Arab Student at U. of H. Finds ‘Home Folks’ Here

Send this clipping to somebody

Transcribed from the clipping

As a rule, foreign students at the University of Houston require a little time to become accustomed to the American way of life as practiced on the campus and in Houston. But not George Zabaq, 17-year-old freshman law major from Trans-Jordan.

Although he is 8000 miles from Ramallah, his home, the young Arab already has found three schoolmates from his home who are attending the university. In addition his father welcomed him to Houston last week, as did three cousins, an uncle and several other persons from the Ramallah area.

Zabaq is already an active member of one campus service organization, the International Relations Club, even though he has been on the campus only five days. The personable young student pointed out that the gulf coast area is a favorite part of America for the Arabs of Ramallah district. Almost 300 of them having settled in this area.

Zabaq, who speaks English with a British accent, is a graduate of National College of Ramallah, a Christian city in a Moslem kingdom. He has seen his hometown change hands three times—from British rule to Israeli, and now into the hands of Abdullah, king of Trans-Jordan. Zabaq himself is a Christian, as are the majority of the Arabs of Ramallah district.

During recent strife in the Holy Land, when Palestine was taken from the Arabs, Ramallah remained neutral, although sentiment was heavily in favor of the Arabs. Zabaq, who arrived in America two weeks ago, lives with his father, Mussa Zabaq, merchant, at 1121 La Branch.

How this transcription was made

Read from the scan at 5x to 9x with the contrast stretched. NOTHING ON THIS CLIPPING IS DATED: no masthead, no folio, no page number and no dateline of any kind, so the newspaper and the date of 8 October 1950 rest on the hand-typed slide label alone. The page supports only a two-year window, through Abdullah being named as the living king of Trans-Jordan — he was assassinated in July 1951 — and the 1948 war being called “recent strife”. Houston is confirmed by the story’s own content, the university and the street addresses, but the title rests on the label. THE PAGE CONTRADICTS ITSELF ABOUT HOW LONG THE YOUNG MAN HAD BEEN THERE and both figures are transcribed as printed rather than one being chosen: the caption says he arrived in Houston eight days ago, the story says he arrived in America two weeks ago, that his father welcomed him last week, and that he has been on the campus only five days. “Almost 300 of them having settled in this area.” is a sentence fragment as set, and “Dorcye” is spelt that way both times. One sentence in the paper’s own voice is worth noticing: “During recent strife in the Holy Land, when Palestine was taken from the Arabs, Ramallah remained neutral”. The young man is named, photographed and interviewed, and is nowhere given quotation marks.

Cite this clipping

"Arab Student at U. of H. Finds ‘Home Folks’ Here," Houston Chronicle, 8 October 1950. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1950-020. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1950-020