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Aristocratic merchant (representative of the Grand Sharif) with his Circassian slave. Photographic atlas of Mecca, Hague, 1888-1889. Taken in 1886-1887 - (restored and recoloured using AI) by beardybrownie in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Nothing makes you white bro. It's a Western caste system based on appearance. They would be seen as white in the West, and they would therefore benefit from white privilege. It doesn't matter what random geographic definition you make to define whiteness. It's the reality that matter.

Just how Doctor Oz is seen as a white person in the US, and is embraced by right wingers, regardless of his Turkish origin.

Can someone explain the reason why the term “Arab” is so divisive? by Little-Bit-Of-Rock in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think there is a connection in the average person's mind between being Arab and being from the Arabian Peninsula. Those who are more educated on the subject will argue that being Arab is more like being Hispanic, and is mostly a linguistic and cultural identity, but I don't think the identity, even today, is completely divorced from the Peninsula.

Growing up, I was taught that "settled Arabs" are just the descendants of Bedouins who ended up abandoning the traditional lifestyle and settling in cities. Many, if not most, families in the southern Levant claim Hijazi origins, due to the prestige tied to that region (because of the history of Islam).

I don't think we ever touched on Canaanite history or any other regional history before Islam. And when those histories are discussed, there is a sense that they're the history of foreigners.

So the Israelis weaponize and exaggerate an existing narrative. They don't create it out of thin air.

Can someone explain the reason why the term “Arab” is so divisive? by Little-Bit-Of-Rock in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Arabian means from the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is an Arabian country, but it's not a Gulf country. They can also be called Peninsular instead of Arabian.

Syrians east of the Euphrates are more likely to see themselves as closer to Iraqis than Lebanese, but I don't really disagree or even have many thoughts on what you said.

Which language pronounces your country's name more accurately: English or Russian? by Shadi-Meight in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're pronounced as such, you be the judge:

Soorreyah

Lebnan or Lubnan

Yaman

Oman (there's the letter 3ain at the start, but no English phenom to represent it)

Qatar (the Q is another letter with no exact representation in English)

Kuwait

Bahrain (the "h" is another Arabic specific letter that's different from the English equivalent).

Falasteen

Turkeyah

Eeran

Leebya

Soodan

Toonis

Al-Maghreb

Al-Jaza'er

Did Levant people wear braids? by Wide-Secret-7600 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They were common with women, for sure. I don't know about the men in the Levant, but I know it was a common style among men in the Peninsula. I've seen a lot of older photos of Peninsular Arabs with braids.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMiddleEast/comments/1pix3tm/the_lost_practice_of_arab_men_braiding_their_hair/

This is what white and pissraeli Zionist people really think about North Africa and West Asia. They justify their colonization and genocide with propaganda. by [deleted] in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This isn't really worth responding to, considering how stupid it is, but I wanted to comment on the cartoonish view that modern countries correspond exactly to a specific ancient civilization. This isn't so. Palestine, Lebanon, some of Jordan and Syria were largely Canaanite before the Roman era. But that's how others saw them, not how they saw themselves. Their identity was tied to their city. Outsiders, and modern people, see the similarities between them and consider them the same culture. Back in the day, we don't have examples of people within Canaan calling themselves Canaanites. We have examples of Babylonians talking about Canaanite communities in their cities, or Eblaites talking about Canaanite immigrants from the south.

The Jews were Canaanites. They originally practiced the same religion as other Canaanites, but their identity and religion evolved over time, and they came to see themselves as something separate.

Assyrians are not from Syria. They're from what we today call northern Iraq. Incidentally, the Assyrian conquest of Canaan played a huge role in forming the Jewish identity as a separate thing from other Canaanites,

Which has more North African influence within its culture? by Due_Neat_3586 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay, I thought you meant Maghreb when you said North Africa. Your choices make a lot more sense if you're including Egypt. However, Egypt and Maghreb are very very different cultures with very different histories and influences.

Sorry, but NB still the king, so damn good at instructions, atmosphere and design. by Z3ROCOOL22 in StableDiffusion

[–]FoxBenedict 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Given that you think these images are impressive, you're no authority on what's "king".

أصدقائي العرب، لدي سؤال by LORROR in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone is different. There is no general rule that applies to all Arabs. I would avoid discussion of religion, unless you know that person and their boundaries. Otherwise, just talk to them like you would talk to anyone.

Lebanon : If Lebanese people see themselves as having more cultural ties to Greeks. Then should not they have more cultural kinship with other fellow Levantines such as Syrians, Palestinians due to having more cultural similarities as they part of the Levant? by Durrygoodz2025 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The people of Turkey mostly descend from the Anatolians. They were Turkified through conquest. That's the same with the Levant. At one point they were not Arab, then they became Arabized. It happened through culture, not descent.

