Do you find it curious that Middle Eastern cuisine is being offered at the Lansford Family Restaurant?

Behind the scenes is a modern-day Exodus story of one family, persecuted as a minority in an oppressive majority culture, who ultimately fled to the United States.Born in 1964 in Asyut, Egypt, Hany Askandar's parents were Copts-Eastern Orthodox Christians in a Muslim-majority Egypt.He grew up during a time when tensions between Islamic fundamentalists and president Anwar Sadat were building, escalating following the Camp David Peace Treaty with Israel, and culminating with the assassination of Sadat and the rise of Hosni Mubarak.In a country where Copts were second-class citizens, Askandar felt lucky to have graduated from the University of Alexandria as a civil engineer. In a small town outside Alexandria, he ran a construction business during the day and a video rental shop in the evening.One day, "some Islamic Fundamentalists came to the store and said that the movie posters were offensive and not acceptable in an Islamic country," Askandar said, and added their concluding threat, "We are warning you."When he refused to remove his posters, Askandar received a second warning, this time in the form of a threatening letter from a self-appointed group, "Sharia Law Defenders." "Sharia is the code of conduct or religious law of Islam," he explained. "They are a part of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has been growing since the 1940s. They are blamed for the assassination of Anwar Sadat because of the agreement with Israel."The third time they returned, this time with stout sticks which they used to systematically destroy his shop.At his day job, Askandar also had problems. He had successfully won a contract to build a concrete four-story building housing for 40 low-income units. The government assigned inspector that they selected from the Islamic college in Cairo.One Friday, after Askandar had mixed a batch of cement under the watchful eyes of the inspector, and had given it to his 20 workers to pour into forms, "the inspector told us to stop because he had to go to the mosque to pray.""Sir, when you return from the mosque in one hour, all this cement will be unusable," Askandar said."I don't care," the inspector replied. "I have to pray."Having a fixed price and schedule contract, Askandar couldn't deliver on his contract if he accepted the delay, so he decided to pour the concrete. When the inspector returned, he wouldn't accept the concrete-and demanded expensive and time-consuming testing to prove its stress worthiness."That delayed the project which caused penalties for delay," he said. "I lost money and I closed my company."Askandar took a job as construction manager for a small construction company in Alexandria, adding a Christian theater in an existing citadel in Alexandria. Egyptian law requires special permits to renovate Christian churches.The delivery of building materials to the construction site angered the local merchants and they asked Askandar to stop working when they were opened, which he could not agree to.The next day, some fundamentalist toughs, possibly told by the merchants that the construction was proceeding without the required church construction permits, came to the construction site armed with stout sticks.The workers scattered and one of the stout sticks broke Askandar's right leg above the ankle.He decided to leave Egypt and come to the U.S. His wife, Mervat Ishak. followed. Askandar was working toward a Green Card when 9/11 struck.He finally received the card in 2004, and became a citizen in 2008.Meanwhile, he moved to Paterson, N.J. the home of a thriving Middle Eastern community of Syrians, Palestinians, Lebanese and Egyptians.There he apprenticed to a variety of Middle Eastern restaurants, learned their recipes, and became a chef.After a friend told him that the Family Restaurant in Lansford was available, he checked it out, liked Lansford and started the business.