# When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family's Forgotten History - Hardcover

by **Massoud Hayoun** (Author)

**WINNER OF THE ARAB AMERICAN BOOK AWARD - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR  
  
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.

### Author Biography

**Massoud Hayoun** is a journalist based in Los Angeles, most recently freelancing for Al Jazeera English and Anthony Bourdain's _Parts Unknown_ online while writing a weekly column on foreign affairs for _Pacific Standard_. He previously worked as a reporter for Al Jazeera America, _The Atlantic_, Agence France-Presse, and the _South China Morning Post_ and has been published widely. He speaks and works in five languages and won a 2015 EPPY Award. He lives in Los Angeles.

**Number of Pages:** 304

**Dimensions:** 1.2 x 8.6 x 5.8 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** June 25, 2019

## Details

- **Price:** 27.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 27.99 USD | In stock |

## Images

- When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family's Forgotten History - Hardcover

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