Arab American Heritage

Arab American Heritage Month is an annual observance that takes place in April to celebrate Arab American heritage and culture. It honors the contributions of Arab Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans to the wider American community. The Arab American Institute reported that about 15,000 Middle Eastern immigrants from Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq migrated to the U.S. yearly in the 1960s. The celebration of the holiday has previously been observed sporadically in various states and at different times of the year since the 1990s until 2017 when Arab America began a national initiative to coordinate all states under National Arab American Heritage Month.

The origin of Arab American Heritage Month celebration goes back to the ‘90s when it was sporadically observed — mostly in schools across the country, due to the long presence of people of middle eastern descent in the U.S. See more communitconnected Resources HERE.