Alzoon Media.
Hello everybody, This is Sharen. Welcome to it could happen here today. We're talking to two people I love and respect very much about a topic that I think is really underreported on, and that's food erasure and how it's part of ethic cleansing. And I think it's a really important topic to talk about right now, especially with the genocide happening in Palestine. So let's just jump right in without further ado. Welcome my guests, Reeve and Jabidil.
Hello, Hello, Hello, Hey.
Just so our audience can get to know you guys a little bit better, how about y'all introduce yourselves and like what you do and yeah, yeah, Ream you want to go first?
Sure.
My name is Reem.
I am a Bay Area based Palestinian Syria and chef. I own a restaurant called Reems, California. And our mission really is too who built community across cultures and experiences through the warmth of Arab bread and hospitality.
Beautiful. Wow, that was so succinct. My name is thank you for a Saesday, So.
I've done it a few times, you know.
Yeah. My name is Jabrell Unis. I'm a filmmaker based in Pasadena, and I am also a Palestinian artist in general.
Yeah, no relation. Both of our last names are Unis, but that is how we met. A white person said, you guys have the same last name, you should meet, and we met. No, we're friends, But I really like the partnership that you guys have in the collaboration that you guys, from my perspective, have established. Can you guys talk about what you've been working on recently together?
Yeah? Yeah, So we've been working on for the past since like twenty twenty one or late twenty twenty. We've been working on a documentary series that is named after reim cookbook, which is you should pick it up. It's one of my favorite cookbooks that I own. It's called Arabia and it is a documenting series exploring the food ways and diaspora of Arab people across South past Asia,
North Africa. And I think the general log line and dream can dive into a bit more of the general log line is you can tell this like through telling the story of the food, you can tell the story of our people in diaspora. And it underscores a lot of I think we'll talk about today, which is sort of food, identity, identity through food and resilience and through food. But also I think one thing that's always been really important to both of us is how much we see
the show as like a celebration of our culture. I feel like there are so many trauma stories from not only Palestinians but Arabs in general, and I think something that was really important to us is like, guess, let's talk about all of it. We're an extremely I think you know, we're extremely politicize as a people, but also very passionate, but also let's celebrate all the things we love about ourselves and love about our culture and the
tastes and smells and sounds and sights. So how would you I feel like that's sort of the setup, but how would you describe it?
Yeah, I think that's exactly it. And our hope is that the being able to break down the barriers or have a lens into our world for the public is kind of a gateway to understand the context and the politics behind why things are the way they are and to really fight the dehumanization that Arabs have experienced, particularly.
In the West.
And so, you know, while this is a show about food, it's also it's very much a show about people and how interconnected we are. So yeah, we're really excited to be able to break down some of those barriers of understanding in a way that could actually lead to people, you know, fighting anti Arab sentiment in this country, fighting Islamophobia, all of these things when they have that kind of lens or that view into our world.
Yeah, and I mean it's been pretty interesting. Can I keep vamping a little bit? It's been pretty interesting. I mean I think the sort of like thought that started the show really was why it's so easy? And I think we'll talk about this later too in depth, but like, why is it so easy to find so many different cultures food? You know, like you have I'm going to use Asian food as an example because I live in the San Gabriel Valley, so it's like all around me.
But you have Korean food and Japanese food, and so many different types of Chinese food that are all specifically called what they are and where they're from, right, They're all like identified correctly. That can extend to the Latin X world and their food. It can extend to European food.
It's all very you know, like people call it what it is, and then you sort of get to you get to you know, Southwest Asia and North Africa, and suddenly the food stops being called you know, what it is, and starts being called Mediterranean or starts being called Middle Eastern. And I think that the idea was, like I had gone to Anaheim, where there's a neighborhood called Little Arabia here, and there was a Palestinian restaurant. I was like so
excited about it. It's called the Olive Tree. It's closed now, but I was like so so excited, and I got I always get so so excited when I find a Palestinian restaurant or a yeah, any restaurant, and you know, I mean many of them. But I think the reason I get so excited is because it's so hard to find those places, and I think there's a reason why.
