human perspective, the school board was forced to compromise, naming the school Lucille McCollough Elementary school and its sister school the Donald A. Unis Middle School.

The fight is one fought throughout the United States to build mosques in the suburbs of Chicago, elect officials in San Francisco and recognize Arab American achievements in nearly every profession.

When the world came crashing down on Sept. 11 with bigotry and racism, one articulate journalist stood tall and championed Arab American rights. Osama Siblani was quoted and interviewed locally and on national TV, exposing the lies and putting the spotlight on acts of anti-Arab discrimination in this country.

His own newspaper office was firebombed. Even today, many “mainstream” journalists claim that there was no backlash and deny that nearly 14 people who looked Middle Eastern were murdered in post Sept. 11 hate related backlashes.

Imam Al-Hussainy’s story is one that details the complexity of the Iraqi American community. The Sheik was among those leading both support of George W. Bush in the 2000 election and the invasion of Iraq. But later, he explained eloquently that he opposes the American occupation of Iraq, explaining he opposes the dictator Saddam Hussein.

Among the many stories in the two hour film is a consistent message of Arab Americanism, something that will ring solid during the Fourth of July celebrations.

AbuNab’s family is from East Jerusalem, refugees of the Israeli occupation of the city. They moved to Ramallah and immigrated to America in 1979 where he immediately launched his businesses and also became active in the growing Arab American community in Dearborn and Detroit.

Says AbuNab in the film, “I’m more American than anything else now.”

AbuNab also takes the viewer through the reality of the despondency of Detroit, which is burdened by economic hardships. The challenges facing the region’s large African American community are an appropriate backdrop for the Arab American story and you quickly learn that many African Americans identify closely with the experience of Arab Americans.

Both are the victims of discrimination and a society that continues to pull them down rather than to help them stand up. Together, the two groups work together, a secret behind the success of Dearborn’s Arab American community that is often not fully explored.

He touches on the inevitable discussion of the Arab Israeli conflict, but also puts it in a proper perspective when the focus is understanding the diversity of Arabs in America. Too often, the heaviness of the pro-Arab rhetoric turns off American sympathy.

In AbuNab’s film, clearly, Americans will identify with Arab Americans and, in the end, with their just causes, too.

It would have been easy for AbuNab to satisfy the political hunger of the Arab American activists’ circle which often dominates all things Arab American.

Instead, AbuNab reaches beyond the top layer that we often see and helps humanize the Arab American story. The script is well written and it is clear the script more than the politics drives the story line.

That is very effective, something other aspiring Arab American filmmakers could learn from AbuNab. This is his first full length film.

Although the cast is set in Dearborn’s and Detroit’s Arab American experience, “The Arabian Dream” is clearly a microcosm of the experience challenging Arab Americans throughout the United States.

Every Arab American will identify with AbuNab’s talented script. At the same time, nothing is produced in the Arab American community that doesn’t come under some criticism. The Arab American community too often focuses on the small criticisms rather than on the larger potentials for success.

AbuNab’s production is clearly a major success.

Ray Hanania is an award winning syndicated columnist, filmmaker, and humorist. He can be reached at www.hanania.com

The Arabian Dream by Neal AbuNab: A Film ReviewAl-Jazeerah, July 7, 2005

By Ray Hanania
Like many Arab Americans, Neal AbuNab is not satisfied with the quality of the films and documentaries that have been produced claiming to convey the Arab American perspective.

And he’s not talking about the technical quality. He is rightly critical of the quality of the content.
“They don’t tell a story. They are done very well, but they tend to focus on the message more than on just telling a story which is the essence of good writing, good scripting and good messaging,” says AbuNab, a filmmaker based in Detroit who just completed his new film, “The Arabian Dream: A Tale of Arab Americans.”

The fact is most documentaries that are produced focus too heavily on a political message. They are filled with irrefutable facts, but are weighed down by one-sided, poorly written scripts that push the political rhetoric more than the compelling tale.
That may work for Arabs actively engaged in the political dissertation and in debates and confrontations, but it doesn’t work for Americans. As a consequence, most efforts to tell the Arab American perspective fail the most important test of success: will Americans listen and hear what is being said.

“To reach Americans, you have to tell them the story and focus on the story above everything,” says AbuNab, who is also a newspaper columnist. “I think my film tells a story that Americans and Arabs and Muslims can hear and understand.”
AbuNab is right. More than any other production I have seen to date, his film captures the secret of filmmaking in America. His storyline is compelling and carries an important message about Arabs in America.