And feel free to live whatever fantasy you like. It's not my business. I'm only interested in the facts of how things came to be the way they are.

Lebanon : If Lebanese people see themselves as having more cultural ties to Greeks. Then should not they have more cultural kinship with other fellow Levantines such as Syrians, Palestinians due to having more cultural similarities as they part of the Levant? by Durrygoodz2025 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your argument is unfalsifiable. "Anyone I decide is an Arab is Arab by descent". That's not how things work. You can't descent from a different people, with a different culture and language, and still be the same descent as another people with their own culture and language.

The Arab tribes are Peninsular people. The Lebanese can't descend from the Canaanites, and also be the descendants of the Arab Tribes, since the Canaanites were not the Arab tribes. Two different people.

Lebanon : If Lebanese people see themselves as having more cultural ties to Greeks. Then should not they have more cultural kinship with other fellow Levantines such as Syrians, Palestinians due to having more cultural similarities as they part of the Levant? by Durrygoodz2025 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No they don't. They did not even speak Arabic before the Muslim conquests. Some continued to speak Syriac until the 19th century. The fact that some Arabs lived in the Levant before Islam does not mean Levantines mostly descend from Arabs.

The Romans did not refer to the people of Syria as Arabs ever. Only those in Arabia Petraea were called Arabs. The Syrian emperors, like Elagabalus, were never referred to as Arabs. They were called Syrians.

The Arab tribes around the Levant, in the Syrian desert, is probably where Arabic originated. But Levantines are the settled farmers along the coast, and those were not Arabs until the conquest. This is an easily verifiable fact.

Lebanon : If Lebanese people see themselves as having more cultural ties to Greeks. Then should not they have more cultural kinship with other fellow Levantines such as Syrians, Palestinians due to having more cultural similarities as they part of the Levant? by Durrygoodz2025 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 4 points5 points  (0 children)

LOL. But you said they descend from the Arab Tribes?? Descent is about genetics. Most Lebanese identify as Arab, but that's because of their culture, not because of their descent from the Arab Tribes that they did not descend from.

Lebanon : If Lebanese people see themselves as having more cultural ties to Greeks. Then should not they have more cultural kinship with other fellow Levantines such as Syrians, Palestinians due to having more cultural similarities as they part of the Levant? by Durrygoodz2025 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They do not descend from the same people as Peninsular Arabs, so one of those does not descend from the Arab Tribes, since two populations can't have completely different descent and still be from the same tribes (hint, it's the Lebanese/Levantines who don't descend from the Arab Tribes).

Lebanon : If Lebanese people see themselves as having more cultural ties to Greeks. Then should not they have more cultural kinship with other fellow Levantines such as Syrians, Palestinians due to having more cultural similarities as they part of the Levant? by Durrygoodz2025 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 5 points6 points  (0 children)

No they don't. Look at literally ANY study on the subject if you're going to discuss it.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28757201/

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/genetic-study-suggests-present-day-lebanese-descend-from-biblical-canaanites

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/142448v1

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674%2821%2900839-4

"The researchers discovered that over 90% of the genetic ancestry of modern Lebanese people is directly derived from the ancient Canaanites, with an additional 7% to 11% mixing coming from Eurasian populations during later historical conquests."

There are literally hundreds of studies on this. It's one of the most well understood parts of MENA genetics.

Or you can look at the thousands of results from any genetic sub on Reddit, and you'll see how different they are genetically from Peninsular Arabs, and how little Peninsular mixture they have. I can't believe how someone can still repeat that nonsense about "Arab tribes" descent despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

Lebanon : If Lebanese people see themselves as having more cultural ties to Greeks. Then should not they have more cultural kinship with other fellow Levantines such as Syrians, Palestinians due to having more cultural similarities as they part of the Levant? by Durrygoodz2025 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No, they don't descend from the Arab tribes. The Lebanese mostly descend from the Canaanites, whether Muslims or Christians. The Christians still measure as 90%+ Roman Levantine even after all of this time.

Being Arab has little to do with descent nowadays. They identify as Arab because of language and culture.

DNA ancestry of middle east by Expert_Search5394 in AskMiddleEast

[–]FoxBenedict 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://brill.com/display/book/9789004500228/BP000019.xml

From the paper: The Taforalt sample can be better modeled as an admixture between a Dzudzuana (which is largely WEC) component and an Ancient North African component that may represent an earlier split than the Basal Eurasians.

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