And so, you know, three and a half years later, the show has sort of grown from that initial thought and interest and become very very different, and it's effort to humanize Arabs, which is something I think is you know, it's unfortunate that we still have to do that, but
I think we kind of do, especially right now. But yeah, we've been pitching for like, you know, we worked on it together for a while and then of been pitching and going through pitches and talking at different companies and getting a lot of great feedback and getting some really weird feedback for the past like few years. And we can talk about that.
More if you want, But well, oh, I'd like to talk about some of the more interesting feedback, I guess, but I would also want to ask you ream how how did you get involved in food? Like where did that passion start?
Yeah, I've I.
Would say food has always been in the backdrop for better or for worse of my life experiences, particularly when everything falls apart from me. I grew up kind of as a whatever. The term I've heard is like the third culture kid, right where the Arab identity was really strong in our household and that was particularly through food, but then also and a stranger in a strange land outside of the home where it was predominantly your typical
Americana suburban culture. And so I was kind of like, even though food was there, the intertwining with identity made me like run away from it a lot because it reminds you of your otherness and also just the nuances of seeing my mom being a working mom and struggling in the kitchen. So I was like, I'm never gonna I'm going to be a feminist and I'm never.
Gonna touch her. That was like.
Every time, like you know, and then I did like what the immigrant child does, like overachiever, like go to college, try to be the president, and then realize us of what I want to do. When I spent many years in the nonprofit world, I was doing organizing work, and while that work was really rewarding to some extent, it was really draining and not fulfilling in a deeper spiritual level. And so every time I would burn out, the food, and particularly the food of my culture would come back
in some shape or form. So I just had this kind of moment in twenty ten where I was in another bout of burnout and depression and really questioning everything.
And it was a trip that I took to the Arab world with my father and seeing particularly bred in these straight corner bakeries be the anchor for this community that I had, you know, as a kid of diaspora, like really longing to feel connected to and it was through the food that I like felt connected once again, So my mom did something right, look of her the credit for that, But I was like, I need to explore this more. I need to understand what is this?
And so then food became a source of healing for me to come back to my identity and come back
to my culture. But then also just the power of food as a community builder that like transcends all cultures, Like I really loved that as a community organizer who had been working with other communities who struggled just like my own, right, So that's kind of how I got into food by way of my love for wanting to belong and my love for connection of community, and then slowly became obsessed with food itself.
I mean, who doesn't love food?
But it is a place of both trauma and healing for me, So it became kind of a way to transcend that.
No, I think it's a great thing to bring up how it's a trauma and very healing as well. I to kind of talk about like the feedback. I know you've had a restaurant in the Bay Area for a while. Was it similar when you tried to make the show come together? Like did you have similar barriers and feedback? Like were you like familiar with some of the things that people were saying, or was it completely like a new game.
Yeah.
So the context that I started my restaurant, and I want to say it was probably much different than even what it is now today, although certainly there is backlash. But I would say I was one of the first few chefs who were saying, nope, I want my food to be called Arab, and I really wanted to counter these kind of watered down labels of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean or you know, levantine. To me, those were all colonial terms and it was like a bad word to
say Arab, and I wanted to reclaim that identity. I was like, if I'm going to come out, I want to come out as my whole self and not this person,
this scared person that was stifled all my life. And I understand why the immigrants before me came, you know, did it that way because they needed to make a living, and you know, there was a lot of anti Arab sentiment, especially in the wake of nine to eleven, that that kind of climate here, and so I had this like lovely idea that I'm like this generation where I can
like break it down and make it cool. I'm like, I'm going to mainstream it, you know, And I got pushback actually from my own family because they had those fears. They were like, just you know, start like, don't even start with like a Zacta event with shit, nobody's gonna now it's like the hot thing.
But so that was a context in which I was opening my.
Business and nobody had done it really before, so I could kind of create my own rules and people.
Are like, what is this?
