9781422277478

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C onn ect i ng C u ltu r es T hrough F am i ly and F ood

Introduction

W hen people talk about the Middle East, they are not referring to a single country. The MiddleEast isaregionthat stretches fromAfrica in thewest to theArabi- anGulf in the east. It containsmore than 20 nations, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Pal- estine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. You might think everyone in the Middle East is Muslim, but in fact, theregionishome topeopleof awide variety of faiths, including Chris- tians, Jews, andDruze (members of an independent religionestablished in the 11th century). Middle Easterners have immi- grated to the United States since the late 19th century, and in the last

fewdecades, their numbers have in- creased greatly. In 1970 there were about 200,000 Middle Eastern im- migrants in the United States, but today, there are about 1.5 million, according tosomeestimates.Califor- nia, Virginia, Texas, Michigan, and New York are among the US states withfast-growingnumbersof people from the Middle East. People from the region have also settled in large numbers in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia. People move from the Middle East for a number of reasons. Some are seeking greater educational and economic opportunities andabetter life. Some are escaping persecution, violence, and strife in their native countries.Beginningin2015,refugees trying to escape crises in places like