My father had won a Egyptian state funded scholarship to complete graduate studies in Canada. His first choice was Australia, but a colleague beat him to it. He won second place and came to Canada. After finishing his master's degree in economics, he applied for immigration and the rest of the family followed to Canada.
I was born in Ottawa after the war of 73. There were few brown people in Canada at the time. Although you could hardly call me brown now. Palestine must have been on the news a lot. My mother tells me the nurses all called me the Palestinian baby.
I was the baby, the fourth boy of seventh children. My three older brothers, three older sisters and parents were all new immigrants to Canada. I was the youngest by thirteen years and a first generation Canadian.
Our Muslim family had left Egypt behind and my birth was the first of our roots to take hold in the Great White North.
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