And I still got like a lot of like, oh is this you know Mediterranean? You know people, it took a while to train people to say Arab and then put the layer of Palestinian identity, you know, my Palestinian identity at the time that I was opening my restaurant was really important. It was you know, I had started my pop ups on the in the wake of Israel's
second to worst. Now we're seeing the worst of it incursion on RaSE in twenty fourteen, in which they killed you know, over three thousand Palestinians in one winter, and we were devastated by that. We were devastated about the state of organizing with Palestinians, and I really wanted to as I opened my restaurant not be scared to talk about my whole self, and so I, uh so everything about Reims, even though we're not like pushing our politics in your face. The very act of being Palestinian was
seen as political, just existing. And we had a mural of a Palestinian activist who was based in Chicago named Esmueroda who was deported by the government as a made an example of to say, if you're Palestinian and you're outspoken about Palestine, this is what will happen to you. And I put her on the wall to remind my community and to remind myself that we don't need to
be scared. And I got a lot of backlash for that, but I think even in that time, despite the backlash, the amount of community support, amount of opportunity for people to learn, was that much greater, and so I ended up getting a lot more positive attention for my bakery overall as a result of that.
How do you have just a few?
It makes me happy every time I wake up with a nomination. I'm like, I wonder what the Zionists be thinking.
It gives me a little bit of like hope that like our success is kind of like what is threatening, you know, because we are truth We are in the business of truth telling, and we do it in a way that's very human, you know, based in our humanity and our dignity, and that our restaurant was really I think powerful in that way that a simple art piece or the simple act of making food and calling it Palestinian was that threatening to the powers that be, you know, Like.
That's such an interesting backdrop also to talk about the feedback we got from the show, because like, I think Reem's experience was so was so visceral in that way, and I mean what she described as well, and I think you can look it up and there have been articles on Vice and stuff about it where people can
read about her experience and everything that happened. And you know, I think maybe we undersold your intro a little bit ram like you're a badass and you know, the James Beard nooms and a lot of great and awesome press. But I think what's interesting about the show is with realms,
with realms at the restaurant. You know, it's very specifically Palestinian and Arab food and the show, while yeah, it's being made by us who are Palestinian people, it's not only about Palestine, and that's been something we've sort of had to overcome. Like the show is about Arabs, and it's about our foods and food ways, and as much
as the food, you know, the show. As much as the show focuses on on Palestine, it also focuses on Egypt and Yemen and where you know, I mean the Yemeni coffee tradition is like where Arab coffee kind of came from and started from. And it also focused on Lebanon and Morocco and Algeria. It's been an interesting Yeah, go ahead.
Yeah, I was just to that point, like it's it's not about I mean, first of all, these these these states are border right, they're bordered, they're they're colonized states in some shape or form, and ideas to fight the tropes of the Arab as one thing, right, Like it's showing the breadth and depth of our culture that like we're not Hamat, it's not a monolith, we're not homogeneous.
And even the ethos of Reems kind of is very similar to that idea that yes we are Palestinian, but we're also Syrian, we're also Oakland, we're also California, Like those things don't need to compete with one another. I hate you know, like you know, my identity kind of coming on the scene. Yes I'm Arab and yes I'm Palestinian, but those are political identities. The reason we call our food Palestinian is to draw attention to the ethnic cleansing.
And e raisure of our people. That's why we call it Palestinian. But it's not. There's there are certain foods that are not inherent.
I mean they're enjoyed all over the Arab world and they look different, but you can't like the claiming of ownership of food is yeah, so.
We try to.
I think this show is really trying to fight against that of the it's called ada Bia, which is kind of like a tongue in cheek, like what do you think of with the Arab woman? And it's like, let me take all of those stereotypes and like turn them on their head. It's the same thing with like all of our food ways in our culture. There is no singular way of what an Arab is. We all have
kind of our unique stories and histories. So when we choose to call things what they are, there's a context in a history for that, and that's what we're trying to share.
Yeah, exactly, I think.
I mean, I really really relate to the idea of really wanting to be represented with food. Like when I find a Syrian restaurant, I freak out. Like there's one alcohol in southern California where it's like my family and I go there every weekend when I'm down and when I'm visiting my parents. It's just like a place where we feel like the closest we can get to home again. And I think it's a really important and like reminder that I don't know, food is food can be really powerful.
And before I keep rambling, I'm going to take our break and we'll be right back. And we are back, reim. You mentioned something earlier that I think is worth touching back on the idea of like existing being already like a political act. I think that is like it's a burden for a lot of people of color and a
lot of marginalized communities. And I think hand in hand with that is the fact that like our food is also like a political act, like making sure it's couscus not is really cuscus or whatever it is that we're trying to fight against How do you see food, and especially now, I think people underestimate how many levels there are of ethnic cleansing, because erasing food and appropriating food is a huge part of that, right, So can I get your take on that, both of your takes.
