The long drive from Downtown Los Angeles begins on Interstate 105 east, then switches to 605 north until Five Points where you take 10 west, finally escaping the suburban sprawl of Greater LA at San Bernardino.
From here, arid mountains rise on either side of the motorway until it merges into Highway 86 when the exit is right on to Grapefruit Road. Now, it is just short distance to 4th Street and a roundabout with a blue-tiled welcome sign.
After nearly three hours of driving, you have arrived in Mecca.
Mecca, California, that is. Not Makkah in Saudi Arabia. But why is a small town in the Coachella Valley, where attractions include Taco Time and Pizza Milano, named after the holiest city in Islam? The answer is all around you. Date trees.
Parallel climates
Farmers began planting date trees in the Coachella Valley in the 19th century. The climate is hot − rising to 43C in July and August − and the surrounding landscape is mostly desert, with little rainfall except in the winter. Similar to much of the Arabian Peninsula, in other words.
The first trees were imported from the Middle East as “suckers”, tiny plants that spring from the base of date palms. They were sourced across the region, including Iraq, Egypt and Algeria. Many did not survive but, in time, large plantations were established, nurtured by the sunshine and water from underground aquifers.
In 1911, two brothers from the Popenoe family were dispatched to Oman and Iraq, after first mastering rudimentary Arabic. They returned with enough young plants to fill 17 railway wagons for shipment from the port of Galveston to California and lurid stories, as told in the local newspapers, of warding off attacks by hostile desert tribes.
Today it is estimated that around 95 per cent of American dates are grown in the Coachella Valley, with familiar varieties like Medjool and Halawi, which nevertheless sound exotic to the American ear.
The miles of date plantations also created a distinct landscape and culture, one that the locals were quick to exploit for the thousands of visitors to the resort city of Palm Springs, barely 20 minutes' drive away.
A tourism hub
From the 1920s, the date farms of Coachella became an increasingly popular tourist day trip, with attractions like Romance and Sex Life of the Date (actually, a short film on the pollination process) and the date milkshake − using date crystals in a process popularised by Shields Date Garden in 1936 and still going strong.
A Middle Eastern theme also began to develop, one based not so much on the reality of life in the region, but more the American Orientalist perspective of Bible stories and stories like Aladdin from Arabian Nights, with their magic carpets and genies. In many ways, the Coachella Valley is a window into American preconceptions about the Arab world.
At the annual Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival, the main stage features a backdrop with imagined Arabian architecture complete with minarets. Past performances since 1947 have included camel riders, an “Arab Marching Band”, “harem dancers” and an annual Queen Scheherazade and Princess Jasmine pageant.
Going along with this, the unincorporated community of Walters changed its name over a century ago to Mecca. Today, Mecca California has a population of around 8,200 and has a small claim to fame as the location for Wild Angels, Roger Corman’s 1966 biker film which starred Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra.
The Gulf and Middle East still plays an active role in the Coachella Valley. Arabic words like rutab and khaal, referring to the stages of ripening, have passed into the language of Californian date farmers.
There is also an interchange of ideas between Californian and Middle East date growers. Mark Tadros, a second generation farmer whose family originally migrated from Egypt in the 1960s to found Aziz Farms, says he is impressed with some of the new technology for growing and harvesting coming from the Gulf.
In 2024, he told Aramco World magazine: “The date-growing region here wouldn’t exist without the date-growing region in the Middle East.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Jawan
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score)
Porto (0) v Liverpool (2), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
The five pillars of Islam
