Take Egypt, for example. Its official name is the Arab Republic of Egypt, a product of 20th-century pan-Arab ideology ironically, created by two Arabized Syrians, one Christian and one Muslim. But Egypt itself is not an Arabian land. Egyptians shouldn’t get to represent Arabs. Like many other arabized regions, Egypt was only briefly colonized by Arabs, just as it was by numerous other empires.
Think of it this way: Mexicans speak Spanish because of colonization, but they have their own history, traditions, civilizations, and ethnic makeup completely distinct from Spaniards. Spain doesn’t let Mexicans represent it. Similarly, most Lebanese people speak French due to colonial influence, but nobody calls them French or let them represent France. And this logic applies in countless other cases 😅
Yet somehow, the Arabian identity keeps getting stolen and misrepresented. Arabized peoples vastly outnumber actual Arabians, which means they often overshadow us, and represent us whether positively or negatively. And there’s really no excuse for this. The Arab empires that once ruled them are long long gone. Languages like Coptic and Aramaic still exist and spoken and could be taught, so there’s no reason for this. Speaking Arabic as your national language is fine, but claiming the Arabian identity is definitely not.
Ask most people to name Arabic foods, and they immediately think of foods like falafel. But falafel originated in Egypt, created by Copts long before the Arab conquest, so it has nothing to do with us Arabs. Meanwhile, dishes like thareed or jareesh which are actually authentically Arabian are unknown. Hummus and falafel are actually as new to Saudi Arabia as they are to Europe, introduced mainly in the 1900s through globalization and urbanization.
What I’m saying is simple…..Arabs are an ethnic group with a distinct culture, DNA, and identity, and this identity is unfortunately being overshadowed and misrepresented by the Arabized . True Arabians know one another through tribal ancestry and customs. Distinguishing an Arabized person from an Arabian is mostly easy, but many Arabized people particularly influenced by the Ba’ath movement in the 1970s react negatively when I point simple facts out ….
This is the Arabian Peninsula the only region and people that can truly represent the Arabs:
There are Arabs elsewhere, especially in parts like southern Jordan, but these tend to be pockets.
I’m not saying this out of arrogance and I have respect for these other lands and their histories . But As a Saudi Arabian and also deeply rooted in the Arabian peninsula from an Arabian tribe, I am simply tired of seeing my culture and identity misrepresented all the time.
All depends on your definitions -- the most common definition I've run across for "Arab" is a person who speaks Arabic, like an "Hispanic" is generally a person from the Americas who speaks Spanish.
Identify yourself however you like, I guess. Genetic migration and diversity means we're all related somehow.
@ChipmunkErnie Speaking Arabic doesn’t equal being Arab I meant specifically that Arabs and arabized are different things If a Japanese tomorrow speaks French doesn’t make them French it makes them a French speaking Japanese And that doesn’t make sushi French . Why is an Arabic speaking person an Arab But a French speaking Lebanese isn’t ethnically French?
I think my post was very clear what was difficult to understand?
@Moon3624 If you don't like the definitions tell the dictionaries, not me. Your post is not difficult to understand, you're trying to distance yourself from certain parts/peoples what most people consider "the Arab World" and claiming some kind of genetic/cultural purity.
@ChipmunkErnie I am not claiming anything it is the literal truth 🥱 And I am not distancing myself from them or claim superiority I simply don’t want my identity to be stolen and misrepresented (negatively or positively or neutrally ) I think it’s pretty simple . If you want to learn about Arabs go to the Arabian peninsula That is their homeland and where their culture is best represented You don’t go to a non Arab land that only speaks Arabic because of brief colonialism like Egypt to learn about Arab ethnic group
When you want to learn about Spaniards you go to Spain not Mexico When you want to learn about French you go to France you don’t go to Djibouti or Lebanon simply because they speak French .
“ and claiming some kind of genetic/cultural purity.” It’s a fact though 😂
I get what you're saying, and fully agree, however it's not so much cultural appropriation as much as colonialism. Trust me, Amazighen aren't too happy at being marginalized.
@Moon3624 Most outsiders couldn't explain the difference between Arab and Arabized. I was just listening to the Behind the Bastards podcast about Alexandre Villaplane, and the host Robert Evans was calling Algerians "Arabs." He of all people should know better since he's been all over the Middle East. Algerians can be Berbers, Kabyles, Tuaregs, and others who are not only not Arabs, they may not even speak Arabic as their first language.
People use "Arab world" when they really should say MENA. It never occurred to me that Arabs such as yourself would be annoyed by this. So thanks for bringing this to our attention. I will make an effort to not use "Arab" to refer to anyone who isn't from the Arabian peninsula (and is, of course, Arab).
@Moon3624 I'm aware of how it expanded. However, that expansion seems to be acceptable to members of the Arab League, which includes people like Somalis who aren't even Arabized.
@LeopoldBloom The whole point of this post is explaining the hijacking and theft of the Arab ethnic group Making your entire comment illogical and irrelevant
I made the point that there is a league for all French speaking communities and world however that doesn’t make them French in the ethnic sense. Just because there is an Arab league doesn’t mean those lands and peoples are Arabs in the ethnic sense
No matter how much you and them whine , You don’t get to hijack it.
You seem eager to disagree with me on everything , well I sent a 9 min voice message in here explaining the hijacking how about you refute a single point mentioned in it 🤔
@Moon3624 I agree with you that the word "Arab" has been hijacked to refer to non-Arab "Arabized" people. However, the meaning of words changes and good luck convincing people to stop using the word in that way. I get it, it sucks, you're Arab and your unique identity is being used to refer to people who are not Arabs. Imagine how people in Central and South America and Canada feel when we in the US call ourselves "Americans" as if we're the only people on this continent. But if someone from Chile called himself an American (which he would be since Chile is in South America, he shouldn't be surprised if people assume he's from the United States.
Speaking of which, do you know that the full name of Mexico is The United States of Mexico? But if a Mexican said they were from the United States, most people would assume that meant Mexico's northern neighbor. My point is that the names of groups of people are not always accurate, but there's not much you can do once a particular usage catches on.
It's also clear that other Arabs don't agree with you. The Arab League isn't for Arabic speaking countries the way the word Francophone refers to French speakers. So before you start on me, call your government officials and tell them that they are contributing to the hijacking of Arab identity.
I don’t need to convince people of facts I simply share them. Just like I don’t need to waste time trying to convince flat-earthers that the earth isn’t flat. No matter how much proof you show them, some people are wired to reject simple logic and facts.
There’s actually an Arabic poem that, when translated into English, goes something like this:
“You would have been heard had you called a living one, but there is no life in whom you call. And if it were a fire you blew upon, it would shine, but you are blowing into ashes.”
After this, you gave a very poor analogy.
America is not an ethnic group it’s a continent. And these continental divisions are modern constructs, arbitrary borders drawn on a map. For example, Asia and Europe are a single connected landmass, as are North and South America. These are geographical labels, not ethnic groups.
Native Americans themselves never called themselves “American.” As for the United States, Mexico, and Canada, those are modern nation states and not ethnic groups . When you say you are Canadian, you mean you are a Canadian citizen that’s not an ethnic identity. This is why you can be Pathan by ethnicity but Canadian by nationality, or Kurdish by ethnicity yet a U.S. citizen by nationality. Jamal Khashoggi, for example, was ethnically of Turkish origin but Saudi by nationality. Saudi is a nationality not an ethnic group.
The European settlers, while they can be criticized for many things, did not hijack the identity of Native tribes. They didn’t claim to be Cherokee or Sioux or represent Indigenous populations. Instead, they defined themselves as “white.” So in fact, your analogy works against you.
You also ended your comment by saying “even your own people in Saudi support it.” That is not true. I can easily provide examples of Saudi academics, podcasts, and even historical sources discussing this issue. The very first King of Saudi Arabia addressed it, and a Saudi prince and governor even wrote a poem about it.
Yes, we are part of the Arab League in a political sense, but it was founded by Egypt, and naturally we would join any kind of alliance.