You mean, like beyond appropriating, Yeah, I mean I think food is a tool of It is weaponized historically against people, I mean most doubtably obviously with seventy five years of occupation of Palestine. One of the many ways, besides the dispossession, killing, expulsion, is to sever us from our food ways. And when you sever someone from their land that creates the food ways,
you sever them from their culture, from their existence. Then there's just the most the more immediate way as we're seeing this genocide unfolds, where you can starve a population with that, and so food then becomes kind of this powerful tool to break a people and why we see people like food become a form of resistance for people. But even here in our communities, I mean, this is
not unfortunately unique to the Palestinians. You've seen the pillaging of indigenous folks here in this country, the same things kind of cutting them off from their food ways, their means of subsistence, of supporting one another, of you know, being connected to their culture. And now you're seeing in communities through economic policy, like food deserts and people not being able to access their food or have sovereignty over
their food production. So it is absolutely a tool and something that we talk about at REAMS a lot that like the fight for Palestine is the fight for food sovereignty everywhere and vice versa.
Right, Well, I'm glad you brought up the idea of or just the fact that like Israel and design is has like taken Palestinians from their land. And I've talked about this before on this podcast, but like the olive tree is a very significant part of Palestinian culture, and like olive harvesting is a huge part of Palestinian life. And so when you burn down thousands of olive trees, or when you kick people out of like thet agriculturally rich parts of the land, you're denying them so much
more than just olives. It's like very deep. And I think when people that are not as informed about Palestine question like why is there a watermelon? Like what's this? And what's the olive about? And I think that goes
to show how powerful food can be. And just for those who don't know, the watermelon became an active or a symbol of resistance because the Palestinia flag was not allowed to be raised for a while and it has the same colors as the Palestinian flag, and so that's just like a really beautiful way that food has become this like powerful symbol. And so I just I just trying to know emphasize that a little bit. I guess, Jabill, what's your take.
Yeah, I mean I think that I think just I'll speak like a little bit more domestically. I feel like Raem is so eloquent and talking about historic parts of it, but I mean even here, like domestically in Los Angeles or California, I think one of the things, and it kind of goes back to what we were talking about earlier.
One of the things that's one of the things that's difficult is there are so few identifying parts of or just restaurants in general, like correctly identifying restaurants Syria in or lebaneses or Palestinian or what have you, and they hide under these names, which when I'm not going to name like specific restaurants here, but like which when other restaurants open and maybe they're owned by an Italian person or just other people that aren't Arab, and suddenly they're
taking the food and misappropriating it and calling it. Yeah, I mean, Israeli kuskus are like is rarely salad or Israeli falaffle or hey, here's all this food and it's shuarma and it's kebabs and it's menish and we're an
Israeli restaurant. Like these are things that are really difficult because I think, you know, those things tend to be unfortunately just like more approachable, saying Mediterranean tends to be more approachable, and what you get ultimately is a population of I would say a larger population of non Arab people that don't really understand what they're eating and they're
not educated on where it comes from. And just the amount of people you know, anecdotally that I personally have met who like don't know that this food is Arab food or don't know like what where the food comes from, which is so interesting to me because it's not an experience that I think many other cultures or ethnicities have. And so yeah, I mean I kind of always joke
that I feel like are really close. Example is if you know, somebody started, like an American person started making sushi and they're like, this is American food and it's just not at the same time. And so I think that the need to assimilate for generations before Reims and I I have an empathy for the want of safety that they were doing and the want to make a living and the reasons they did it. I think we
kind of alluded to that earlier. But where it's left us now is a population of Arabs and diaspora that I think are harmed for it. You know, like we don't have we don't show up on the census, and it's all sort of one part. It's all they're all
different parts of the one problem. And I think that when you take the food and you don't give it its correct name, and you don't or you give it the incorrect name, it hurts all of us in ways that like we can't even imagine, whether it's at work or in Diversity and Belonging initiative it's not including Swanamina people, or whether it's just in food ways and not being included or not being included in the census, which leads to us not having as much community support around our
people are not knowing medical statistics. I think they're all they're symptoms of a bigger issue, and I think one of the ways you combat that issue is through knowledge and shared learning and shared experience. And I think food and food ways are one of the main ways that people experience and learn about other cultures. And I think if people look at that in their own lives, you can apply it to any culture of food that you really love and maybe it's not your own, and you've
learned something about those people through that, you know. I think the main dishes of any culture, it says a lot about out where that culture has been, where they come from, what their history is. And I think people being able to experience those things and go to a Mexican restaurant and learn about, you know, a certain dish and where it comes from or why it's there, or why it's named something is an experience that allows them to learn about a culture. And we just don't necessarily
have that here. And then when you add on, you know, misnomers or incorrect labels, it becomes even more damaging and also just hurtful and very annoying, Like it's so annoying, and I like, I don't want to go. I'm sorry, Like there are restaurants in LA that I like just
don't want to go to. And maybe the chefs are really nice and they might be allies in some ways or maybe they're not, but like I would rather give please, Like I would rather give my money to like an Arab person making our own food rather than going to experience it in a different way, you know what I mean, Like I don't. I don't know, so I think that's kind of like how I generally feel. And the less professional answer is I just find it like really annoying.
