2024 Arab American Conference: Green Acre welcomes Arab diaspora

“Social Transformation and Future Outlooks” was the theme of the 12th annual Arab American Conference held during Memorial day weekend. The conference, under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States, is a space dedicated to Arabic speakers to celebrate their language and culture, and explore learnings around contributing to an ever-advancing civilization.

It was the first in-person conference since the pandemic, and the first time the conference was convened at the Green Acre Baha’i Center of Learning in Eliot, Maine, where the spiritual atmosphere and serene environment contributed to the spirit of love and fellowship among those attending.

Conference participants came from the United States, Canada, Luxembourg, Jordan, and the Kurdistan region of Iraq, representing their diverse cultural backgrounds from Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman,  the United States, and more, and embodying ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s vision for Green Acre to be “the cause of uniting hearts and binding together the East and the West.”

Plenaries and workshops focused on creating an understanding and a unified vision of the 25-year plan, and exploring ways in which participants can contribute to community building and social discourse, with a focus on experiences and learnings from the Arab regions and diaspora. The current Nine-Year-Plan is part of a 25-year series of plans outlining the Baha’i Community’s efforts to bring the Faith’s Teachings of universal peace and unity into reality. 

Samah Tokmachi from Los Angeles, California, attended the conference with his father who was raised in Iraq. “There is something irreplaceable about having an Arabic culture and language based conference” he says. Adding that for his father, “it is an opportunity to take part in important discourses in his native language.” 

To be more inclusive and family oriented, the conference hosted a children’s program and debuted an English track for non-Arabic speaking friends and family members. It was a “lovely program for both adults and children,” says Alhan Rahimi from Ontario, Canada.

The Arab American Conference planners hope that this exchange of learnings and ideas can inspire community-building efforts in the Arab diaspora, and further strengthen the bonds of friendship.