Informative Irreverence: Nawar Shora, 'The Arab-American Handbook'

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AFTER SEPT. 11, 2001, Nawar Shora wanted to change the world — make it a more informed, contextual place. So after five years of giving seminars to various groups, organizations and law enforcement agencies about the facts and nuances of the Arab and Muslim worlds, he went to Wiley Publishing — the company behind the overwhelmingly popular, shockingly yellow "For Dummies" series — to pitch an idea about a reference book for the everyman.

Wiley Publishing's reaction, though, wasn't exactly the most welcoming, Shora says.

"They basically said, 'Go fly a kite,'" Shora remembers with a laugh.

But the skepticism didn't hold Shora back, and he released "The Arab-American Handbook" through Cune Press last year. Based on his seminar series — which Shora began 10 years ago — Shora's book contains a history of the Arab and Muslim worlds, information about Islam, illustrations and for-your-information graphics, as well as a 10-question quiz and essays from a variety of professors, comedians, government officials and other notable figures.

Shora will appear at Busboys and Poets tonight to discuss the book, which isn't meant to be an academic heavyweight — in fact, Shora wrote it during the course of four years with humor and straightforwardness in mind.

"If your average member of society walks into a Barnes & Noble or Borders, unfortunately, most of the resources out there are either very politicized or very one-sided, and the approach of this book was to be the opposite," Shora said. "It's good enough for your soccer moms and dads; it's good enough for members of law enforcement; it's good enough for someone who is just curious and doesn't know very much."

Since Shora joined the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee as its legal director in November 2001 ("I joined as a reaction to Sept. 11; I was going to join a dot-com and make a lot of money, but priorities changed") and gave his first educational seminar with the organization at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Ga., he's been receiving nearly universal praise. The genuine appreciation he receives for his work — which hones in on people's perceptions about the Arab or Muslim communities and provides them with more accurate information in an accessible, often humorous way — helped Shora get "a gauge for what the average person thinks," he says.

And at this point, he says, very little shocks him.

"I was lecturing to a group of attorneys who were deploying to Afghanistan, and we were speaking on Islam, and I had this 50-something-year-old attorney — obviously an intelligent man — say, 'I'm going to say something dumb to you,'" Shora says. "And he says, 'Up until you told me about 20 minutes ago, I thought that Muslims worshipped Mohammad, not the same God we do.' It took Nawar Shora in 2008 to say, 'Actually, you're wrong, we worship the same Judeo-Christian-Abrahamic God, it's the same creator.' And I say that to people sometimes, and they are taken back a bit."

People are also often surprised by the connections between the Arab and Muslim worlds and their own, Shora added.

"In terms of Arabs, when I ask, 'Can you name any famous Arab?' people often say Kareem Abdul-Jabbar," he chuckles." Arabs are responsible for our numeral system to algebra, and though I don't think algebra is that much of a positive thing, knowing things like that demystifies and humanizes the Arab-American community.

"And the other thing for law enforcement is sheriff, and in Arabic, it comes from sharif, or honorable one," Shora says. "And all of a sudden there's a pride in their work — it's not just a name, there's a message behind the name. Things like that open little doors that people never knew."

Aside from drawing on his own professional experiences, Shora — who immigrated to the United States when he was 10 — also incorporates information from his own life into the book, he said.

"In one respect, it's very personal, because while it's not biographical in any way, I am talking about history and culture," Shora says. "For example, in covering appearance and how we can range around the spectrum from very dark to very fair, I'll refer back to being Syrian and how I have first cousins who are blond and blue-eyed and first cousins who are brown-haired and darker. I use a lot of personal examples, but it's not so personal that you're just learning about the Nawar Shora life. I don't think the world wants to know about that — it's not that exciting."

And while Shora is hoping the book can be used for the United States' efforts abroad by the same government agencies he's already conducted seminars with, he's happy with the recognition he's currently getting — and with the possibility that the handbook can help bring about greater understanding.

"I've been told by those who read it — and fortunately everyone who reads it likes it — that the soldiers going to Iraq can benefit from this," Shora says. "The recent highlight was Casey Kasem, who is Lebanese, who called just to say, 'Good job, I love this.' That was very flattering — and he sounds the same over the phone, so that was great."

"But you know, it's written for the everyman and everywoman," Shora says. "That's the bottom line. Once you're infected with knowledge, it's hard to get rid of it. And that's a key factor there, and you can choose to ignore it, but you can't unlearn it, and that's huge. Would I like this to be a bestseller? Sure, I'd be happy, I could upgrade from my Subaru. But the point wasn't to strike it rich with this book, it was to reach people. It's not meant to be homework or a lecture, it's meant to be something you enjoy reading. Wait for the movie — it's going to star Ben Stiller!"

» Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW; Mon., May 11, 6:30 p.m., free; 202-387-7638. (U St.-Cardozo)

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photos courtesy Nawar Shora