What do Costa Migra Mayor Allan Mansoor and the City of Anaheim have in common? They both do a poor job of recognizing their Arabic heritage! The latter may not be true for much longer as a Facebook page has been created to build momentum around the idea of officially designating the area of Anaheim on Brookhurst Street south of La Palma and North of Katella Avenue as “Little Arabia.” Until now, the local business district dominated by Arabic restaurants, bakeries, clothing stores and other outlets has otherwise been known informally in the media and by Anaheim residents as “Little Arabia” and “Little Gaza” interchangeably. It has also been a reliable site for protest demonstrations over the years whenever the Middle East becomes the site of a new conflict.(Which is quite too often, sadly)
Ahead of an official drive to contact city council members to start a motion on it, many creative logos for the designation are being crafted (such as the pictured one above – my personal favorite) With the rich cuisine and its aromas permeating the Brookhurst Street corridor and its shops bringing unique diversity to Anaheim, making the official designation is a no-brainer. There’s more to it than just the name, however. Organizers have outlined accompanying goals such as: partnering with the City of Anaheim’s Redevelopment Agency to improve signage and building facades and training business owners to increase the likelihood of success by connecting them to available resources and encouraging the use of social media.
Anaheim’s “Little Arabia” contributes to the overall personality of the city in an extremely positive way. The time has come to officially designate the small business district and by doing that, recognize the Arab-American community as an integral part of the city!
This is a great idea and long overdue.
Your Mansoor joke was HILARIOUS!!!
badda bing badda boom! haha
Yea, that’s a place I’ll be visiting soon.
Me too! I think I’ll do a little tour of the area and write-up the best restaurants and stores.
Excellent Vern! Be sure to stop in at Forn Al-Hara!
Stores are opening and re-opening after fire destroyed a good part of the Brookhurst plaza. The porn shop that stuck out like a sore thumb is finally gone. Now all that’s left to do…make it official.
Let’s get in touch. That’s your town isn’t it. We could do this together. While we conspire to bring down capitalism.
If you would like to arrange a tour of Little Arabia with some background give me a holler.
Omar M.
littlearabia@gmail.com
How many more cultures do we need to crap up our
already over populated city ???
Before you start shouting hurray, do your homework. The business community has been pushed out by these businesses coming in and if you want to do some more investigation, find out how many actually run their business according to their CUP. We have had high stake gambling in the back of smoke shops, illegal blocking of parking areas, last minute pull-out of a computer business at Ball & Dale the night before 911 and I can keep going on and on. W/A residents met with these businessman years ago and was told they did not want our business nor did they want to live in W/A. So they have found a cheap and non-responsive city council to address the concerns. We no longer have a code enforcement due to being business friendly. So, before you tell me how my neighborhood should change from a balanced community for all to live into a flight from a designated ethnic community, remember, we have the right to live in America and with that right, we have the freedom to be united as all nations coming together and not just for one. You can call me narrow-minded or a NIMBY, but until you live and experience the life that this domination has created, you do not have the right to tell me how my city is to be run.
I see that none of these Orange Juice people live, work, or have business’s in Anaheim.
WHO ARE THOSE GUYS???
I live there. work there. hang out there. wanna join me sometime?
Also: Duane Roberts, and Gabriel San Roman, the writer of this post. Big Duh this guy is.
Who are these radicals who think they can now infiltrate our country from within ?
Look at all the cities where they wave planted their seed of hatred, and do not be
fooled by a plan to “beautify our city with their decor.” We are a country founded
on Christian beliefs completely contrary to those who live to establish Dhimmitude
and Sharia Muslim diktat in our country. They hate everything we have fought and
died to retain, for over 200 years, all over the world. Our government and local
leaders MUST begin to realize this to stop the invasion of hatred. They have no
moral anchor or belief in God. Remember all the terrorist atrocities that our country
has suffered… they were committed by Muslins! GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!!
Mr. Gabriel San Roman, tell us where you live?
If you are a true reporter and not just a political gossip man, then do your homework before you talk or write. Talk with the residents, talk with former business owners, and talk with our community volunteers. We are the voice of a mixed ethnic community. One that accepts families and individuals based on buying in to make Anaheim your home, not your businesses’ home. We have a right to feel safe and know our stores are not in violation of health dept rules and CUP rulings. Don’t tell me they are because we know the filth in many of their food store and it has been documented and the CUP violations are quite visible. We also know our OC Health Dept only checks out complaints as they are called in making us the watchdogs of our community. This is not a way to be part of our community.
People might actually be listening to you and have taken a stand on this Brookhurst redesign. What they are not being told is the money is to be coming from our pockets, yea, Redevelopment.
You are also not telling individuals about the true history of two protests on Brookhurst, neither one having a permit to gather. This was not a small gathering, but a large protest shutting down a major street in the middle of the day.
You are not telling outsiders of the number of other businesses on Brookhurst making up our business community, It is not a large percentage of Middle Eastern as you have suggested. I will agree their signs are larger, and in a language we cannot read, but it is not a majority as you have led your readers to believe.
We are working hard to build a balanced community and not a one fare deal. Anaheim is a salad bowl of ethnicities from its very inception. The bottom line here is Assimilation not Domination!