The Arabs I know

Arab News ^ | 8-8-02 | Frank Fugate

[far sider]

Wow. All??? The info here on FR is so voluminous. I've heard of Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson but have not bothered to read what they have written. Can anyone provide links? Thanks. I mean it.

[Inkie]

Have you noticed the subtle Muslim propaganda that seeks to triangulate and turn Christians against Jews by including Christians along with Muslims as being the victims of Israelis? Arafart does this all the time. He did it during the seige of the Church of the Nativity, blaming the Israelis for what happened there. As if the Israelis were the ones who forced their way in there and held the clergy hostage. You know darn well, too, that if Jews or Christians besieged a Muslim holy site, the Muslims would have raised holy hell with the media and eventually they would have killed every Jew and Christian involved, rather than letting them go to a holiday resort in Gaza, which is what happened to the Palestinian thugs who took over the Church.

[grumpster-dumpster]

The great Kemal Ataturk understood this.

How very true! One of the most "misunderstood" personalities in history.

[Texas Mom]

You know darn well, too, that if Jews or Christians besieged a Muslim holy site, the Muslims would have raised holy hell with the media and eventually they would have killed every Jew and Christian involved, rather than letting them go to a holiday resort in Gaza, which is what happened to the Palestinian thugs who took over the Church.

I was saying the exact same thing when it was going on.. The world would have been appalled the UN would have been screaming bloody murder.

[snippy_about_it]

This may help. http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/arab2.html

Exerpt:
To which places do Arab Americans trace their ancestry?
Arab Americans trace their roots to many places, including parts or all of Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Some Arabs are Israeli citizens.

Shouldn't Iran be in that list?
No. Iran is not an Arab country. Although Iran borders Iraq, it is descended from the Persian empire and has a different language and cultural history than the Arab countries. The dominant language in Iran is Farsi, not Arabic, although other languages are spoken there as well. Persian is sometimes used to describe either the language or the ethnicity, but Farsi and Iranian are not interchangeable. Iran's location, the fact that it is an Islamic country and the similarity of its name to Iraq may confuse people.

So, not all people from the Middle East are Arabs?
That is correct. The four main language groups in the Middle East are Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish. Other significant language groups are Kurdish and Berber. Arabs are largest in terms of population and land holdings, and this handbook focuses on people who have emigrated from or who are descended from people in those areas.

[snippy_about_it]

one more

Is Islam mostly an Arab religion, then?
No. Only about 12 percent of Muslims worldwide are Arabs. There are more Muslims in Indonesia, for example, than in all Arab countries combined. Large populations of Muslims also live in India, Iran, other parts of East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Islam has a strong Arab flavor, though, as the religion's holiest places are in the Middle East, and the Quran was originally written in Arabic.

[mercy]

Ah, the good ole days. Before Arabs realized that we filthy Americans would not allow them to practice genocide upon Israel. It always comes down to this. Arabs insist that killing Jews is their cultural imperative. We are evil because we do not agree with them. How many millions of square miles do the Islamists control? It matters not. As long as Jews exist in a few hundred of them there can be NO UNDERSTANDING. For this insult all the West deserves death.

Pigs.

[SJackson]

Weren't you the same guy who was complaining on another thread that LarryLied was guilty of posting inflammatory stuff designed to elicit racist feelings against the Jews? So you think it's OK to post something guaranteed to provoke those Freepers who dwell on the left hand side of the Bell Curve? Hypocrite, thy name is SJackson.

Absolutely not, I never accuse LL of posting inflammatory material, I accuse him of posting anti-Semitic and neoNazi material. And his posts, and my accusations which quote him get pulled for anti-Semitic content. Hate the anti-Semitism, love the antiSemite, it’s a charitable position.

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Read the thread did you, or just jumped the gun.

You apparently accuse me of posting inflamitory material, in post 7 (that’s up near the beginning, don’t know how you missed it) I’m asked what I’m doing posting pro Arab material, by, in your mind the lefty bellcurver twodees.

………………………………………

To: Sjackson

I know some good arabs too, all of them Christians from Lebanon and Israel. The author has met nothing but good arabs and he didn't ever notice whether they were Christian or muslim. Why isn't he still over there living with them if he trusts them so well?

What's your point here, SJackson?

7 posted on 8/8/02 7:33 AM Central by Twodees

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As you continued reading, you read my response in 14, which also linked what I thought was a sensible, intelligent editorial from the same Saudi publication, which I posted as a companion piece.

Here, you can read my response again.

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To: Twodees

What's your point here, SJackson?

I'm not sure there's a particularly significant point here. It's a rather myopic view of a country which Americans, as a matter of course, aren't allowed to visit as tourists. I actually posted it as a companion to the piece below, also from the Saudis, which I thought was very good, though it won't attract the same number of comments.

When the hold on reality is destroyed (The lost Arab generation)

14 posted on 8/8/02 7:50 AM Central by SJackson

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I suppose I could repeat what I said, I do think this is a myopic view of an intolerant society. There are other, more sensible albeit minority views out there, as you know from reading the linked article which I posted (you read that one too didn’t you).

If you don’t like the responses on the thread, I’d suggest you go to the other posters and ping them, it’s easy to do. Tell them they’re functioning on the left side of the bell curve.

I made my opinion clear way up at the top. Sorry you couldn’t understand it.

twodees, just pinged you cause I quoted you, not worth a response.

[johnb838]

Frank's essay looks like a paid public relations advertisement for the kingdom. It reminds me of a few months back when they put out those TV commercials saying "we're your friends... we love America".

I think the fact that this author admits to being a former Aramco VP explains a lot... I'm quite sure they've made him a very wealthy man and he has sucked a lot of..ooops... done a lot of favors for the Saudi royals.

[SJackson]

I think the fact that this author admits to being a former Aramco VP explains a lot... I'm quite sure they've made him a very wealthy man...

At the risk of getting criticized again for posting this (and it's a Saudi English language publication, they want us to read this, it's not like the rare occasions I post translations), I'd agree with you.

I could not work there as an Aramco VP because of my religion. A Christian could , though Christian prayer would be a crime. No non Muslim can go there as a tourist or even change planes, unless on a government approved and supervised tour.

A female Colonel (or General, probably Laura Bush for that matter, Bush Sr had to go to a ship in the Gulf to pray when visiting) in our military will, of course, be forced to cover herself, head to toe, when leaving base, even on official business.

It's a rather one sided presentation, but at least the Saudi side gets a hearing here.

[scannell]

Mr. Magoo, this is a crock of s**t

[inflorida]

Emerson made a documentary for PBS a few years back whose name escapes me.

The documentary is called Jihad in America and it was aired in 1994, after the 1993 WTC bombing.

You can probably find it online if you do a search on Google. I saw it and it is a real eye-opener to how many terrorists are living among us.

[SJackson]

Otherwise known as propaganda, something you seem to be intimately comfortable with.

Precisely, my propaganda. I wrote it, I published it in English, and I'm the ghostwriter of all the comments.

I responded to you seriously. Thanks for a serious answer.