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When We Were Arabs

A Jewish Family's Forgotten History

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When We Were Arabs

Written by: Massoud Hayoun
Narrated by: Massoud Hayoun
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The stunning debut of a brilliant nonfiction writer whose vivid account of his grandparents' lives in Egypt, Tunisia, Palestine, and Los Angeles reclaims his family’s Jewish Arab identity

There was a time when being an "Arab" didn't mean you were necessarily Muslim. It was a time when Oscar Hayoun, a Jewish Arab, strode along the Nile in a fashionable suit, long before he and his father arrived at the port of Haifa to join the Zionist state only to find themselves hosed down with DDT and then left unemployed on the margins of society. In that time, Arabness was a mark of cosmopolitanism, of intellectualism. Today, in the age of the Likud and ISIS, Oscar's son, the Jewish Arab journalist Massoud Hayoun whom Oscar raised in Los Angeles, finds his voice by telling his family's story.

To reclaim a worldly, nuanced Arab identity is, for Hayoun, part of the larger project to recall a time before ethnic identity was mangled for political ends. It is also a journey deep into a lost age of sophisticated innocence in the Arab world; an age that is now nearly lost.

When We Were Arabs showcases the gorgeous prose of the Eppy Award-winning writer Massoud Hayoun, bringing the worlds of his grandparents alive, vividly shattering our contemporary understanding of what makes an Arab, what makes a Jew, and how we draw the lines over which we do battle.

©2019 Massoud Hayoun (P)2020 Audible, Inc.
Biographies & Memoirs Judaism Middle East Israeli-Palestinian conflict Crusade Jewish History
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A book for all people from that part of the world

As a middle eastern who immigrated to North America, I could feel and understand all up and downs. hope someday all from that part of the world can be friends, sisters and brothers and share all our Eids again. But as long as we have oil, no one going to allow friendships grow over there.

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An Amazing Memoir

One of the best memoirs I have ever read. I never read about the events that transpired post 1948 from the Arab Jewish community perspective and this book was so honest and emotional. It also dissects what it means to be Arab and how western imperialism stripped many Arab Jews from their identities and drove the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. 100% recommended.

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