Growing community

E very time Hayat Abdallah steps outside of her bookstore to have a cigarette , she is greeted by a dozen familiar faces. They exchange a dozen friendly greetings in Arabic. "Sometimes I think I'll forget my English," she jokes. Abdallah, owner of the area's only Arabic bookstore, sells everything from newspapers and magazines from the Middle East to books on north African politics imported from England. Her store is part of a growing community of Arab owned and operated businesses on a strip of south Brookhurst Street. Estimates for the Arab-American community range from more than 200,000 in Orange County to half a million in all of Southern California. Most government agencies that keep track of who lives where, such a s the Census Bureau, do not know how big the Arab-American community in Anaheim is because it is part of the all-encompassing "other " category. What can be pinned down is the center of that community. It's in Anaheim, on Brookhurst Street. Markets, clothing stores, cafes and restaurants focused on Middle Eastern culture set the Brookhurst shops apart from the normal strip mall fare. Sometimes called Little Gaza, the neighborhood is growing the way other ethnic neighborhoods grow. With each business comes enough customers to support other businesses DISCOVER NATURE. Urban Wildlife is the topic of the Saturday gram at the Nature Center. The 10 a:m. free programs are informative and educational for families individuals and are available on a drop-in basis. The Oak Canyon Nature Center is at 6700 E. Walnut Canyon Road. Visual Services Inc. will be herethrough today.... The first all-Southern California Open Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous will take place Saturday.... MDC 20th anniversary International Conference will be Saturday and Sunday.... The Saftta Ana-Tustin Police Benefit show is Sunday. The Anaheim Convention Center is at 800 W. Katella The AnJaheim Angels begin the last month of the season on the road.