Habibi City
"Habibi City" is a 2026 magazine article by Palestinian American writer Zaina Arafat, published by New York as part of a package about Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) culture in New York City.[1][2]
Arafat connects this development to the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, opposition to the Trump administration's travel ban, the Gaza war, and the political rise of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani.[1] The article and accompanying package attracted controversy over their treatment of Zionism, Israel and Jewish identity.[3]
Background and content
She contrasts the cultural visibility of SWANA people in the 2020s with her experience in New York after the September 11 attacks, describing Arab and Muslim communities as previously more fragmented. She identifies protests against President Donald Trump's 2017 travel ban and Ramy Youssef's Ramy as contributing to greater solidarity and visibility.[1]
The title uses habibi, an Arabic term of affection meaning "my beloved" or "my dear". L'Orient Today noted that, in 1975, New York magazine examined whether the city's growing Arab communities could successfully establish themselves there, and saw the 2026 "Habibi City" issue as a symbolic answer to that question, reflecting the communities' increased visibility and cultural influence.[2]
Arafat describes a network of restaurants, cafés, bookstores, reading groups, musical events and parties serving people of SWANA backgrounds. She argues that political organizing and fundraising following the October 7 attacks and subsequent Gaza war helped strengthen these networks.[1] She characterizes the milieu as broadly progressive and pro-Palestine while noting disagreements over national, ethnic and religious identity, including debate over the place of Israelis within the SWANA category.[1]
Publication and reception
"Habibi City" was the centerpiece of a broader New York package covering food, nightlife, comedy and figures in the city's SWANA cultural scene.[4]
Criticism focused on the package's treatment of Israel, Zionism and Jewish identity. Arafat's inclusion of Zionism as a prejudice faced by SWANA New Yorkers, alongside xenophobia and Islamophobia, drew criticism, as did what critics regarded as inadequate representation of Jews of SWANA origin.[3] An accompanying food article by Madeline Leung Coleman was also criticized for describing Israel as "the land mass currently called Israel".[3]
Writer Liel Leibovitz criticized the article in The Free Press, arguing that the article encouraged ethnic and political separation rather than assimilation into a common American identity.[5] New York responded that the package sought to document an increasingly visible subculture and acknowledged criticism from members of the Jewish community, while saying it had attempted to portray political disagreements within the communities covered.[3][4]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Arafat, Zaina (August 10, 2026). "Habibi City". New York. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
- 1 2 Mounzer, Clément Camil (August 19, 2026). "Has New York really become 'Habibi City'?". L'Orient Today. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Katz, A. J. (August 12, 2026). "New York Mag Draws Ire for 'Erased' Jewish Identity in 'Habibi City' Feature on Mideast Communities". TheWrap. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
- 1 2 Katz, A. J. (August 17, 2026). "New York Magazine's 'Habibi City' Problem". TheWrap. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
- ↑ Leibovitz, Liel (August 11, 2026). "New York Is Not, and Should Not Be, 'Habibi City'". The Free Press. Retrieved August 23, 2026.