“We’re no different than anyone else,” explains AbuNab. “Our experience is their experience.”
AbuNab may in fact represent a new kind of Arab American filmmaker, one who matches quality filmmaking with quality writing and content, something missing from most other efforts.

The film is an untraditional documentary combined with Hollywood style filming. It tells his perspective as a Muslim Arab who immigrated with his parents from Palestine to America, and shares the stories that he encounters around him, the true Arab American experience. It tells the story of Arab American experiences in the Wake of Sept. 11, but it goes way beyond.
Perspectives and clips include shots of Imad Hamad, the Palestinian who was singled out for harassment and was threatened with expulsion from the country. The Arab community around the country rallied around the defense of Hamad, who was falsely accused of being anti-American and supporting extremist activities abroad.

In fact, we see that Hamad is very American and is today the Midwest Director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) based in Detroit.

We also see the world through the eyes of many Arab Americans including Osama Siblani, publisher of the award winning Arab American News Newspaper, firefighter Don Unis, Imam Hisham al-Hussainy, businessman Samir Olabi, Judge Salem Salamey, Judge Billy Shaheen and many others.

The story of Don Unis is a story that many Arabs around the country will easily identify with. AbuNab tells it with grace and detail and human interest.

Unis is a Detroit area firefighter and American patriot. He is also Arab and Muslim. In 2003 and 2004, Arab Americans rallied to name a local school that had a predominantly large Arab and Muslim student population in his honor to recognize his achievements as an American and his contributions to the local kids and community.

At first, the school board voted down the proposal, even though the student body is predominantly Arab American. In fact, while Dearborn’s population of 100,000 is more than 30,000 Arab, the population of Dearborn’s schools is more than 50 percent Arab making it one of the largest Arab school districts in the country.

School officials, none of them Arab, immediately resisted the proposal coming up with all kinds of excuses to deny the community’s needs. But after a strong fight that AbuNab describes from a human perspective, the school board was forced to compromise, naming the school Lucille McCollough Elementary school and its sister school the Donald A. Unis Middle School.

The fight is one fought throughout the United States to build mosques in the suburbs of Chicago, elect officials in San Francisco and recognize Arab American achievements in nearly every profession.
When the world came crashing down on Sept. 11 with bigotry and racism, one articulate journalist stood tall and championed Arab American rights. Siblani was quoted and interviewed locally and on national TV, exposing the lies and putting the spotlight on acts of anti-Arab discrimination in this country.

His own newspaper office was firebombed. Even today, many “mainstream” journalists claim that there was no backlash and deny that nearly 14 people who looked Middle Eastern were murdered in post Sept. 11 hate related backlashes.
Imam Al-Hussainy’s story is one that details the complexity of the Iraqi American community. The Sheik was among those leading both support of George W. Bush in the 2000 election and the invasion of Iraq. But later, he explained eloquently that he opposes the American occupation of Iraq, explaining he opposes the dictator Saddam Hussein.
Among the many stories in the two hour film is a consistent message of Arab Americanism, something that will ring solid during the Fourth of July celebrations.

AbuNab’s family is from East Jerusalem, refugees of the Israeli occupation of the city. They moved to Ramallah and immigrated to America in 1979 where he immediately launched his businesses and also became active in the growing Arab American community in Dearborn and Detroit.

Says AbuNab in the film, “I’m more American than anything else now.”

AbuNab also takes the viewer through the reality of the despondency of Detroit, which is burdened by economic hardships. The challenges facing the region’s large African American community are an appropriate backdrop for the Arab American story and you quickly learn that many African Americans identify closely with the experience of Arab Americans.
Both are the victims of discrimination and a society that continues to pull them down rather than to help them stand up. Together, the two groups work together, a secret behind the success of Dearborn’s Arab American community that is often not fully explored.

He touches on the inevitable discussion of the Arab Israeli conflict, but also puts it in a proper perspective when the focus is understanding the diversity of Arabs in America. Too often, the heaviness of the pro-Arab rhetoric turns off American sympathy.

In AbuNab’s film, clearly, Americans will identify with Arab Americans and, in the end, with their just causes, too.
It would have been easy for AbuNab to satisfy the political hunger of the Arab American activists’ circle which often dominates all things Arab American.

Instead, AbuNab reaches beyond the top layer that we often see and helps humanize the Arab American story. The script is well written and it is clear the script more than the politics drives the story line.

That is very effective, something other aspiring Arab American filmmakers could learn from AbuNab. This is his first full length film.

