Photo by Adam Shein.
Elie Mikhael Nasrallah is a certified immigration consultant with a long-standing international practice here in Ottawa. His work and background inspired the writing of Gates & Walls: Stories of Migration in Modern Times, an essential contribution to Ottawa’s literary and multicultural scene. The reader learns about the impact of immigration on Canada through the stories of diverse people. We join their journeys from origin to destination, learning how their lives redefine our culture and society. This intriguing work should be a priority to read for every global citizen since our lives connect with people from countries near and distant.
The book contains enlightening autobiographical and essential source material, crafted into a promising read, filled with joy and despair in equal measure. As the title suggests, immigrants often face impenetrable walls, but open gates exist in many countries, allowing them to leave and arrive. Sadly, Canada is not always a country of open gates; walls exist here. Nasrallah’s book identifies these walls and symbolically demolishes them.
These pages hold valuable information about Canadian immigration policy and memorable quotes from professors, poets, and politicians. While not an anthropological or sociological work, the book bears witness to the immigrant’s voice and demands the reader consider these fundamental questions: Is the immigrant’s culture really that distinctive? How distinctive and distinctively valuable is the existing culture? What is Canadian culture anyway? And why should we fear change? By reading Gates & Walls, readers can begin to consider answers to these necessary questions.
Nasrallah describes the immigrant as an alien, both in their home and in their chosen land. He says an immigrant is viewed as an outsider, “always out of step,” even when they try to belong. They must navigate two worlds—their country of origin and their adopted home. The continuous struggle that immigrants experience and endure must be understood. We who are not immigrants often take our safety or security for granted and view citizenship as a privilege—but countless refugees and immigrants live between borders, at times without any country at all.
In the book, Nasrallah shares a memory of his Uncle Sam, who owned a café in Ottawa’s ByWard Market. Gang members attacked Sam and his staff until he and his brother fought them off with baseball bats. Readers surely will have heard similar stories in the news about local businesses being vandalized or their owners being threatened. We cannot remain indifferent. Persecution doesn’t stop when people leave their country of origin. Even in their new home, violence continues in the name of virulent racism. What’s the cure? And how can we build a more accepting society that embraces diversity?
Nasrallah’s work calls us to activism. We must not abandon the newly arrived person, the permanent resident, or the future citizen to isolation, even in our pluralist-forward Canada. Salman Rushdie wrote, “We are described into corners, and then we must describe ourselves out of corners.” Reading Gates & Walls can bring us to the centre by erasing the margins.
Gates & Walls: Stories of Migration in Modern Times by Elie Mikhael Nasrallah can be ordered from Burnstown Publishing House for $25, available here.
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