Fi Ard Amira bil furas
Residents of Chicago’s Oak Forest and Oak Lawn are creeped out by two new billboards in their hoods. The bright yellow signs both display this message in Arabic:
“In a land full of opportunity (Fi Ard Amira bil furas), here’s one that may not have crossed your mind. A job with the U.S. Army.”
The sign at Cicero Avenue and 167th Street also contains an English line: “If you can read this, call Mohamed.” The other, at Harlem Avenue and 95th Street encourages readers to find Tarik.
Tim Turpin, the Army’s regional chief of advertising and public affairs, says the campaign is aimed at the estimated 30,000 Arab Americans living in the south western suburbs of Chicago.
“Predominately, we’re looking for linguists to assist us in Iraq,” Turpin said.
The government’s latest attempts to recruit speakers of Arabic isn’t new — similar billboards have popped up in New York, Los Angeles, New Jersey, an Florida, but it’s got some speakers of Amer’can pissed.
“For Edgar Castro, who works in the area and lives in Richton Park, the first thought that crossed his mind when he saw the sign was that he couldn’t read it.
‘It’s offensive,’ Castro said.”
Good thing this guy doesn’t live in California; all those billboards, street signs, and names of cities! in Mexican — muy offensivo.