Although the cast is set in Dearborn’s and Detroit’s Arab American experience, “The Arabian Dream” is clearly a microcosm of the experience challenging Arab Americans throughout the United States.

Every Arab American will identify with AbuNab’s talented script. At the same time, nothing is produced in the Arab American community that doesn’t come under some criticism. The Arab American community too often focuses on the small criticisms rather than on the larger potentials for success.

AbuNab’s production is clearly a major success.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning syndicated columnist, filmmaker, and humorist. He can be reached at www.hanania.com .)

Details:
The Arabian Dream: A Tale of Arab Americans”
2005, Distributed by Aramedia Productions
Written, Producer and Directed by Neal AbuNab
Narrated by Farah AbuNab
119 Minutes.

For more information:

Aramedia Productions
PO Box 7596
Dearborn, MI., 48121

Neal AbuNab
Tel: 313-506-4409
Email: nealabunab@todaylink.com

Website: www.arabamericandream.com

Film Review: The Arabian Dream by Neal AbuNabAl-Jazeerah, July 7, 2005

By: Ray Hanania*

Like many Arab Americans, Neal AbuNab is not satisfied with the quality of the films and documentaries that have been produced claiming to convey the Arab American perspective.
And he’s not talking about the technical quality. He is rightly critical of the quality of the content.
“They don’t tell a story. They are done very well, but they tend to focus on the message more than on just telling a story which is the essence of good writing, good scripting and good messaging,” says AbuNab, a filmmaker based in Detroit who just completed his new film, “The Arabian Dream: A Tale of Arab Americans.”
The fact is most documentaries that are produced focus too heavily on a political message. They are filled with irrefutable facts, but are weighed down by one-sided, poorly written scripts that push the political rhetoric more than the compelling tale.
That may work for Arabs actively engaged in the political dissertation and in debates and confrontations, but it doesn’t work for Americans. As a consequence, most efforts to tell the Arab American perspective fail the most important test of success: will Americans listen and hear what is being said.
“To reach Americans, you have to tell them the story and focus on the story above everything,” says AbuNab, who is also a newspaper columnist. “I think my film tells a story that Americans and Arabs and Muslims can hear and understand.”
AbuNab is right. More than any other production I have seen to date, his film captures the secret of filmmaking in America. His storyline is compelling and carries an important message about Arabs in America.
“We’re no different than anyone else,” explains AbuNab. “Our experience is their experience.”
AbuNab may in fact represent a new kind of Arab American filmmaker, one who matches quality filmmaking with quality writing and content, something missing from most other efforts.
The film is an untraditional documentary combined with Hollywood style filming. It tells his perspective as a Muslim Arab who immigrated with his parents from Palestine to America, and shares the stories that he encounters around him, the true Arab American experience. It tells the story of Arab American experiences in the Wake of Sept. 11, but it goes way beyond.
Perspectives and clips include shots of Imad Hamad, the Palestinian who was singled out for harassment and was threatened with expulsion from the country. The Arab community around the country rallied around the defense of Hamad, who was falsely accused of being anti-American and supporting extremist activities abroad.
In fact, we see that Hamad is very American and is today the Midwest Director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) based in Detroit.
We also see the world through the eyes of many Arab Americans including Osama Siblani, publisher of the award winning Arab American News Newspaper, firefighter Don Unis, Imam Hisham al-Hussainy, businessman Samir Olabi, Judge Salem Salamey, Judge Billy Shaheen and many others.
The story of Don Unis is a story that many Arabs around the country will easily identify with. AbuNab tells it with grace and detail and human interest.
Unis is a Detroit area firefighter and American patriot. He is also Arab and Muslim. In 2003 and 2004, Arab Americans rallied to name a local school that had a predominantly large Arab and Muslim student population in his honor to recognize his achievements as an American and his contributions to the local kids and community.
At first, the school board voted down the proposal, even though the student body is predominantly Arab American. In fact, while Dearborn’s population of 100,000 is more than 30,000 Arab, the population of Dearborn’s schools is more than 50 percent Arab making it one of the largest Arab school districts in the country.
School officials, none of them Arab, immediately resisted the proposal coming up with all kinds of excuses to deny the community’s needs. But after a strong fight that AbuNab describes from a human perspective, the school board was forced to compromise, naming the school Lucille McCollough Elementary school and its sister school the Donald A. Unis Middle School.
The fight is one fought throughout the United States to build mosques in the suburbs of Chicago, elect officials in San Francisco and recognize Arab American achievements in nearly every profession.
When the world came crashing down on Sept. 11 with bigotry and racism, one articulate journalist stood tall and championed Arab American rights. Siblani was quoted and interviewed locally and on national TV, exposing the lies and putting the spotlight on acts of anti-Arab discrimination in this country.
His own newspaper office was firebombed. Even today, many “mainstream” journalists claim that there was no backlash and deny that nearly 14 people who looked Middle Eastern were murdered in post Sept. 11 hate related backlashes.
Imam Al-Hussainy’s story is one that details the complexity of the Iraqi American community. The Sheik was among those leading both support of George W. Bush in the 2000 election and the invasion of Iraq. But later, he explained eloquently that he opposes the American occupation of Iraq, explaining he opposes the dictator Saddam Hussein.
Among the many stories in the two hour film is a consistent message of Arab Americanism, something that will ring solid during the Fourth of July celebrations.
AbuNab’s family is from East Jerusalem, refugees of the Israeli occupation of the city. They moved to Ramallah and immigrated to America in 1979 where he immediately launched his businesses and also became active in the growing Arab American community in Dearborn and Detroit.
Says AbuNab in the film, “I’m more American than anything else now.”
AbuNab also takes the viewer through the reality of the despondency of Detroit, which is burdened by economic hardships. The challenges facing the region’s large African American community are an appropriate backdrop for the Arab American story and you quickly learn that many African Americans identify closely with the experience of Arab Americans.
Both are the victims of discrimination and a society that continues to pull them down rather than to help them stand up. Together, the two groups work together, a secret behind the success of Dearborn’s Arab American community that is often not fully explored.
He touches on the inevitable discussion of the Arab Israeli conflict, but also puts it in a proper perspective when the focus is understanding the diversity of Arabs in America. Too often, the heaviness of the pro-Arab rhetoric turns off American sympathy.
In AbuNab’s film, clearly, Americans will identify with Arab Americans and, in the end, with their just causes, too.
It would have been easy for AbuNab to satisfy the political hunger of the Arab American activists’ circle which often dominates all things Arab American.
Instead, AbuNab reaches beyond the top layer that we often see and helps humanize the Arab American story. The script is well written and it is clear the script more than the politics drives the story line.
That is very effective, something other aspiring Arab American filmmakers could learn from AbuNab. This is his first full length film.
Although the cast is set in Dearborn’s and Detroit’s Arab American experience, “The Arabian Dream” is clearly a microcosm of the experience challenging Arab Americans throughout the United States.
Every Arab American will identify with AbuNab’s talented script. At the same time, nothing is produced in the Arab American community that doesn’t come under some criticism. The Arab American community too often focuses on the small criticisms rather than on the larger potentials for success.
AbuNab’s production is clearly a major success.

