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(The Jewish News of Greater Phoenix passes through JTA)-On a quiet street in Tucson, Arizona, between a dance school and a 60s retro lounge, sits a small Middle Eastern and African food store. But Al Basha Grocery is more than just a place to buy kosher meat and hard-to-find ingredients.

"It gives people the opportunity to see each other as real people and interact normally with people who don't normally interact in their daily lives," said Jesse Davis, a frequent guest of Al Basha.

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

"Providing kosher service in our store is one of the ways we unite the community," she said. "We just want to serve everyone. We want everyone to feel at home."

Almusawi often witnesses conversations between Muslims and Jewish shoppers.

"I see a lot of customers interacting with each other, especially when they have problems," she said. "Sometimes customers will jump in and answer to show them,'Hey, we accept you, you're welcome.'"

Al Basha caught the eye of Davis before he even opened the door. Its big sign is advertising for halal and kosher food.

"A halal, kosher restaurant — someone who is really trying to reach two markets and two communities? It's pretty amazing," he said. "They must have stretched out their hands."

Davis praised this move. Since Al Basha opened, he has shopped at Al Basha about 3 times a month.

"They are very friendly and helpful," he said. He often receives suggestions about the products and spices used in the recipes. His favorite Al Basha food is pomegranate molasses, which he describes as "a finishing agent" for meat, giving it a "sweet, rich taste".

Evelyn Sigafus is looking forward to Al Basha's tea selection because she goes to kosher deli meats and holiday food ingredients several times a year. Sigafus appreciates the store's efforts in meeting kosher food needs and promoting dialogue and relations between Jewish and Muslim communities.

"I was there once and the women there had no other customers, so we had a wonderful conversation about kosher products, keeping kosher, halal food, my personal behavior, and how I and her coped. We had a wonderful Time to chat," Sigafus said.

Sigafus said that no matter how many different cultures someone has been exposed to, this kind of interpersonal dialogue is beneficial.

Elazrag is a doctor who came to Tucson from Sudan in 2008. Almusawi said that after a poor shopping experience, he decided to open Al Basha. At the time, her husband did not believe that the existing local market had things that people really needed, nor that they could make all customers feel comfortable.

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

"My father works in a grocery store. He is always happy to meet his customers and is very enthusiastic," she said. "He didn't really treat the customer as someone other than the person he served for. He didn't consider race, skin color, religion, none of these. I grew up after that. Fortunately, my husband too so."

Almousavi said that since the recent violence in Hamas and Israel, she has seen fewer and fewer Jewish customers.

"I just don't think they are comfortable coming in," she said. "I let people come in and say,'How can you do this? How can you sell this now? I just thought,'Well, this California-based company [kosher food supplier] has nothing to do with it. We are just a business, Support another company.'"

Kosher and Halal foods are placed on the shelves of Al Basha Grocery. (Michael Zakaria/Keep Jewish)

The boycott comes from two worlds-some Muslims do not want to support this shop because it supports the Jewish community, and some Jews do not want to support this shop because it is owned by Muslims. She tried to focus on positive responses and those who showed support and solidarity.

"Both religions teach peace," Almousavi said. "We welcome everyone. We don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable, and anyone is welcome to shop. If they are looking for any lost item, we are always willing to bring it in."

Al Basha is in the regular shopping rotation of Yisrael Bernstein. He usually does an "Eastern Loop" on Friday to collect food for several Chabad rabbis. He stopped at Al Basha, Trader Joe's and Costco. It may take up to six hours, depending on who joins him.

A few years ago, he "accidentally" discovered Al Basha, thinking that if they sell halal food, they might also have kosher food, "Sure enough, they did it."

Bernstein and Almusawi became friendly, and she began to make sure that the store had his favorites: corned beef, pastrami and hot dogs. With a long beard, a black hat, and a long coat, he always feels at home.

"I really want to. This allowed me to spend the entire Sabbath weekend," said Bernstein, a doctor.

Almusawi and Elazrag opened their second branch in Tucson last month. Davis said that Al Barsha "will not save the world", but only those small bridge construction exchanges can save the world.

"We can't reduce each other to what we see on TV," he said. "For all the differences that we may have, maybe we just have more in common. You have a chance to see this in a real human environment-you are buying what you want to put on the table of your family."

A version of this story originally appeared in Jewish News in Greater Phoenix.

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