And I'm like, come on, y'all, there's so many listen, Like, we're not LA is not New York. We have like not as many Arab places to go. They're sort of few. You have to seek them out a little bit more here. But I'm like, come on, y'all, we're out here. Yeah, go find go find us, like, go find give your money to like this Syrian immigrant who moved here and started this place that everybody loves. And you know, I, yeah,
I don't know. There are a lot of big restaurants are very popular restaurants here, and I'm just like, not a dog. I don't want to pay I don't want to pay thirty five dollars for to believe.
Yeah, I think, I mean, I think it's twofold kind of like who has access to resources versus who doesn't?
Right, who gets highlighted? You know?
There there's that piece and what's palatable to the American public and what's not right? Like I always say, like, for for instance, I think like realms, we kind of we do things a little bit different. Obviously, we honor tradition, we honor the soul of air cuisine, but we play.
Around with it.
And one could argue, are we is this like americanizing the food? And they're like, no, it's just through the lens of a yes for Palestinian Syrian by way of California. But we I think when we first came on the scene, I mean, there there is something to be said about the privilege that I have as English speaking, as this generation that can like what do you call it, translate the foods to a mainstream public in a way that's like really compelling, like.
A mediator, almost a ladiator like, but.
That comes from a little bit of racism, like that people don't they want the food, you know, and so like I am this palette character in some ways, and that's a contradiction that I'm constantly like I don't want to be. But it's like, what do you call that the trojan horse?
Right?
But then once you come.
Into Reams, it's still it's very warm. I mean, there's nothing we're not tricking anyone, right, But we're also truly ourselves and that's.
Not for everybody.
So we don't want to be a gentrifying space where like, if you're going to come in here, you have to deal with the community that we're in just as much as the food that you are obsessed with now, right because either.
Wrote about it or whatever.
So we really and that's not for everybody, right, And that just speaks to a like a bigger problem of like if you like the people as much as you like their food, Like our food is not just for sale. You can't just take some of it and leave the rest of it. And I think that's why the American public is so comfortable with our foods being represented by people other than us. We're not We're not We're never the tellers of our own stories, because again, this dehumanization
of Palestinians, and it's particularly interesting now. And I would say like Reims has always been transparent, but I've heard from counterparts and who are now, you know, like there are other restaurants now coming out. I think there was even just an article that was released today on Eater about the Palestinian category on Google, and you know, people are now calling their restaurants, are maybe leading up to this last four months calling their restaurants Palestinian.
And that was palatable enough.
