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♪ ♪ [singing in foreign language] ♪ commissioner lee♪

♪ [singing in foreign language] [applause] >> thank you. another round of applause for them. [applause] thank you. it gives me great pleasure to introduce you all to our great

mayor, mayor ed lee. [applause] >> thank you very much for that wonderful music. thank you. thank you. thank you for being here tonight. if i may say -- thank you. if i may say [speaking foreign- language] welcome. welcome to our wonderful city hall. it's my pleasure to welcome you to the third annual arab heritage month celebration here in our wonderful city of san francisco. no many of you know, too, there

has been a lot of spotlight on our arab-american countries. people are wondering what it is that is going on. the whole world is struggling to find out what the right thing to think and do and understand is. here in san francisco, we have a tradition, especially when it comes to immigrants -- comes to emigrants, who they are, where they come from, and what they want to do. that's the beauty of being here in san francisco. it happened to my heritage. it's happened to many, many generations of visitors who come to this city. now it's happening for your generations of arab americans. it's our pleasure, and as the mayor of our great city -- i know it is felt at the board of supervisors that we welcome and

celebrate our diversity. we do our best to understand, to dialogue, and to create more understanding. we celebrate that. that is our strength in san francisco. that's why we have these wonderful celebrations. thank you to the ensemble for sharing your music here and creating a cultural connections. [applause] thank you. we have a wonderful city of san francisco. i know that we pride ourselves in being an international city. begins with celebrating all the diverse cultures and making sure everyone is recognized, that we have our education institutions reflect that, our cities, official events, reflected that but i know i have

benefited greatly, not only as an attorney, but as someone who has worked in the city to have worked with so many leaders of the arab-american community. the business leaders have done very well here. knowing, also, the challenges that you face -- i also know there are so many examples of arab-american leadership in the technology world. just look at silicon valley and see how successful arab- americans have been. we are now recruiting those very companies to come to san francisco to make sure that we work with you for job creation. i am also very excited about so many small-business owners who are of arab-american descent. you have done so well in working in all of our different neighborhoods. i want to continue working with you. i also want to work with those leaders who have been in the cultural world.

thank you very much for your contributions. [applause] and i also want to work with people like michelle and the arab film festival. thank you very much, michele. my wife, anita, has really loved going to those film festivals, too. [applause] that's why i want to signal to all of you that you have been educating me and the community so much. i am very excited. anita and i want to work very hard with our friends to take my first visit to the middle eastern countries so i can touch the kinds of bridges you have been building. i want to do that. those of the same bridges' we have built in our asian

communities. everyone of you who have come here and been successful in education, arts, and businesses, you have gone back and build those bridges so others can continue coming, and to make sure that we have that type of cultural appreciation. that's why i'm excited. whether you are from palestine, yemen, morocco, all of these middle eastern countries -- we welcome you all here with pride. [applause] i want to be able to visit all those countries myself. i want to know where it is you came from and what it is that you are so proud of, having left, and want to continue improving, and where your children want to visit for generations to come. with that, i would like to recognize for the outstanding lifetime achievement award somebody who i have admired that is among you today, whose years

in leadership of this ensemble is only one aspect of what she has done. the day-to-day work she has done, right down the street in our tenderloin health clinic, year after year, providing service to so many people. at night, teaching kids and youth, and training and practice in all this wonderful music so she can represent her community so well. on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, if i may recognize the wonderful and well deserving -- lifetime achievement award. for the arab heritage month. please come on up. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. we will bring her back on the stage in a little bit. if i could please have our sponsors on stage. en language] michele, please.

is ike in here or no? thank you. q'again, without these sponsors, we would not have been able to throw this wonderful event for you all. thank you for your continued support. >> thank you. thank you. >> of course, as a mayor, i'm very privileged. i will ask the supervisor to join us, as well. please come up, too. join us. [applause] >> yes. ross has always taught me how to say it the right way. as the mayor of san francisco and on behalf of our city, i want to issue an appropriate

proclamation celebrating the arab heritage month, and also to present this, not only to the whole group, but personally to someone who has really helped create the bridges of understanding the cultures through the film festival, the arab-american film festival in san francisco. thank you very much. [applause] >> i want to, again, thank you, all, for coming tonight. it's been my pleasure to celebrate with you this wonderful month. i also look forward to visiting the countries of the middle east. i know that they will appreciate a mayor of san francisco

creating the bridges over there, as well. thank you. >> thank you, mr. mayor. thank you. we're very proud of you. thank you to everyone for being here tonight. today is a good day for the community. we are proud americans and we are very proud that we are a descendant of a people -- people who greabuild great cities like damascus, they wrotbeirut, like, and much more. we are here in our city hall to proclaim that we, as arab- americans, have a lot to offer.

we are ready to go towith everyt of all the residence for our beloved san francisco. thank you, sir. thank you, mr. mayor. we're looking forward to work with you to make this wonderful city even better. [applause] >> [speaking foreign language] i am ross mirkarimi. thank you dearly for bringing me up. i have been in office since 2005, but long before i was elected, this is a commemoration, a recognition that i am very proud to be a part of for many years, because i am iranian-american, the first iranian-american elected to office in san francisco. said there is a great affinity

between our communities and one that i have not lost sight of since taking office when we were the first city hall in the united states and opening our doors for the persian new years. many in our community have celebrated together. this is not an occasion i would miss. very proud to be here. [speaks for the language] >> thank you, mayor lee and supervisor mirkarimi. next i would like to introduce the ceo of art.com which has sponsored a moderate iraqi art exhibit. he will give a few words about this amazing collection. >> thank you. thank you, nearly peter i am and and a grid myself, a french- american. i became american in the beautiful city of san francisco three years ago, so i can relate a lot to what you said earlier. i am here today because we are presenting a collection, an