Community Life

Arab Canadians feel pride in their ethnic heritage and are thus actively engaged in a wide range of community-based organizations. The most prevalent type of organization is one that projects a decidedly “Arab” name and image, in which membership is open to all, regardless of country of origin or religious affiliation. However, some organizations are narrower in orientation, serving the interests of individuals and groups who carry the same citizenship, while others are still narrower in orientation, and are established by and for individuals and groups from the same village. In terms of their purposes, some of these organizations are concerned with charitable, social, cultural, or political goals, while others combine several different functions.

Typically, Arab-Canadian organizations are formed at the local level, with a few notable exceptions which are Canada-wide in their geographical orientation. Prime examples of the latter type of organization are the Toronto-based Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), which was established in 1967 and with which many organizations across Canada are affiliated; the Toronto-based Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation, established in 1984; the Montreal-based Medical Aid for Palestine, established in 1983; and the Ottawa-based National Council on Canada-Arab Relations (NCCAR), which was established in 1986. National organizations aim to coordinate Arab-Canadian efforts to foster friendly relations and mutual understanding between Canadians and Arab peoples; to defend the political and human rights of the Palestinian people as well as the human rights of Arab Canadians in Canada and Arabs in their homelands; to carry out charitable works and assist in international development efforts; and to enhance trade relations between Canada and the Arab world.

For the most part, the activities of Arab-Canadian organizations are predictable and include social and cultural functions, annual banquets, visiting speakers, mail contacts, helping Arab Canadians adapt to their new environment, and lobbying government leaders and politicians. The efforts of these organizations tend to increase in their intensity in moments of crisis, as occurred for example during the civil war in Lebanon; the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982; the Palestinian intifada (uprising) in the West Bank and Gaza which erupted in 1987; the civil war in Somalia; and the Gulf War of 1991. In crisis situations community resources are usually mobilized to protect the integrity of the Arab-Canadian community and/or to aid the victims. Characteristically, networks are established between local and national Arab-Canadian leaders to clarify events and foster greater understanding of Arab Canadians and events in the Arab world.

Somewhat related to the above are the organizations formed by Arab-origin students in virtually all major Canadian universities. These organizations and those serving the local Arab-Canadian community occasionally co-sponsor cultural events and visiting speakers. The goals of student and Arab-Canadian friendship organizations are essentially similar, except that the former tend to be more politicized than the latter.

A troublesome issue facing Arab Canadians and their organizations derives from their belief that media in Canada tend to oversimplify and even distort events in the Arab world, and that they produce negative images and stereotypes of the Arab people. For example, the news coverage and tension surrounding the Gulf War in 1991 heightened prejudice against Arab as well as Muslim Canadians who were harassed and intimidated and whose properties were vandalized in several Canadian cities. During that period, Arab-Canadian organizations were active in virtually all of Canada’s major urban centres in defence of Arab Canadians. The CAF and the NCCAR took the lead in these activities.

Another important institutional development in the Arab-Canadian community concerns the ethnic press. From the early days of settlement in Canada, Arab immigrants began to publish Arabic-language, and later Arabic-English– or Arabic-French–language newspapers, to instill pride in the ancestral heritage, disseminate news of the Arab community, and feature articles about the Arab world. After a few years of operation, however, these early newspapers ceased to publish because of insufficient community support. For example, the first Arabic-language biweekly newspaper to appear in Canada, the al-Shآhāb (The Meteorite) of Montreal, lasted for only two years (1908–10). Similarly, The Syrian-Lebanese Mercury of Toronto, an English-language monthly, began in 1935 but ceased publication in 1938.

In the immediate post-World War II period, a goodly number of newspapers were started, but again many of them were discontinued because of insufficient community support. Since the 1960s however, the Arab-Canadian community has been and continues to be served by two major trilingual (English, French, Arabic) ethnic newspapers both published in Montreal, The Canadian Middle-East Journal (Al-Sharq al-Awsat fi Kanada; 1966– ), and La revue du monde Arabe/Arab World Review/al-’Alam al-’Arabµ fi Kanada (1969–95). In addition, many Arab-Canadian organizations or enterprising individuals publish newsletters or newspapers which serve the interests of either a particular community or all Arab-origin citizens. Overall, the range of materials potentially available today to Arab Canadians, whether locally produced or imported, is quite wide.