You may not be aware that there are plenty of Arab-Americans who have made a difference, but they tend to be low-key about their origins. Most people know that Gen. John Abizaid, whose father was Lebanese, was the head of Centcom but how many know that George Joulwan, formerly NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, or Maj. Gen. Fred Safay, a World War II war hero, had Lebanese ancestors? Indeed, Arab-Americans feature greatly in every field, including the worlds of politics, entertainment, science, and sport.

According to the Arab American Institute, there are some 3.5 million Arab-Americans throughout the 50 States although almost a half are based in just five states; New York, California, Florida, New Jersey, and Michigan. The city housing the biggest Arab-American population is Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit. While over 60 percent originate from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan there are also major communities hailing from Egypt, Iraq and Yemen.

The Arab-American ethno-cultural group is high-achieving with over one third having graduated college. Out of the 65 percent in the workplace, 73 percent hold professional, managerial, administrative, technical or sales positions, enjoying incomes 22 percent higher than the national average.

Here one can take note of some of America’s Arab movers and shakers. One might be surprised:

Politicians

American politics, for instance, is awash with Arab Americans, (said to be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats), although from their names one might not instantly recognize them as such. Ambassador Selwa “Lucky” Showker Roosevelt, who served as Chief of Protocol in the Reagan White House, is one example.

It is likely one might not be aware that President Clinton’s Health Secretary Donna Shalala was of Lebanese parentage or that John H. Sununu, the White House Chief of Staff under President George Bush Sr., came from Palestinian and Lebanese stock.

President George W. Bush appointed two Arab Americans to his first-term cabinet – Mitchell “Mitch” E. Daniels Junior and Spencer Abraham respectively, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Secretary of Energy.

One might not know too that the mother of Senator George J. Mitchell, a former Senate Majority Leader who was instrumental in bringing peace to Ireland and for his Middle East shuttles, was born in Lebanon.

As of July 2008, there were as many as 40 Arab-American political candidates including Darrell Isa, Ferial Masry, Sam Wakim, Wafa’a Aborashed, Selim Noujaim, Tommy Hazouri, Rashida Tlaib,Vincent Shaheen, Gene G. Abdallah, Sam Rasoul, Nick Rahall and Sura Faraj – who all have recognisable Arab names. But no listing of Arab-Americans in US politics would be complete without mention of one of the 2000 presidential candidates Ralph Nader, whose parents Nathra and Rose Nader were Lebanese immigrants; or political consultant and founder of the Arab-American Institute James Zogby.

Media Lights

When one thinks of Arab-Americans in the media the feisty 88-year-old White House veteran correspondent Helen Thomas immediately springs to mind. Thomas was brought up in Detroit by her Lebanese parents and since 1960 she has travelled around the world several times in the company of Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush (both father and son).

In 1976 she was named ‘One of the 25 Most Influential Women in America’ by the World Almanac. Today she is known to be an outspoken critic of the Bush administration’s foreign policy.

Two Arab-Americans have received prestigious Pulitzer Prizes – Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post and Michael Sallah of the Toledo Blade.

If Thomas is the queen of print then Lucille ‘Lucie’ Salhany is her television equivalent having made her mark as the first woman to head a television network, as Chair of Fox Broadcasting Company. For most of us in the Middle East and Gulf, the name of CNN’s Senior Editor and Anchor Octavia E. Nasr is instantly familiar. Nasr graduated from the Lebanese American University and is the recipient of the 2006 Excellence in Journalism Award from the Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce. Without doubt the biggest Arab-American name in radio is Kemal Amin “Casey” Kasem, a Lebanese Druze, who founded the American Top Ten franchise in 1970 and has since hosted Casey’s Top 40 and Casey’s Countdown.

Musicians and Singers

One of the oldest names in the business is that of singer/songwriter Paul Anka whose parents were Lebanese Maronites. Anka was born in Canada but later became a naturalized American citizen after his mega hit singles; “Diana”, “Lonely Boy”, and “Put your Head on my Shoulder”.

Rock musician Frank Zappa has a tenuous claim to be an Arab-America via his father who was of Greek-Arab descent. Singer and American idol judge Paula Abdul is generally believed to be an Arab-American judging from her surname but is, in fact, the daughter of a Syrian Jew. Shakira is the biggest selling Colombian pop singer of all time, who has used the sounds of her Arab heritage in her music and dance.

Television and Cinema Stars

Anthony Marcus “Tony” Shalhoub of Lebanese extraction has made his name playing an obsessive-compulsive detective called “Monk” and he has also featured in major movie productions such as “The Siege” starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis.

Another son of Lebanon is the actor Michael Nouri best known for his role in the movie “Flashdance” and the television series “Gangster Chronicles”. Most recently he has appeared on TV in “Damages”, “Brothers and Sisters” and “Invincible”.
F. Murray Abraham, son of Fahrid Abraham an Assyrian Christian auto mechanic, won a ‘Best Actor’ Oscar for his role in “Amadeus”.

Other Arab-American leading lights include actresses Kathy Najimy, who played a nun in “Sister Act”, Amy Yasbeck (“Wings”), Salma Hayek (“Desperado”) and the Emmy Award-winning Marlo Thomas (“That Girl”), daughter of actor/comedian Danny Thomas.

Probably the best known Arab-American movie producers are Mario Kassar who was born in Beirut and the late Moustapha Akkad, born in Aleppo, Syria.

Entrepreneurs and Top Executives

Next time you buy an ice-cream cone to cool down remember it was invented by Syrian-born Ernest Hamwi who first displayed his creation at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. One does not know whether Mr. Hamwi made his fortune but there are many successful Arab-Americans who did. Heading the list is the former CEO of Pan-American Airlines the late Syrian-born Najeeb Halaby, whose daughter Lisa became Queen Noor of Jordan.

Others top businessmen include:

- the former Lebanese boss of Ford Jacques Nasser, dubbed “Jac the Knife” for his skills in cost-cutting;
- Samir G. Gibara the retired Chairman of Goodyear;
- John Mack (born John Makhoul) Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley;
- Lebanese-born Youssef A. Nasr, president and CEO of HSBC America;
- William Hanna, the founding president of Cedars Bank;
- George Shaheen founder of Andersen Consulting;
- Mohammed Abu-Ghazaleh CEO of Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.;
- Roger Farah President of Polo Ralph Lauren, and;
- Fayez Sarofim, an Egyptian-born Texas billionaire who manages the Houston Fine Arts Museum’s endowment.

Scientists and Doctors

Acknowledged to be one of the most brilliant scientists of our age is Egyptian-born Farouk El-Baz, who was heavily involved in the Apollo Space Missions. El-Baz, who is currently Research Director for Remote Sensing at Boston University, is a recipient of the Pioneer Award of the Arab Thought Foundation and the Nevada Medal of the Desert Research Institute.

Two Nobel Prize for Chemistry winners have been Arab-American – Dr. Elias Corey and Dr. Ahmed H. Zewail.

The inventor of the heart pump was the late Dr. Michael DeBakey, the son of Maronite Lebanese immigrants Shaker and Raheeja Dabaghi.

George A. Doumani, a geologist who worked to prove the continental drift theory, has lent his name to a mountain peak in Antarctica. Doumani aspired to be an astronaut but was barred because at that time he still held Lebanese nationality.

Nevertheless, when some of his achievements were displayed in the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, he said: “Of all the things I have achieved, I think one of the greatest honours for me is to be recognized by my own people”.

Note: The above list is incomplete due to space considerations.