New online national directory of Arab Americans

The Arab Daily News online news network is launching a new and free National Arab American Directory that provides information on Arab American news media, Arab American organizations, Arab American religious institutions (Mosques and Arab Churches), and Arab American restaurants.

The project is the brainchild of Arab American writer and author Ray Hanania, an award winning former journalist who covered Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 for the Daily Southtown and later the Chicago Sun-Times.

Hanania previously published a booklet directory listing the organizations from 1992 until 2005 that was updated annually. He said the mains focus was Arab American media and Arab American organizations, but that religious groups and restaurants are an impost aspect of American Arab life.

“The Arab American Media Guide was a very popular and successful resource not just for Arabs in America but also for mainstream Americans who wanted to outreach to the Arab community,” Hanania explained.

“It did very well. But in today’s transformation to the digital world, it’s clear that the former directory needed to be revived in an online resource format.”

Ray Hanania interviews Nadia Hilou, October 7, 2008 on Morning Radio. When Hanania interviewed Hilo, extremist Israelis and Palestinians denounced me and her, with Palestinians calling her a traitor because she was a Christian Israeli Palestinian serving in the Israeli Knesset.

Hanania said the directory is being rebuilt. At one time, there were more than 112 Arab American and Arab Muslim newspapers and magazines, but that number declined significantly in the wake of the anti-Arab bigotry following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists attacks.

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“It was amazing to me that foreign terrorists who hate America attacked the United States but that Americans expanded their rage to target Arabs in America, the very resource they needed to explore in order to understand the true foreign terrorist threat from the Middle East,” Hanania said.

“In their rage and anger, many American attacked and bullied publishers of American Arab newspapers, magazines and even the few cable TV and radio stations, threatening advertisers. Instead of turning to the Arab American media as a resource to better understand and confront the terrorism threat, they bullied the Arab American media into a defensive silence.”

Cover of the Arab American Media Directory Booklet published by Ray Hanania

Hanania said that today, there are only about 75 Arab American and Arab Muslim newspapers and magazines that publish on a regular basis. And, he said, there are only about eight Arab radio talk shows and only a few Arab Cable TV programs.

“The turnover has been enormous. The Arab American media has always faced two major challenges. The first is the growing animosity from Americans against Arabs and Arab Muslims. The fact that the majority of Arabs in America are Christian has always escaped the haters in this country and Arab Christians are often vilified as being “Muslims” by the haters,” Hanania said.

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“But the second factor is really the most disheartening and most significant. The Arab American and Arab Muslim community in this country simply doesn’t support its ethnic news media. I have always believed that the health of any ethnic community is reflected in the health of its ethnic news media. Looking at our Arab ethnic news media, it is clear that the Arab American community is ailing.”

The directory is available from the main menu at the top of the Arab Daily News website at www.TheArabDailyNews.com.

Hanania said that he is building the directory, noting that newspapers and media come and go frequently in the Arab American community.

“There are some cornerstones in our community that will be here no matter what the challenges. Programs hosted by Barbara Nimri Aziz, Laila alHusinni and Yousif Marei are among the radio programs that struggle through challenges and obstacles to produce some great English and Arab language programing,” Hanania said.

Hanania said that he invites Arab media publishers to submit and update their information to keep the directory up-to-date.

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rayhanania

Managing Writer at The Arab Daily News

RAY HANANIA — Columnist

Ray Hanania is an award winning political columnist and author. He covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992. Hanania began writing in 1975 when he published The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper which was distributed through 12,500 Middle East food stores in 48 American States (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues for the Arab News in Saudi Arabia at www.ArabNews.com, and for TheArabDailyNews.com, and TheDailyHookah.com.

Palestinian, American Arab and Christian, Hanania’s parents originate from Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media;In 2009, he received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. Hanania has also received two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild, and in 1990 was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His wife and son are Jewish and he performs standup comedy lampooning Arab-Jewish relations, advocating for peace based on non-violence, mutual recognition and Two-States.

His Facebook Page is Facebook.com/rghanania

Email him at: RGHanania@gmail.com

Visit this link to read Ray's column archive at the ArabNews,com www.arabnews.com/taxonomy/term/10906