Azzaz Saleh is a Palestinian immigrant who migrated to America with his father to New York when he was a child. Briefly, he lived and worked in Astoria. When asked if he feels like a New Yorker, he adamantly says yes. He delights in living here long enough and being accepted by all the kinds of people he’s met here: Muslims and non-Muslims alike. He humorously says he’s adopted the personality of a New Yorker, like the “nasty attitude” along with being able to “go with the flow.” His object is a plate given to him before he moved to America with Suratul Ikhlas on it. It roughly translates to: “Say, “He is Allah—One / Allah the Sustainer / He has never had offspring, nor was He born / And there is none comparable to Him.” Since then, Azzaz has moved from Astoria and now resides in Staten Island. 

– AS

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant