whats your perception of arabs?

Answer 1

If I am completely honest with myself, I say while I do on occasion have certain hostile stereotypes that I see in some (the smell of some on the subway, the way some distance themselves in the communities they move into) I do also have positive impressions of many that I live near in my neighborhood.

So, to sum up, I like some and I dislike some - pretty much the same answer I have for all races, including my own.

Answer 2

Wow, tough question:

I have 5 responses:

Definition 1:
Arabs: Semitic people associated in and around the Arabian peninsula.

Opinion:
Inshallah, things will get better for women and for Iraq,
Masallah, I don't live there anymore. It's nice to be home.
Alhimdullah, they serve tea before anything happens. It's a great way to meet people.

Definition 2:
A rab: One of dem dar guys from the Middle East that waves guns in the air, burns American flags and hijacks planes.

Opinion: September 11 was a sad day for most of the civilized world. It's time to move on though and forgive others for their mistakes and misunderstanding/hatred of America and the West.

The media to this end, supported by Mr. Bush's and Mr. Blare's radical policies towards the Middle East however are out of touch and far from right.

I strongly disagree with the actions of Al Qaeda and their terrorist actions. I think anyone that's got half a head should. These people are not the norm however and should be seen as pariahs

This is where true healing starts.

Definition 3:

Arab: A Muslim.

Comment:
I have lots of friends that are non-Arab Muslims that would be very offended by that definition.

Definition 4:

Arabs: enemies of Israel.

Comments: I wonder if I were to move into a new neighborhood and immediately start going up to my neighbors with big baseball bats, beating them down into submission, how they'd feel about me over time?

It's funny how I would get arrested for that, yet 50+ years after aggression in Palestine and Lebanon, the international community has done nothing to surpress them.

Definition 5:

Arabia: A land built on time before time, where the beginning of civilization took place.

Comment:
Our older brothers in the Middle East deserve much respect because they have brought much to human evolution and our growth on this planet in the last 6000 years.

I am not an Arab and honestly, after living in the region for some years, I neither want to become Muslim, but I respect and give credit where credit's due.

Middle Eastern cultures and the people from the region are formidable and they deserve much respect.

Allahhasmalidik!

Sincerely,

Philip Jones
Salisbury, MD

Answer 3

Most of the Arabs I've met were in an engineering school I attended. Some were students, and some were teachers.

My perception was that they were intelligent, mostly logical, and a little egotistical. They were extremely sensitive about how their names were pronounced or spelled by others. They seemed to lend more weight to levels in social structure than the average American (ie a professor is the boss and more important and less approachable as a person than a student. Also, a more educated professor is a more important person than one who is less educated.) I think they are more calculated about their objectives than easy-going.

A lot of these distinctions hold more true for the average engineering student than other students, so I don't know how well most of them apply to Arabs in general.

Answer 4

The ones here for the most part seem to be under the thumb of an agency ( U.S. ) which I've observed continually.

They tend to be obnoxious but I doubt it's strictly on their own.

Fortunately I met people from the Near and Middle east some years back.

They're okay. Just like anybody else. Oh. You have to put an apostrophe in ' what's '. At one time I wanted to go to the middle east to paint. Given U.S. influence there as well as the general situation I wouldn't consider that any longer. Nor do I consider being in the U.S. anything remotely resembling a plus.

Sometimes you have to sound off like you got a pair.

Answer 5

Arabs :people.Some good ,some bad ,some smart.....people like everybody else.
Education :Non existent for the larger parts of the population.
Economy :Zero more or less ,except for oil money ,which saves the day.No involvement in the oil business however ,no know-how ,no technology ,nothing ,except sitting on it ,by chance.
Religion :Backward ,aggressive ,arrogant ,frustrated ,fanatic ,dictating about everyday life in a ridiculous way -how to wash your hands ,what to wear ,what to eat ....what.....how....
And it treats half of the population as second rate citizens.Very good for men but VERY bad for progress.

Mac
A European

Answer 6

Surprise: they are also individuals - some nice, some not nice. If you travel around the world you will see that the arabs tend to be among the most hospitable peoples on earth, though!

Answer 7

Americans who have not gone abroad are extremely insular and convinced that their opinions of others are a synopsis of life. As an American in Bangkok Thailand and one whose apartment building is near a mosque I often see women and men walking along the canal to their religious service. I have seen women wearing a Hijab and those who wear entire burkas. They sometimes go into shopping areas this way and the women seem content with their lives and do not seem unduly supressed by their partners. Sometimes Moslem women choose to wear these garments to appear demear and to think on more spiritual and less materialistic concerns. I am working with one Moslem man from the African nation of Tanzania. He is a very gentle and kind person. It would behoove Americans to step outside and embrace the rest of the world instead of living in their ivory towers

Answer 8

If you watch CNN or MSNBC enough you to start to think they are all terrorists. I know better than that, but the terrorists Arabs give the rest of their ethnicity a bad name.

Answer 9

I don't know any arabs personally, but the stereotypical arab worries me a bit - if they really are that way.

Answer 10

the only perception i have is that their skin is probably a little darker than mine and they're probably shorter than me.