{"id":150,"date":"2016-04-12T19:16:58","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T19:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mediterraneanmigrationmosaic\/?p=150"},"modified":"2016-04-26T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T18:30:00","slug":"a-day-in-mazara-del-vallo-the-most-arab-city-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mediterraneanmigrationmosaic\/2016\/04\/12\/a-day-in-mazara-del-vallo-the-most-arab-city-in-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day in Mazara Del Vallo: “The Most Arab City in Italy”"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday morning March 7th, we left Palermo early for a seaside town called Mazara del Vallo which has a large Tunisian population that represents the<\/span> largest Arab community in Italy.<\/span> Before our interviews with members of San Vito Onlus, an organization which is dedicated to helping immigrants in Mazara and has ties to the Catholic church (http:\/\/www.fondazionesanvito.com\/), we split up into groups to have lunch and explore parts of Mazara. \u00a0As we were walking down the main street, it became obvious from the looks we were getting that Mazara is not a major tourist destination, at least not in early March. \u00a0Jess and I were searching for a place to eat, when a man stopped us on the street and asked us if we were tourists. \u00a0We told him that we were and that we were looking for a place to have lunch. \u00a0He seemed very happy to recommend Caffe Med which was close to the sea and allowed us to walk around the beach before meeting up with the group. \u00a0Looking out at the Mediterranean and being able to touch the sea with my own hands and feet was a very surreal feeling. \u00a0We spent so much time in the classroom reading about the journeys and the sacrifices that people make in order to cross this body of water and now to see it in front of us, giving no indication of the thousands of lives that have been lost within it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As we began our interview with the members of Fondazione San Vito Onlus, we learned that the total population of Mazara is about 54,000 with a Tunisian population of about 3,000 (although they believe that there are closer to 6,000 there). \u00a0In the 1970\u2019s, many men came over from Tunisia when there was a shortage of fishermen in Mazara which is the largest fishing port in Italy as well as one of the largest in the Mediterranean. \u00a0Because fishing is crucial to the economy here, the Tunisian immigrants were welcomed in order to support the industry. \u00a0Since the 1970\u2019s, many Tunisian families have reunited and settled in Mazara as a result of chain and family migration patterns. \u00a0Francesco, a journalist who works with the foundation, described Tunisia and Mazara as sharing the sea because they both fish there. \u00a0Because of this, one might think that the Tunisians and Mazarians would be integrated, but Francesco described the relationship between the Tunisians and Mazarians like that of a married couple that \u00a0lives and exists in the same house, but does not communicate with one another. \u00a0He said that the only exception to this is on the fishing boats and at the foundation, where they interact and work together. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Il “modello integrazione” della Fondazione studiato dal Dickinson College – VEDI IL VIDEO<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n