Video Transcript: An Egyptian family’s American dream
Arwen Parmelee: In 1970s Egypt, my grandparents faced an impossible choice. As Coptic Orthodox Christians, they lived under constant religious persecution. But my grandfather’s education would become their ticket to freedom — selected for a program seeking educated immigrants in America.
Parmelee: The cost of this opportunity was steep. My grandmother abandoned her successful career as a registered nurse, where she managed hundreds of patients. Her medical credentials, her home, her identity — all left behind for the promise of a better life.
Evon Ibrahim: Here is nice. You can do whatever you want to do. Just freedom…This is the law over there. No freedom over there.
Parmelee: My grandfather came first, leaving my grandmother and aunt Gigi, just a toddler, behind in Egypt. A year later, they followed, joining countless other Egyptian immigrants in Jersey City — a place that would test their dreams in ways they never imagined.
Germain Ibrahim: Jersey City was a very tough area…There was a lot of crime and a lot of drugs, and it was just a tough area to live in.
Parmelee: As an older sister, life for my aunt Gigi was especially challenging.
Ibrahim: Then I was kidnapped and I almost died. We had a babysitter, and the babysitter almost threw me off over the bridge…the Pulaski Skyway.
Parmelee: Standing here at Syracuse University during this holiday season, I’m reminded of the sacrifice really means. While I stress about holiday shopping and final exams, my grandmother gave up her entire career, my aunt faced unimaginable challenges, and my mother worked tirelessly to make my ordinary challenges, extraordinary opportunities.
Ibrahim: God will inshallah everything inshallah… Don’t do anything without saying inshallah, God willing.
Parmelee: At Syracuse Univerity, I’m Arwen Parmelee. NCC News.
TEANECK, N.J. (NCC News) — In 1970s Egypt, where Coptic Orthodox Christians faced constant religious persecution, one family’s decision to leave would cause a legacy of sacrifice, continuing for multiple generations.
Their journey began when Latif Ibrahim was selected by a U.S. immigration program, offering higher education and work opportunities. Latif, my grandfather, took this chance at religious freedom for his family.
For his wife Evon, a new mother and registered nurse managing hundreds of patients, the sacrifice for this “American Dream” came at a much steeper price.
“Here is nice. You can do whatever you want to do. Just freedom,” said Evon Ibrahim. “This is the law over there. No freedom over there.”
Latif came first, with Evon and her 1-year-old daughter Germain “Gigi” followed a year later. They resided in Jersey City, New Jersey where the family would face unexpected challenges within the neighborhood.
“Jersey City was a very tough area…There was a lot of crime and a lot of drugs, and it was just a tough area to live in,” said Gigi, who survived a near-death experience when a babysitter attempted to throw her from the Pulaski Skyway bridge.
Gigi, and later my mother, Mary, continued to lead lives full of sacrifice. From working long hours, multiple jobs, and relocating to safer neighborhoods, the next generation’s focus was on creating better opportunities for their children.
“God will inshallah everything inshallah,” Evon Ibrahim said, using the Arabic phrase for “God willing”— words that have guided her family’s journey from persecution to opportunity.
During this holiday season, these sacrifices take on new meaning. While today’s generation worries about final exams and holiday shopping, they are able to only because of those who gave up everything to make these ordinary concerns possible.