"Murray Abraham? You sure he's not Jewish?" lots of folks asked when Cafe Arabica was invited to do this interview. Abraham, 57, is of Italian descent on his mother's side, Syrian descent on his father's side; his first initial stands for Farid.

"My grandparents left Syria after a plague of locusts brought famine. The family eventually settled in El Paso, Texas. This was before the days of federal assistance, and people struggled terribly just to survive, dug holes, did whatever it took. They helped establish the St. George Syrian Orthodox Church, where I was an altar boy. What we as Arab-Americans, or, as I prefer, American Arabs, have forgotten is what we need to hear most, of these enormous sacrifices, of the great hearts of our forebears who came here and refused to let hardships batter them down," says Abraham. A heartwarming image, Arab-American countryfolk... Cafe Arabica's mind wanders off for a moment to A Little House on the Prairie, except this one's cast with American Arabs.

 Abraham's current milieu is more genteel. One day after shooting Woody Allen's 1995 film, Mighty Aphrodite, the actor was coming up the stairs at the St. Reg's, a posh east side New York hotel. He was approached by a man and his wife, obviously Arabs, and just as obviously, wealthy. "The man said that they admired my work, and they were aware of my Middle Eastern heritage. They were such gracious people, from Saudi Arabia visiting New York for the week. I was delighted when the man suggested that we get together. Then he asked for my telephone number and, well, we had just met and I, it was a reflex... asked for his number instead. I knew instantly that his sense of hospitality was offended. I called several times but he never returned my call," says Abraham, shaking his head.

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