Interview by Ryan Deto
Photo by Nick Cote
Owner of the Arabic restaurant Café Soriah on W 13th Avenue, Ibrahim Hamide has lived in Eugene since he started attended the University of Oregon in 1969 to study Business Administration and Psychology. Born a Palestinian in Bethlehem, he is now 60 with a wife and three children. As a member of the Human Rights Commission of Eugene, he recently spoke on immigrant rights issues at the Human Rights Summit held at Lane Community College on April 10. Hamide sat down with Ethos to discuss the immigrant and human rights issues of Eugene.
Ryan Deto: Why a restaurant?
Ibrahim Hamide: It’s part of my heritage, and I missed my food when I came here. I actually missed my ethnic food. It was my attempt to feed myself and also, when I went to college, it was really easy to work in the restaurant business. The schedule was so good. You could go to work at five in the evening when you’re through with classes and then you can finish by ten and still have time to hit the books afterward.
RD: What is the Palestinian community like in Eugene?
IH: There is not much of one. There are maybe a total of 20 to 30 Palestinians. The Arab community in general is also small. There are some Jordanians and some Algerians, but it is still a very small community. This is basically a non-immigrant community.
RD: With the lack of diversity in Eugene, how do you connect back to your culture?
IH: Well, thank God for the Internet. There are enough people where you can make connections; they are just not as ubiquitous. You can’t find them all the time and it’s not without difficulty. You keep tapes and CDs of music you listen to from back home. You pop one in the car and it takes you back to childhood memories. There is a mosque here, so you can go on Friday and there will be 100 people praying together. And on holidays there will be parties at community centers.
You have to be creative and go on the Internet to listen to news from back home, and sometimes you actually have to go to L.A., Portland, or Seattle for a performer coming from back home. Sometimes you have to travel distances to keep your culture alive.
RD: Since Palestine doesn’t have a region to call its own, does that mean Palestinians will eventually cease to exist?
IH: Well, they can’t go away. Where are they going to go? So no, their identity is preserved because there is a government called the Palestinian Authority and they actually issue passports. And of course the culture is preserved.
RD: What kind of discrimination have you come in contact with living in Eugene?
IH: Fortunately, not a whole bunch. Most people here have been encouraging, welcoming, and supportive. I have met more decent Americans than I have met bigoted, tunnel-visioned, reactionary ones. The ratio is so far lopsided on the side of the good, but I have had the window [of the restaurant] broken twice with bricks after 2001. I have had a smoke bomb thrown into my restaurant. I have been called names like “camel-jockey” and “sand-nigger” when doing functions about Palestine or educational and cultural things. There is always a bigot somewhere.
After events like 2001 and the Iranian hostage crisis [of 1979-1981], you find more reactionaries coming out of the woodwork. They’re scape-goating you because you look Middle Eastern. During the Iranian hostage crisis, a bunch of guys were going to beat the hell out of me and I’m not Iranian. Even if I was Iranian, what did I have to do with it? I live in America. That happened over there. But they just wanted to vent, and that is how they vent.
RD: How do you react towards discrimination?
IH: You pick your battles. If somebody seems like they are halfway intelligent and they argue, let’s say, an anti-Semitic argument with you like ‘You Middle-Easterners are all the same. You are all troublemakers,’ if you have a chance to actually engage them in conversation than you should. But if they are attached to the picture they painted of you, then sometimes you just leave them alone. If somebody driving across the street shouts at you with racial names then you just keep driving.
RD: What needs to be done to improve human rights in Eugene?
IH: I have been advocating through my position on the Human Rights Commission for the restoration and vigilance for rights of people that fall through the cracks of society, such as the mentally ill and homeless. [I have also been advocating] the freedoms that are enshrined in our constitution and some that are enshrined in the Universal Human Rights Declaration. The [Human Rights Summit] was all about trying to get the Eugene city government to look through a lens of the Universal Human Rights Declaration. That means human rights training for all its employees. Blind, deaf, gay, lesbian, and transgender people all fall through the cracks of society because our lives have not kept up with the changes in our social fabric.
RD: At the Human Rights Summit you said: “We are given our rights by the privileged and we are reminded that we were given those rights every day.” Can you elaborate on that?
IH: The rights are inalienable. They are not the property of the government or any government. So they cannot be bestowed upon somebody and by the same token, cannot be taken away from somebody. By virtue of birth, you inherit those rights. There are some civil rights that the government can legislate, but human rights they cannot legislate.
RD: What is your opinion on assimilation?
It’s obviously a controversial issue. There are folks who think that if you go to another country you need to assimilate and become just like them. It’s easier said than done because it takes time to learn the language and the culture.
RD: What advice would you give to new immigrants that are coming to America?
IH: First, to make sure that they know what they really want. I know economic needs drive a lot of them here, especially from Mexico. Secondly, to have a realistic outlook on what is facing them. There is still a lot of misinformation that this country is the land of opportunity. They are not incorporating the economic changes that have happened lately. So now, they are struggling. It is not as easy to find jobs. There has also been an anti-immigrant fervor going on, so for them to feel like they’re going to be welcomed with open arms is not quite the case. It is going to be an uphill struggle.
RD: Do you ever think about going back to Palestine?
IH: I do. I visit often. But as far as living there, there are a lot of complications because of the political situation. I am not packing my bags anytime soon.
RD: Why have you chosen to stay in America?
IH: I do like it very much. I love Eugene. I love the people of this town and the state. And I have made my home here. Now, I have lived here longer than I have lived back home so I have set down a lot of roots. I have family here, I have memories, I have friends. I feel at home here.
Learn more about Eugene’s Middle East community in the Spring 2010 article, In Lieu of Civil Liberty.
