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.
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@Moon3624 I mean in an ethnic sense. An Arab is someone whose ancestors spoke Arabic. So Egyptians, Saudis, Moroccans, they are all Arabic ethnic groups.
@Moon3624 Ar·ab /ˈerəb/ noun 1. a member of a Semitic people, originally from the Arabian peninsula and neighboring territories, inhabiting much of the Middle East and North Africa. 2. an Arabian horse.
@LeopoldBloom There are a lot of people who would agree, because the ancestors of the Mizrahis didn't speak Arabic, they spoke Hebrew or Aramaic. But there are also many who would say the Mizrahis are Arabic Jews, much like the Sephardis are Spanish Jews.
@BohoBabe Well, yes, the ancestors of all Jews spoke Hebrew or Aramaic. Most Mizrahi live in Israel, so they all speak modern Hebrew now. Since the Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain over 500 years ago, I don't think they consider themselves "Spanish" or speak Ladino much anymore, but the languages of wherever they live now.
@LeopoldBloom But it was in Spain where the Sephardis as an ethnic group evolved. So they're still seen as Spanish Jews, the same way an Arab-American may be seen as Arabic while speaking only English. Ethnicity is complicated, there's really no set definition for what makes a person part of an ethnic group. It's not like having citizenship where it's a clear yes or no.
@BohoBabe It's a complex relationship, as the Sephardic identity did arise in Spain, but while it was under Moorish domination, so the distinction between Spanish and Arabic Jews wasn't as clear as it later became in the 19th and 20th centuries. After the 1492 expulsion, most Sephardic Jews ended up in North Africa and the Middle East, and many Mizrahi communities adopted Sephardic liturgy, so the distinction isn't as clear as it is between them and the Ashkenazi.
@LeopoldBloom So there ya go, some Jews are Hispanic and Arabic. 😮
There's a common joke among the children of Turkish immigrants in Berlin. "The Germans think we're Turks, the Turks think we're Germans." So it's not uncommon for two ethnic groups to kinda meld together and create a third group with its own culture and identity.
