The Arab and the Brit : the last of the welcome immigrants / Bill Rezak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rezak, Bill.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Palestinian Americans--Biography.

Palestinian Americans.

British Americans--Biography.

British Americans.

Immigrants--United States--Biography.

Immigrants.

Indentured servants--Canada--Biography.

Indentured servants.

Palestine--Biography.

Palestine.

England--Biography.

England.

Rezak, Bill--Family.

Rezak, Bill.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Born of a Palestinian father and a British mother, Rezak has always been intrigued by the different worlds from which his parents came. His father's ancestors were highwaymen on the Arabian Peninsula in the eighteenth century. They sparred unsuccessfully with ruling Ottoman Turks and escaped with their families to America. His mother's parents were sent separately from Great Britain into indentured servitude in Canada, alone at the ages of ten and sixteen. They worked off their servitude, met, married, and moved to New York State. In The Arab and the Brit, a memoir that spans multiple generations and countries, Rezak traces the remarkable lives of his ancestors. Narrating their experiences against the backdrop of two world wars and an emerging modern Middle East, the author gives readers a textured and vivid immigrant story. Rezak recalls his paternal grandmother apprehending would-be Russian saboteurs during World War I, his grandfather's time at Dr. Bernardo's home, a shelter for destitute children, and his father's work with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association following World War II. Told with humor and captivating detail, The Arab and the Brit chronicles the trials and triumphs of one family's struggle to succeed in the New World.

Contents:

Nazareth

Bill Curnick and Barnardo's home

Habeeb and the Ottoman Turks

Canada

Radia and Habeeb's heritage

Life on the St. Lawrence River

America?

Bill's family comes to Canada

The Rizks' journey to America

Florence Elsie Belcher

Ellis Island and beyond

Florence and Bill

Life in Syracuse

The Curnicks of America

Finally another Rizk

Polly and Nick

St. Elias Church and the other Rezaks

Nick overseas

The Yugoslav Rezaks

Home to Syracuse

Epilogue

Afterword

Appendix.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780815652014

0815652011

OCLC:

835648237