Attack, Arabs, American Dreams Converge in NM Town (What is going on here???)

Reuters ^ | August 12, 2002 | Zelie Pollon

[Tancred]

Maybe somebody who know more about New Mexico can clue me in. How did all those Palestinians end up there? How did they end up being so competitive with the American Indians? Do the Indians resent their trade?

[stalin]

I think that the idians make the jewelry and the palis sell it.

[lady lawyer]

"The economic factor is the biggest thing, but we've also brought a new culture a new way of seeing things and thinking, of dispelling myths. We Palestinians don't have humps and tails," Jawad joked.

Neither do the Jews, or other non-Muslims -- Jawad. And the sooner your countrymen and co-religionists stop teaching their children to hate Jews, and stop believing that rules of humane behavior only apply to other Muslims, the sooner the world can be at peace.

[Cachelot]

How did all those Palestinians end up there? How did they end up being so competitive with the American Indians?

I think you'll find that this area was always a part of Palestine. What's going on is simple the peaceful Palestinians taking back the land wrongfully occupied by Indians.

[roylene]

The answer is yes they do. The Arab stuff is over priced and junk for the most part. The natives are angry. But the real question is why do the like Gallup? If you had ever been there you would wonder the same thing. Exept for Earl's where pie and coffee are a real bargin, I can see no point for anyone going to Gallup.

[xJones]

I think you'll find that this area was always a part of Palestine. What's going on is simple the peaceful Palestinians taking back the land wrongfully occupied by Indians.

How true. And the Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanese Palestinians certainly deserve that land. But God help the Indians, car bombs aren't fun.

[Honorary Serb]

"They're [the "Palestinians" are] taking over our businesses and messing up our prices," said Freida Begay, a Navajo Indian who works in a nearby jewelry shop.

'NUFF SAID!!!!

[sinclair]

"We Palestinians don't have humps and tails," Jawad joked."

What the heck is wrong with humps and tails????

[Lil'freeper]

Gallup is kind of a pass-thru town. It straddles an interstate and a major set of train tracks. Great place to get gasoline and a burger and then be on your way. It is right on the edge of the Navajo res and is surrounded by wind-carved cliffs of white Navajo Sandstone. It has a very lonely, desolate feel to it. Very barren- not much grows.

My imagination suggests that Gallup feels like 'home' to these immigrants, only without the wars and with more opportunities. More power to them- if they want to work and assimilate into the culture- and this area is loaded with local color (quirky) and culture.

[1bigdictator]

Jawad < "The economic factor is the biggest thing, but we've also brought a new culture a new way of seeing things and thinking, of dispelling myths. We Palestinians don't have humps and tails."

Notice how he didn't deny having horns on his head and a forked tounge.

[Terridan]

Maybe its the desolation out there, perfect for Jihad training camps! (Remember the foothills of Fresno, murdered deputy sheriff?)

[EggsAckley]

*ping*

Needing your knowledge of NM here.

[marron]

Normal people cannot live in a lawless enclave ruled by outlaws. Those Palestinians who want to work, and raise their families, and live in peace out from under the thumb of violent psychopaths have left already, and are to be found living and working all over the middle east, and europe, and, obviously, even in Gallup, New Mexico.

Where they are not, is the West Bank. Their cousins still living there have struck a bargain with the devil, living off of NGO doles and the tender mercies of Jihadist killers.

The Pals living here have not yet rid themselves of the racism and prejudices typical of so many Arabs, but they have at least had the sense to get out, and to get their families out. That is the first step.

[RWG]

There are more than 100 Indian trading posts in and around Gallup and the majority are run or owned by Palestinian-Americans...what an irony. Most native peoples have sovereign nations on reservations, the one thing the parasites from arafat's paradise don't seem to be able to get no matter how many children they blow up.

[dtel]

I have only passed through the Gallup area on the way to somewhere else.
I do think they would like the isolation of the area and the fact they are so readily welcomed into the community.
This article was a piece of drivel and only presented one side of the equation until the very last sentence.
I think you can draw your own conclusions from this.

[MARTIAL MONK]

The answer is money. A poor immigrant can walk into Gallup with little English and no money and become very wealthy in a few years. Their's is a trading culture and we are idiot consumers,

In Gallup it all comes together. An endless supply of fools from the interstate eager to spend money, a perception
of a local product, a rustic theme to keep expenses low, arab traders willing to bend the rules and sell faux
jewelry to faux people. Gallup is a nasty town but it has
(officially) twenty two millionaires and in reality probably thrice that.

This opportunity always has been available to whites and Indians. Why do they prefer to work for six bucks an hour
at Walmart and bitch about the rich arabs? The answer is in the culture.

[Salman]

Abdul Yazee says "Allah akhbar, billigana".

[CougarGA7]

Interesting article. What I want to know is:

1. What are Palis doing in Gallup, the town with the highest cases of alcholism per capita in the nation?

2. They were helped by modles in bikinis? Wouldn't they think that is totally out of line? Or is it OK so long as they have their head covered?

I never stop in Gallup if I'm heading that way. I always stop at the Giant Truck Stop about 20 miles out of town.

[Lil'freeper]

The answer is in the culture.

You are so right on. The driving force of capitalism is competition which is not a significant part of Navajo culture. Competition destroys "balance." I remember back during the hanta virus mess stumbling across a PSA on a Navajo radio station about the use of bleach and dealing with rodents. The theme was not 'do this to protect yourself' it was 'do this to restore harmony.' Their's is a beautiful and fascinating culture but not one equipped to thrive in a capitalist society.