Ummat Yisra'il Hiyya - That's how you say "Am Yisrael Chai" (the People of Israel lives) in Arabic. That slogan is now being distributed in Arabic on t-shirts, hats and soon bumper stickers by Ronnie Schreiber, who is attempting to fight back against Arab anti-Semites on American college campuses.
Schreiber, owner of Rokem Needle Arts, told IsraelNN, "A typical response to my Ummat Yisra'il Hiyya hat is sort of a quizzical look and then a question, 'What does it say?' When I tell people, they invariably break into a huge grin.... Even the Iraqi Christians who run the Dunkin' Donuts on the corner like them. I wore the hat to a gathering of Stoliner Chassidim who were in Detroit for the Rebbe's yahrtzeit and they were grabbing friends to come look at the hat. How many ideas appeal to 90% or more of Jews? Plus I've gotten great response from Christians and non-religious Americans and Australians who are not thrilled with the Islamist threat to civilization...."
Why Arabic? "We already know the slogan Am Yisrael Chai. I want the Arabs to know it too," Schreiber said, "Besides, Jews were speaking Arabic before there was such a thing as Islam. Many great Jewish books were first written in Arabic, including works by the Rambam, Ibn Ezra and others."
How have Muslim Arabs reacted? Schreiber: "When my son wore his [Ummat Yisra'il Hiyya] hat for the first time to campus, an Arab student came up to him and asked, 'Does that say what I think it says?' and [he] said, 'Yep. Sure does!' The Arab student replied, 'I find that offensive.'"
Other Arabic or Arabic and Hebrew combination texts available from Schreiber's Rokem Needle Arts (http://www.ProudZionist.com) of Oak Park, Michigan, include "Israel Defense Forces", "Moses is True and His Torah is True", "American Infidel", "Don't Mess With Texas", "There is No Palestine", as well as several designs playing off of well-known Muslim slogans.
Schreiber, owner of Rokem Needle Arts, told IsraelNN, "A typical response to my Ummat Yisra'il Hiyya hat is sort of a quizzical look and then a question, 'What does it say?' When I tell people, they invariably break into a huge grin.... Even the Iraqi Christians who run the Dunkin' Donuts on the corner like them. I wore the hat to a gathering of Stoliner Chassidim who were in Detroit for the Rebbe's yahrtzeit and they were grabbing friends to come look at the hat. How many ideas appeal to 90% or more of Jews? Plus I've gotten great response from Christians and non-religious Americans and Australians who are not thrilled with the Islamist threat to civilization...."
Why Arabic? "We already know the slogan Am Yisrael Chai. I want the Arabs to know it too," Schreiber said, "Besides, Jews were speaking Arabic before there was such a thing as Islam. Many great Jewish books were first written in Arabic, including works by the Rambam, Ibn Ezra and others."
How have Muslim Arabs reacted? Schreiber: "When my son wore his [Ummat Yisra'il Hiyya] hat for the first time to campus, an Arab student came up to him and asked, 'Does that say what I think it says?' and [he] said, 'Yep. Sure does!' The Arab student replied, 'I find that offensive.'"
Other Arabic or Arabic and Hebrew combination texts available from Schreiber's Rokem Needle Arts (http://www.ProudZionist.com) of Oak Park, Michigan, include "Israel Defense Forces", "Moses is True and His Torah is True", "American Infidel", "Don't Mess With Texas", "There is No Palestine", as well as several designs playing off of well-known Muslim slogans.