It's like cool, like it's this culture that's really beautiful, but then when it came down to it, when we're experiencing a genocide, it made people feel uncomfortable. So it's like they want to like it doesn't stop at food, you know, And I think our food at least for me, and I would say for a lot of people who get into like expressing their food ways here in the US, Like you can't just take some of us our food and then dismiss the rest of us or dehumanize the
rest of us. And so I think that is the contradiction that we're always dealing with, is like how can we offer this beautiful culture, but not tokenize it. So it becomes depoliticized because it is political. And if you're engaging with Palestinian cuisine and consuming it, you can't just you can't do it without either you know, being an active participant one way or the other. Right, and what
is happening to Palestinians. And so we kind of pushed the envelope on that, and you know, for us at Reams, that has yielded a real, ever expanding community of folks who have really maybe a few years ago, knew nothing about Palestine. We got to do it in a way that was right. And so we were you know, we met people where they're at. We bring them along. It's not like we're like, you know, beating anything over people's heads, but we're like, this is what it means to be
truly authentically ourselves. This is our story, this is the history, this is the painful atrocities, and like, if you're going to eat our food, you have to engage with that in some way. Like it can't just be comfortable and like it's cool to eat Palestinian food. I don't want to see our food as a trend, right.
Yeah, So while it's While it's.
Cool to see a lot of Palestinian restaurants now gaining popularity, and hopefully, you know, REMS has paid some path for that, we got to make sure that we're doing it in a way that's intentional and responsible so we don't get token zed.
I think one just like piggyback on one thought. One thought that I that you brought up Riham that I thought was really interesting was like being able to tell our own stories and often we're not. We're not, And I think that relates to like a lot of what we've talked about today. But I mean even like sharing our own experiences, Like you know, I don't think it's necessarily a choice to be where you you know, to
be who you are. It is what you are. And I think ultimately there's this real pressure for Arabs and in Palestinians as well, to sort of let other people tell our story for us, Let other people make the food, let other people photograph the traumas and the joy is like if you go to any like art bookstore and try to find like an Arab photographer photographing of their own people, whether it's the wars or the joy or art like you'll find maybe one, you know, And I've
been to them and said, hey, do you have any I'm looking for like this, and I want it from an Arab person, and like the only one is Sharina shot Who's I'm Persian, But I don't know. I think it's I think it's just really interesting how I think there's like a real fear about talking about for a lot of us, about talking about our own experiences publicly.
And I think a lot of that, A lot of that comes from just like being sort of conditioned in this country to minimize ourselves and minimize our identity.
And I think essentially, well, there are real retributions for that. Yeah, we get jailed, we get deported, we get fired from our jobs. We don't get book deals, we don't get show deals. Yeah, as we're experiencing. So it's like that's real.
Yeah. And I mean a lot of the a lot of the stuff we've a lot of the feedback we've gotten on the show. I mean early on a couple of years ago, we started getting feedback that. I mean there were like two or three are we started pitching and I won't call out names, but they were like major companies and one of them was we already have like our minority food show. Like that was one of
the literal biases of feedback. And another one was and again like I just I know we've talked about Palestine a lot, but again, like the show is not necessarily centered around Palestinians. It's just us telling our own stories. And one of the pieces of feedback we got was they were worried that Reim and I like that our identities were too inherently political, and it's like, okay, but there's like nothing we can do about how you perceive us.
What we can control is saying, hey, we want to make an Arab joy show, and we want to like show off the things we love about our culture, and we want to talk about how great the food tastes and talk about stories like immigrant success stories of people coming to this country. And yeah, we'll talk about the trauma, and sure we'll talk about the politics because that's what
we're passionate about. But like to get that feedback even a couple of years ago, when you know, it seemed like everybody was sort of every culture or people were getting their turn to sort of shine, was I was like, really, are we still are we still here right now. Yeah, And yeah, I mean it's gotten, it's gotten weirder as time goes on. And you know, I don't know, no show exists like this in the way that probably no
restaurant existed like Reims did when she opened it. And I think it's going to take like someone who just really believes and is a champion for Arab people, for us to make something that just shows how much we love our own people and how excited we are to be Arab, and how excited we are to be Palestinians, and how awesome our food is and how great our culture is and how fun and exciting it is, and
all these things that people love and eat. We just want to show them like where it comes from and who we are, and in addition to that, show that we're all regionally very different, like we call in this country. Every type of Arab food is called Mediterranean, whether it's Moroccan or Lebanese or Egyptian, and they're all so different,
they're all wildly different. Yeah, And I think that, Yeah, like the fact that we haven't been able to tell this story is wild you know, like the fact that no one has and we've come really close, we've gotten into deals before, we've gotten into shopping agreements more recently, and sort of you know, the outcome felt punitive after October seventh, And yeah, I think that ultimately the fact that like we we and it doesn't you know, truly, I hope it's me and rem but like the fact
that no one has been able to tell this story for a group of people that is so huge in the Arab community, in the Muslim community, like that no one has been able to serve this demographic of people with a food show is wild and there's so many of us who would be so excited. I would be so excited, Like I would be bummed that it wasn't me, but I would be thrilled that it happened for the community. And I don't know if not now when you know, like the time for the time for equity injustice as always.
