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Yes, I Am an Arab

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
Recently, I've seen some posts here that implied that Arabs are "camel herders," "terrorist sympathizers," and "bloodthirsty people." Apparently some people are confusing all Arabs for ISIS supporters and camel herders (never mind how cliche and blatantly racist that latter stereotype is).

Well, to state the abundantly obvious, not all Arabs are terrorist sympathizers or "bloodthirsty" people. Furthermore, most Arabs rarely see a camel. I find it sad that I have to state these facts; I didn't even think I would need to if it hadn't been for certain people here. It seems quite biased to focus on Arabs and accuse them of being pro-violence when nearly every current global superpower has participated in or supported violence of one sort or another overseas. Yet most of us agree that it would be beyond foolish to accuse the citizens of those countries of supporting violence because of what a minority (including the government) of them are doing.

Even among the religious conservatives I know, very few support violence terrorism or sympathize with ISIS. Personally, I support gender equality, religious pluralism, and LGBT rights, and I'm against violence of any kind except in self-defense. I'm also planning to be a women's rights and possibly an LGBT rights activist someday. The implication that I'm a "camel herder" or "terrorist sympathizer" just because of my ethnicity and/or nationality is beyond ignorant and offensive. The only reason I'm not that offended by it is that I know how obviously false it is.

So, yes, I'm an Arab, and I'm not ashamed to say that. Deal with it.
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
I looked it up in the dictionary. It says Arabs are a member of a panethnic group.
Modern Arab intellectuals are well aware of the difficulty in defining an Arab. As long ago as December, 1938, a conference of Arab students in Europe, held in Brussels, declared that "all who are Arab in their language, culture and loyalty (or "national feeling") are Arabs."
sentence quoted from "Who is an Arab?" http://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/Who_16629.html

It sounds a bit like nationalism.
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
Recently, I've seen some posts here that implied that Arabs are "camel herders," "terrorist sympathizers," and "bloodthirsty people." Apparently some people are confusing all Arabs for ISIS supporters and camel herders (never mind how cliche and blatantly racist that latter stereotype is).

Well, to state the abundantly obvious, not all Arabs are terrorist sympathizers or "bloodthirsty" people. Furthermore, most Arabs rarely see a camel. I find it sad that I have to state these facts; I didn't even think I would need to if it hadn't been for certain people here. It seems quite biased to focus on Arabs and accuse them of being pro-violence when nearly every current global superpower has participated in or supported violence of one sort or another overseas. Yet most of us agree that it would be beyond foolish to accuse the citizens of those countries of supporting violence because of what a minority (including the government) of them are doing.

Even among the religious conservatives I know, very few support violence terrorism or sympathize with ISIS. Personally, I support gender equality, religious pluralism, and LGBT rights, and I'm against violence of any kind except in self-defense. I'm also planning to be a women's rights and possibly an LGBT rights activist someday. The implication that I'm a "camel herder" or "terrorist sympathizer" just because of my ethnicity and/or nationality is beyond ignorant and offensive. The only reason I'm not that offended by it is that I know how obviously false it is.

So, yes, I'm an Arab, and I'm not ashamed to say that. Deal with it.


Sorry you got stained with the broad brush. Most of the world is not as enlightened as we RFers. Hang in there.
 

Smart_Guy

...
Premium Member
Sorry that such ignorant remarks made you have to state the obvious, what anyone with the least intellect should be able to figure out by themselves or at least with simple clues around them.

Dunno what kinda intelligence generalizes all ethnicity\religion\gender\etc. with the subject accusations (I added religion to the list just to not be seen having double standards).

I'm an Arab too, Saudi to be specific, yet I rarely see camels :p

Arabs are like any other people, whither who bothers you like it or not. Please don't let it bother you :)
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Sorry that such ignorant remarks made you have to state the obvious, what anyone with the least intellect should be able to figure out by themselves or at least with simple clues around them.

Dunno what kinda intelligence generalizes all ethnicity\religion\gender\etc. with the subject accusations (I added religion to the list just to not be seen having double standards).

I'm an Arab too, Saudi to be specific, yet I rarely see camels :p

Arabs are like any other people, whither who bothers you like it or not. Please don't let it bother you :)
Actually, I always thought DS was Egyptian, & therefore not an Arab.
 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
Actually, I always thought DS was Egyptian, & therefore not an Arab.

Most people here consider themselves Arabs, which is correct: since the Arab conquest of Egypt (or, as I personally call it, the Arab invasion of Egypt), most of us have become Arabs. Not that I mind being an Arab, but it's a historical fact that Egypt wasn't the Arabs' in the first place, just like how the U.S. didn't belong to the English at first.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Most people here consider themselves Arabs, which is correct: since the Arab conquest of Egypt (or, as I personally call it, the Arab invasion of Egypt), most of us have become Arabs. Not that I mind being an Arab, but it's a historical fact that Egypt wasn't the Arabs' in the first place, just like how the U.S. didn't belong to the English at first.
Learn sumthin new every day!
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
To be fair, though, the Arabs didn't commit a genocide against the Egyptians when they first came here, unlike what the English did to Native Americans.
Don't forget the Spanish!

Anyway, since no one else has posted it, I shall....
th
 

MARCELLO

Transitioning from male to female
Recently, I've seen some posts here that implied that Arabs are "camel herders," "terrorist sympathizers," and "bloodthirsty people." Apparently some people are confusing all Arabs for ISIS supporters and camel herders (never mind how cliche and blatantly racist that latter stereotype is).

Well, to state the abundantly obvious, not all Arabs are terrorist sympathizers or "bloodthirsty" people. Furthermore, most Arabs rarely see a camel. I find it sad that I have to state these facts; I didn't even think I would need to if it hadn't been for certain people here. It seems quite biased to focus on Arabs and accuse them of being pro-violence when nearly every current global superpower has participated in or supported violence of one sort or another overseas. Yet most of us agree that it would be beyond foolish to accuse the citizens of those countries of supporting violence because of what a minority (including the government) of them are doing.

Even among the religious conservatives I know, very few support violence terrorism or sympathize with ISIS. Personally, I support gender equality, religious pluralism, and LGBT rights, and I'm against violence of any kind except in self-defense. I'm also planning to be a women's rights and possibly an LGBT rights activist someday. The implication that I'm a "camel herder" or "terrorist sympathizer" just because of my ethnicity and/or nationality is beyond ignorant and offensive. The only reason I'm not that offended by it is that I know how obviously false it is.

So, yes, I'm an Arab, and I'm not ashamed to say that. Deal with it.
That's why you are wonderful,like all of the arabs, I have encountered. The arabs always give you a chance more .
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
At what point can one call themselves an Arab? Suppose I claim to be an Arab and I even buy myself a camel and say "I'm the first homegrown American Arab!" How am I not an Arab? What if I marry an Arab girl and live in Arabia for a year? What if my great great grandfather was an Arab?
 
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