From: eliedw@hedda.uio.no (Elie Dib Wardini)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon
Subject: I am a phoenician! (was:Re: Arab identity)
Date: 13 Apr 92 16:59:21 GMT
Organization: UiO

It seems like will never learn!

Suppose that I am born in China, I learn chinese as my mother tongue, and I
grow with Chinese cultural habits and hold a chinese passport, but both my
father and mother are Lebanese.

Lets just suppose.

What am I? am I chinese because my mother tongue is chinese? Am I chinese
because my country is part of a chinese league? am I chinese because I hold a
chinese passport? am I chinese because I act as a chinese?

or am I not chinese because I do not look like any chinese? or am I not chinese
because my parents are not chinese? or am I lebanese? am I not lebanese because
I do not hold a lebanese passport? or am I not lebanese because I do not have
lebanese culture? or am I lebanese because I look like an average lebanese? or
am I lebanese because both my parents are lebanese?

I hope that you got the point!

THe issue of Arab identity becomes much more difficult because it can mean so
much and it implies so much.

At some point, the Kuwaitis from the city of Kuwait refer to the bedouins as
Arabs, as opposed to themselves. In Egypt the Arabs are the beadouins. Yet
Again in classical times, being an arab meant that you had arabic as your
mother tongue and came originally from the Arabian peninsula.

Today the term Arab has changed. It has kept its ancient meaning besides its
newly acquired ones.

Thus as Sylvie points out: we should define our terms.

So I say that I am a Phoenician on the following basis:

1- I do not know exactly where my physical ancesters came from (e.g. father,
father's father, mother mother's mother) so in these terms I could be a
descendent of a mongolian who raped a euorpean princess?

2- I am from Lebanon, a country with a long history. Lebanon is first mentioned
as far as history is recorded (more than 6000 years ago).

3- for most of these years app. from 2000 Bc to 600 AD, it was the Phoenician
element that prevailed in Lebanon. True there was a strong interaction between
the lebanese and many other peoples (aramaens, Egyptians, Hebrews, Philistines,
Hitties etc. etc.), but the Phoenician element prevailed.

4- After Islam, there settled in Lebanon an Arab element. I say element because
the numbers of "Arabs" (in the classical sence of the word) was very little.
Actually we had more Persians settle in Lebanon than Arabs. Yet these numbers
were not so high as to make a big difference. over 90% percent of the names of
Lebanese towns and villages are mostly aramaic and many Phoenician names. Very
very few are Arabic. THus we have no massive exodus from Lebanon, and if new
settlements were established these people if they were arabs, would not have
given these settlements Aramaic, and much less Phoenician names. THus my
conclusion that the numbers could not be significant. Yet at this point, it was
religion that became the most important factor. The name phoenician fell out of
use, and the terms Mawla, Arab, Rum, or Siryan became prevalent. Rum are the
Christians of the Greek rite, while the Syriyan were the Christians of Aramaic
rite, and the Mawla were the ones who converted to Islam and were not
descendents of the Arabs.

5- Culturally (and this is where the issue really lies) I do not call the
middle easterbn culture that prevails in most of the Middle east for Arab. For
me it is Middle Eastern, Sharqiyy. Thus I do not consider my culture as Arab,
since I have much in comon with many mediteraanian countries, with Turkey,
Iran, Kurds as well as Syrian, Palestinians etc. but very little in comon with
Saudi, Kuwaiti etc. whom I call the "real Arabs".

6- Nevertheless, I know that the Arabic language is the language that we use
today in Lebanon. Remember though that Arabic is the Language in Malta! I
realize that many Lebanese do not agree with my definition of Arabic culture.
Thus I wish to accept my fellow lebanese who differ with me, in my cultural
orientation. Not based on hostility, but on complementarity! Lebanon is
lebanese: => in Lebanon we have Arabs, we Have (crazy) Phoenicians, we have
Kurds, we have Armenians, we have greeks, we have Gypsies, we have turks etc.
etc. and believe itt or not we have some european.

THerfore, the issue of how we define our identity, is one that can be
discussed, but a prominent anthropologist here in Olso, became quite famous for
his theories on identity:

Barth is his name. He says that it does not realy matter which elements come
together to form an persons identity, what really matters are the elements that
are important for that preson. So if I can find 100 elements that are
phoenician in X's identity as opposed to 5 Arab, but X says that she sees
herself as an Arab. THen these 5 Arab elements are more important for her
identity then the 100.

THe key to resolving this problem is: Pluralism and tolerance



elie dib wardini

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u-ba-maqom she-'en anashim, hishtadel liheyoth 'ish
   and in a place where there are no men, strive to be a man
                               (Mishna, Pirqe Avoth)
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon