What's an Arab?

submitted by Justin1389 from self.debatealtright

I can't really seem to find a good definition anywhere. Wikipedia simply describes Arabs as a population living in a certain region. Is Arab even a race or ethnicity?

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[–]antireddit 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

An ethnicity, yes. A race, it depends. I would probably classify them as one. Unlike whites, they all share the same language and culture, with some slight variations. They are almost certainly all relatively genetically similar as well, although in North Africa they seem to have a little bit of Black admixture.

[–]antireddit 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Ill add that many Arabs look straight up white or mediterranean. The Lebanese for example look white. In the US Arabs are classified as white. They all still speak Arabic though. Gulf Arabs tend to look more stereotypically Arab, with darker skin and dark eyes. So I guess its not really clear cut whether youd consider them a “race”.

[–]asterias 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The Lebanese look white because they are not exactly "Arabs". The same happens in Syria and Jordan. These countries have (had) a mixed population where the white minority led the country to progress. That was changed when the demographics were changed thanks to Israel turning millions of Palestinians into refugees.

EDIT: The original "Palestinians" were Greeks from Crete (Philistines). Then Jews came from Egypt, and much later Arabs appeared. So the original Palestinians were whites who were later displaced through the centuries.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Arabs are traditionally gulf state. Pan-Arabism (starting with the Muslim conquests) is what brought that identity to North Africa, the Levant, and the Fertile Crescent- all of which were never "Arab" until the last 1500 years.

[–]DragonerneJesus is white 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Are lebanese arabs?

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Levantine with Arab admixture. Outside of the Arabian Peninsula, I'd argue no one is completely "Arab". The Fertile Crescent, Levant, Persia, North Africa, etc. were all culturally rich and unique places before Islam. It's a shame that they all are blocked together and impoverished now.

[–]asterias 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Lebanon had a white majority till the state of Israel displaced the Arabs who were moved into Lebanon, so this white majority became a minority.

[–]TheJamesRocket 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Arabs are a mongrel race. They aren't white at all.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

Descendents of Ishmael, brother to Isaac, who's descendents are Jewish. Jews and Arabs are one blood.

This passage from Genesis explains the current and constant state of Arabs:

He'll be a wild donkey of a man. He'll be against >everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will >live in conflict with all of his relatives."

[–]Jesus 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Hence, anti-Semitic canard stolen by mostly Ashkanazi Jews.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I don't know what you're trying to say, the word Arab is anti-semitic or Arabs are Ashkenazis?

[–]Jesus 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'm saying Zionists, many of them Ashkenazi Jews in Israel and in the US use the anti-Semitism canard as a censor to shut down those who criticize Jewish supremacism or Israel or Zionism.

But since Arabs are Semitic and same with Palestinians, it means those that criticize Jewish supremacism also are anti-Arab ie anti-Semitic.

They hijacked the word, do you see it?!

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ok, I'm tracking, thanks. I've wondered myself, why aren't people who dislike Arabs also called anti-semitic? This is why.

[–]Sonofzeus 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

There’s a decent amount of european admixture seen in Lebanese, Turkish, Palestinians, Iraqi and Iranian etc, from Greco/Roman colonization.

There’s a false belief that every person of the Middle East/North Africa is brown.