* Ray Hanania is an award winning syndicated columnist, filmmaker, and humorist. He can be reached at www.hanania.com.

Are Arabs in America Terrorists-In-Waiting? A New Film "The Arabian Dream" Paints another Picture.PRWEB, June 28,2005

Recent polls show that an increasing number of Americans favor tighter security controls and surveillance of Arabs in America. A new film to be released on September 11, 2005, gives America an opportunity to scrutinize them more closely.

(PRWEB) June 28, 2005 -- Arab American filmmaker Neal AbuNab recently completed his first major film project called “The Arabian Dream- A tale of Arab Americans.”

The film explores in depth the lives of Arab Americans in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Tracing the life stories of a handful of them, the film boldly paints their anti-US foreign policy stand as American heroism.

Americans have grown suspicious of Arabs living amongst them, especially after the terrorist attacks on America. Recent polls show that an increasing number of Americans favor tighter security controls and surveillance of Arabs in America.

In a recent interview, radio talk show host Frank Beckman (760AM-Detroit) faced the filmmaker with the troubling question. Beckman asked: “when people look at you and they hear Arab they are thinking of the suicide bomber going after our troops in Iraq. They think all these terrorists are hiding out in Dearborn and going to mosques and plotting attacks.”

AbuNab said: “Polls show that the paranoia is going up and not going down. It is not as prevalent here in Michigan as it is across the nation. This movie is an opportunity for America to look at Arabs and see them for what they are.”

AbuNab hopes to release his movie on the Fourth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, coming up in less than three months. He wants to premiere it in a big way in New York City where the twin towers fell as a result of the terrorist attacks.

Talk show personality, Frank Beckman, reviewed the movie and called it “very interesting, it’ll get some people upset, I guarantee you.”

If you’d like more information about the film, or to schedule an interview with Neal AbuNab, please call: 313-506-4409.