This Muslim market in Tucson offers kosher food and intercultural dialogue

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Greater Phoenix Jewish News via JTA – Tucked away between a dance school and a retro 1960s lounge on a quiet street in Tucson, Arizona is a small Middle Eastern and African grocery store. But Al Basha Grocery isn’t just a place to buy halal meat and hard-to-find ingredients.

“It gives people the opportunity to see themselves as real people and have normal interaction with people [with whom they] don’t normally interact in their daily lives, ”said Jesse Davis, a regular Al Basha shopper.

Al Basha caught the eye of Davis before it even opened with its large sign advertising halal and kosher food.

“A halal, kosher shop – someone actually trying to reach both markets and both communities? It’s pretty noticeable, ”he said. “You definitely put out a hand.”

Ghufran Almusawi and her husband Anas Elazrag, both Muslims, opened Al Basha in July 2019 with the intention of creating a “melting pot,” Almusawi said.

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“Serving kosher in our shop was one of the ways we can bring the communities together,” she said. “We just want to offer services to everyone. We want everyone to feel welcome. “

Almusawi said Jewish and Muslim and Jewish shoppers often meet in the aisles.

“I see a lot of customers interacting with each other, especially when they have questions,” she said. “Sometimes customers jump in and respond to show, ‘Hey, we accept you, you’re welcome here.'”

Davis appreciates the atmosphere and has been shopping at Al Basha about three times a month since it opened.

The shelves of Al Basha Grocery in Tucson, Arizona are filled with kosher and halal items. (Michael Zaccaria / Staying Jewish / via JTA)

“They are super friendly and helpful,” he said. He often receives recommendations about products and spices to use in recipes. His favorite Al Basha product is pomegranate molasses, which he called “a kind of finisher” for meat, which gives it a “sweet, tangy taste”.

Evelyn Sigafus looks forward to Al Basha’s tea selection when she buys kosher deli meat and holiday ingredients a few times a year. Sigafus values ​​the store’s efforts both to meet the need for kosher food and to promote dialogue and relationships between the Jewish and Muslim communities.

“I was in there once and the woman there had no other customers, so we had a wonderful chat about kosher products, kosher keeping, halal, what I do personally and how I deal with it and how she deals with it, and we had a wonderful little one Chatting time, ”said Sigafus.

Sigafus said that face-to-face conversation is beneficial no matter how much contact someone has had with different cultures.

Elazrag, a doctor, came to Tucson from Sudan in 2008. He decided to open Al Basha after having a bad shopping experience, Almusawi said. At the time, her husband was not convinced that the existing local markets offer what people really need or that all customers are comfortable with them.

Almusawi, an Iraqi American, grew up in Michigan and was already familiar with the grocery business.

My father was in the food industry … He didn’t really see a customer as someone other than someone he was serving. He paid no attention to race, color, religion, none of the above. And I grew up with it

“My father was in the food business and he was always so happy to see his customers and he welcomed him,” she said. “He didn’t really see a customer as someone other than a person to whom he was serving. He paid no attention to race, color, religion, none of the above. And I grew up with it. And luckily my husband feels the same way. ”

Almusawi said she has seen fewer Jewish customers since the recent violence between Hamas and Israel.

“I just don’t think you’re comfortable walking in,” she said. “I’ve had people come in and say, ‘How could you do that? How could you sell that now? ‘ And I just say, ‘OK, this company [kosher food supplier] in California has nothing to do with it. We’re just one company that supports another. ‘”

The pushback comes from both worlds – some Muslims don’t want to support the store because it supports the Jewish community, and some Jews don’t want to support the store because it belongs to Muslims. She tries to focus on the positive responses and those who support the unit.

“What both religions teach is peace,” said Almusawi. “We welcome everyone. We want nobody to feel uncomfortable and everyone is welcome to shop. And if something is missing that you are looking for, we are always ready to bring it with us. “

Al Basha is in Yisrael Bernstein’s regular shopping rotation. He usually does an “East Side Loop” on Fridays to collect food for several Chabad rabbis. He stops at Al Basha, Trader Joe, and Costco. It can take up to six hours depending on who joins it.

He discovered Al Basha “from a lark” a few years ago and thought that if they were selling halal food they could also have kosher items, “and they actually did.”

Bernstein befriended Almusawi, and she began making sure the shop stocked its favorites: corned beef, pastrami, and hot dogs. With his long beard, black hat and long coat, he always feels welcome.

“I really do. It makes my whole Shabbat weekend, ”said Bernstein, who is a doctor.

Almusawi and Elazrag also opened their second location in Tucson last month. Al Basha is “not going to save the world,” said Davis, “but it’s these little bridging exchanges that can.”

“We can’t just reduce ourselves to what we see on TV,” he said. “With all the differences we may have, we may just have more in common. And you have the opportunity to see this in a really human context – you buy in what you will put on the table for your family. “

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