Arab Heritage 2024

Arab American Heritage Month 2024

The achievements of Arab Americans are celebrated through the celebration of National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM) in April. Arab America and the Arab America Foundation launched the National Arab American Heritage Month initiative in 2017, with just a handful of states recognizing the initiative. In 2021, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, recognized the month of April as National Arab American Heritage Month with a special commemorative letter. In 2022, Congress, the U.S. Department of State, and 45 state governors issued proclamations commemorating the initiative. Additionally, the following states have passed permanent legislation designating the month of April as NAAHM: Illinois; Oregon; Virginia; Indiana (Senate), and California.

During this time, we celebrate Arab Americans throughout the past and present, and recognize their invaluable contributions to our country. It also serves as a time to combat Anti-Arab bigotry and to challenge stereotypes and prejudices.

Zoom Backgrounds for Arab American Heritage Month can be downloaded here: UCSF
Additional AAHM info and events at the UCSF Multicultural Resource Center

White House Proclamation on Arab American Heritage Month 2024

CA Governor Newsom proclaims Arab American Heritage Month 2023

Arab American Factsheet

Notable Arab Americans

Arab Culture and Traditions

UCSF EVENTS

Arab American Heriage Month Special Menu

Thursday, April 25 | 11:30 am - 1 pm

BCH Oakland Friendly Cafe

Join us for a special menu celebrating Arab American Heritage Month at the BCH Oakland Friendly Cafe.

Arab Talk with Dr. Jess Ghannam

Friday, April 19 | 11:30 am - 1 pm

Hybrid - BCH Mission Bay, William and Susan Oberndorf Auditorium (A1602A west side; room A) and zoom

Join us in celebration of Arab American Heritage Month with Dr. Jess Ghannam. This presentation is offered both inperson and zoom. Location for inperson is at BCH Mission Bay, MBH A1602 Auditorium. Food and refreshments will be served from 11:30 am - 12 pm. The presentation with Dr. Jess Ghannam will be from 12 pm - 1 pm, which can also be viewed through zoom.

Dr. Ghannam is a human rights activist and professor at UCSF. He lectures, writes, and conducts research on the health effects of war and occupation in Palestine and in the Arab World, where he travels frequently.

This event is open to all individuals who want to celebrate and learn about the rich contributions and current concerns of Arab Americans. To request a reasonable accommodation for this event, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Recording

Islamic Geometric Patterns: An Art Workshop

Thursday, April 4, 2024 | 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Mission Bay

Islam and the Arab world have a time honored and enduring legacy of geometric art and pattern making. We see this on buildings, books, and mosques around the world! Dive into the world of Islamic art and pattern making, and create a beautiful piece of art with just a ruler and compass. Supplies will be provided. Participation is capped at 20 participants. Light refreshments will be served.

Sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Outreach

UCSF Ramadan Iftar Dinner

April 2, 2024 | 6:30 pm

UCSF Mission Bay Adult Hospital Building1855

4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158

Oberndorf Auditorium; Room A1602 A/B

Ramadan: The Month of Community, Togetherness and Sharing. Join us to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan!

Distinguished speakers
Delicious food, and joyful conversations
Coffee Art and Sufi Music performances

We would be honored if you could join us on this beautiful night!

Co-sponsored by UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach and UCSF Spiritual Care ServicesAll are warmly welcome; due to space constraints seating is limited and advanceregistration is required.

Update: The Iftar Dinner is at full capacity

ARAB and MIDDLE EASTERN

Who are Arab Americans?

Arab Americans have ancestry in one of the world’s 22 Arab nations, which are located from northern Africa through western Asia. The people of these nations are ethnically, politically, and religiously diverse but share a common cultural and linguistic heritage.

The world’s 22 Arab nations are Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Yemen

Who are Middle Easterns?

In the U.S., many people conflate “Arab” and “Middle Eastern,” but linguistic and geographical factors mean that these terms are not fully interchangeable, according to the Arab American National Museum (AANM). The Middle East includes non-Arabic nations such as Iran, Israel, and Turkey. Similarly, not all Arabic nations are located in what is considered the Middle East — including Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco.

ARABIC LANGUAGE

Arabic has one unique thing and which makes it hard to learn. The writing system of the language is not based on alphabets. It is based on an abjad system. In this system, the letters represent constants, but not vowels. A speaker reads vowels and mark to pronounce vowels.

Arabic is among the popular family of languages called Afro-Asiatic. It is commonly spoken in the Mid East and some segments of Africa. The family is made of six branches that have 300 living languages or dialects. Arabic is the widely spoken language by 350 million speakers..
Arabic is hundreds of years old language. It is classified as originating in the 6th century. Arabic has some old versions, such as an ancient Arabic dialect, the Safaitic dialect spoken by pre-Islamic nomads of Syro Arabian desert. The written version can be traced back even to the 1st century.
Arabic is known as the fifth most spoken language. Arabic is well represented in the region of the Middle East and is one of the main languages. Other four most spoken languages are Spanish, English, Hindi, and Chinese.

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