And I think that's generally how I sort of feel about the show and just being able to like I just want to tell the story for my community so badly, And yeah, I mean, I don't know, I feel like I went on a bit of a tangent. That's kind of where I am right now.
Well, in a time of Venice side, where literally are people and this is not just past that, It's not you know, there's a regional are the dehumanization of Arabs is costing us lives. Yeah, so it feels that much more important.
To do this work now.
Yeah, people are so used to seeing us seeing Arabs like traumatized, are used to seeing us in pain. They're used to seeing our countries destroyed and seeing our buildings turned into rubble. I think so much of our culture is so beautiful, and so much of it is about food and art and joy. I think it's really Yeah. I would be so excited for that show too, because I if I was a little kid watching that, I
would have felt so much better about myself. And to your point, a couple minutes ago, Realm, you were talking about how you're not exactly a mediator, but growing up there's almost this like shame about having like you're not Arab enough, you're not American enough. You have a foot
in both worlds. But it's really a strength, you know, in your experience and in our experience, Like we can use that put in both worlds to our advantage and try to show the American community how beautiful our community is and I don't know, I think it's Yeah, I love you.
Guys, That's what it comes down to it.
Yeah, but I really do appreciate you both doing this work, and yeah, reminding us that it's Arab culture isn't something to be feared. I don't know that the humanization has gotten to a point that it's just really terrifying. And so I think the fact that even existing is like political or scary, and yeah, you bring to your point, everything is so much more digestible for people than Arab
or than Muslim or whatever. Like in La we have a huge Armenian community and they really embraced and I would love that to happen for us too.
The backlash of being Arab feels very real and visceral right now, feels like we are in a time of the years after nine eleven again, and especially with this upcoming election in twenty twenty four, it's a really, I think a scary time of censorship for Arabs in general
and Muslim communities. Regardless of who the candidate who wins our political campaign, it's quite clear that the policies towards us, you know, the foreign policy, but also domestically how that has translated into hate crimes against Arabs simply for being Arab is a really scary thing. And so yeah, it's just a new thing that we're going to have to navigate in this in this new era.
Yeah, I think on that note, like community is so important and I'm really grateful to continue to foster the community around me as well. And I think with food, with Palestinian culture in general, it relies so much on us remembering and continuing to talk about it and not letting anyone forget about it. And so I think food is the same way. It's just reminding everyone this is where it comes from, this is how important it is,
this is what it means to the culture. You can't enjoy some of our culture and not all of it, I guess, And I feel like that happens all the time. I really appreciate you guys both being on the show and talking a little bit about your stories, and yeah, I can't wait to see the show happen one day, because it will happen awesome.
Thank you. Yeah, thanks for for the work that I'm doing, especially as it relates to food and hospitality. I was one of the founders of an effort called Hospitality for Humanity and you can find us on at Hospitality the number four pal P A L. You know, we continue to do things at REEMS and you can see us on the socials at REEMS California, and then you can obviously follow my whereabouts at REEM dot A C A S.
S I L.
I could put all your links in the description as well, but you're real. Do you want to be found on the internet and if so, where.
I don't know how much I want to be found on the internet. I will plug that. I think everyone should call their senators and demand a ceasefire immediately, and also consider donating to one of many nonprofits, but the one that I have is Gaza Emergency Appeal, and uh, just ask for a ceasefire as much as possible. But also if somebody demanded, they'll find me. Demand demand is fired. Don't ask, don't ask, sir? Please can I have? Can I have? Are you?
Please?
But no?
Please, everyone that's listening, keep talking about Palestine, keep sharing info from Palestinians themselves, and yeah three Palestine.
Yes it could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website, cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts, you can find sources for It could happen here, updated monthly at cool zone media dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.