Out of curiousity, are there any Arabs here?

[mystikiel]

Just curious. FWIW, I'm of French-Lebanese extraction (Maronite, mainly), 2nd generation, no Arabic to speak of. So except for my last name and a slightly dusky complexion I'm pretty much a plastic Arab, if at all.

[bemildred]

1. You are in violation of the forum rules.

But welcome to DU and the I/P forum anyway.
:hi:

[mystikiel]

2. Am I in violation of the forum rules by being Arab or mentioning it?

But thanks for the welcome anyway!

[bemildred]

3. There is a link to the rules at the top.

The relevant part is this:

# New threads must be based on a recently-published news item or op-ed piece. They may not be based on editorial cartoons or photographs. Citations and references should include a link to the original source. Exceptions will be allowed if, based on prior approval, the moderators feel a thread is appropriate.

# All threads must be based on material originally published no more than 3 weeks ago. The "clock" does not restart if an article is republished. Exceptions will be allowed, if based on prior approval, the moderators feel a thread is appropriate.

# The subject heading for threads must contain the title of the source article. The only exception is when you must shorten long titles or to make the subject of the article more clear.


Etc.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x21970

Actually, I think having someone who speaks Arabic around here could be a good thing, so it's unfortunate that you don't.

[mystikiel]

4. Okay - sorry.

I get it now.

[bemildred]

5. No problem, stick around. nt

[richards1052]

6. Welcome

I'm pleased that you're participating in the forum. Don't worry about breaking the rules. There are a lot of them & they're hard to keep in one's mind & easy to break.

The rules exist because this tends to be a highly contentious & polarized forum. So moderators & others have found it's easier to begin threads using media articles rather than personal discussions.

I do think though yr question is an entirely valid one. I've noticed that except in a few English lang. I-P forums non-Muslims predominate. There may be many reasons for this, but I think it's detrimental to the overall diversity of discussion & opinion on this issue. I've also noticed that among blogs about the Israeli Palestinian conflict very few Arabs comment at non-Muslim blogs. I wish it were otherwise because people like me really want to hear such views expressed in our blogs.

[mystikiel]

7. many reasons...

I would think that the main reason is that Arab people, by and large, are deeply conservative. They are religious, traditional, and are generally self-employed small business people. Many liberal ideals are quite alien to them. I remember my father describing the shock he felt when he arrived here and found out that many people were openly and proudly gay. It was not "shock" in the sense of moral outrage, but a sense of complete discombobulation, as if he had stepped onto another planet.

Most older Arab people (and probably a lot of younger Arabs) simply cannot bring themselves to identify with liberalism, although that may change. But equally, Arabs cannot participate in the conservative side of politics, because of the antipathy there for Islam, Arabs and the middle-East in general. So they simply decline to voice any political view in public.

Also, in the case of Lebanon there is simply such a huge gulf between western expectations and the reality on the ground. Overwhelmingly, most Lebanese Shi'a support Hezb'Allah, even here. I honestly think most people here would be apoplectic to hear from people who said during the last war, they have a relative back in Lebanon who is a volunteer, I hope he's doing okay, etc. When people are frantically emailing photos and calling people and figuring out whether your house is still standing or not, I honestly doubt the prospects of any civil conversation taking place.

The other problem is that Arab people are completely lacking in savvy when it comes to political sensitivities. Whereas people here for instance would carefully avoid saying "I hate x", Arabs will obliviously trample through three sacred rose-bushes in the course of a single sentence and will be completely unaware of having done so. I remember one Arab man being asked by an interviewer whether women should be pregnant and at home in the kitchen:- "Why, yes" he said, "who else is going to get pregnant?".

[mystikiel]

8. sorry

thanks for the welcome. Forgot my manners.

[richards1052]

10. We need more Jewish-Arab discourse...

"When people are frantically emailing photos and calling people and figuring out whether your house is still standing or not, I honestly doubt the prospects of any civil conversation taking place."

During the Lebanon war I spent much time visiting & commenting at Lebanese sites. I also received a fair share of comments fr. Lebanese at my own blog. I always tried to make LEbanese understand that whatever Israel was doing to their country, there were American Jews & Israelis who were horrified at the devastation (no matter how wrong was the Hezbollah instigation that caused the war). I hoped that this civility & empathy would go some small distance toward making them realize that in spite of their suffering they should try to reciprocate to the extent they could when they could.

And thanks for yr thoughtful reply.

BTW, I have an Israeli-Arab peace blog aggregator in which I attempt to make each side aware of the progressive voices on the other side: http://israelpalestineblogs.com/">Israel Palestine Blogs.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[breakaleg]

11. It seems

you can't receive private messages yet. I suggest you ignore the rantings on that site. It seems they have a lot of time on their hands with nothing productive to do except stalk this one.

[richards1052]

12. Ah, yes

Part of some of the rather strange rules of this site. Anyone wishing to e mail me can do so at my blog which is linked in my signature.

[Tom Joad]

14. It's not working. for me at least.

can't get the verification code to email you.
my website. www.tomjoad.org
check out my contact info.

[breakaleg]

15. same here. can't figure out the code thing.

[Tom Joad]

13. Just keep posting here. Please.

[Violet_Crumble]

16. You need to do a few more posts before you can get PMs...

There's a few sites that have sprung up full of disgruntled ex-DUers which don't get mentioned at DU coz the DU admin don't want to give sites that exist to slag off DU and its membership and mods any publicity. I wouldn't worry about it, anyway. Either ignore it or do what I do which is see the impotent ravings of a bunch of hatefilled twits as entertainment :)

[Lithos]

17. Leaving this open as moderator option

Lithos
DU Moderator

[UndertheOcean]

18. Welcome . I'm a muslim born Arab (syrian/jordanian) , and an ultraliberal to boot

and I suspect there are others here too.

Enjoy your stay.