From: eliedw@hedda.uio.no (Elie Dib Wardini)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon
Subject: Re: Arab Identity
Date: 14 Apr 92 11:28:37 GMT
Organization: UiO

In article <Ngl+ws@engin.umich.edu> hani@gilaman.engin.umich.edu (Hani
Abinassif) writes:


>Allow me Sylvie to address your statement and hope to make it
>short.  This topic has been discussed before on s.c.l.
>
>You can not stretch your identity and taylor it accordingly.  
>It is not a fashionable statement, nor could it be made by Calvin 
>Klein.  Being an Arab is to belong culturaly, geographically, nationally,
>linguistically, socialy, and ethnically to the Arabic Culture.  
>Claiming to be Lebanese and to stop short of recognising your ethnic
>background is usually an escape route...It usually comes in many forms;
>Pheonicians, Aramaic, etc...It has been proven and we had this discussion
>before on s.c.l. that most of these cultures are extinct. Although these
>cultures integrated with the Arabic culture at one point or another.
>(Please refer to Salibi's Book " The bible came from land of Asir")
>If Westerners wrongly portray Arabs, that should not be a motivation
>to disclaim your true identity.  Actually, you can say what you want,
>the fact to matter is that we are Arabs like it or not.

Hani, you claim that you have proved your point about Salibi and his idfeas and
yours as well. No Hani you may have proved your point to your satifaction, but
as far as I am concerned Mr. Salibi does not make a serious argument for his
case in the Bible came from Arabia. I am not saying that all that Mr. Salibi
says is wrong, but what I am saying is that there are serious questions about
his methods and his conclusions.


Having said that, Hani you can not tell me or anybody else:

"we are Arabs like it or not". You can say "I (hani) am Arab whether you like
or not".

You can not tell me how to interprete my culture and tell me what y identity is
or not! It is interesting how everybody speak of some who say we are French.
Please indicate to me hwho said it? I myself say that I feel closer to French
rather than to Egyptians, Saudis, Morrocans, etc. THat does not make me french,
but it says something about my identy (as far as I am concerned).


>We can
>go on dreaming and act European, American, etc...But unfortunately
>for some this "curse" will follow them till the end of time...
>I am not being cynical. 

No Hani we don't think that you are cynical. THis is the problem. You can not
accept that people in your country think differently from you. To satrt with we
define the terms differently, and secondly we are interested in different
things. When you say that the Pheonician Aramaic etc. cultures are extinct and
you calim to have proved this point, I claim the opposite, since I am alive!
true, the use of the term Phoenician is not comon anymore, but we know that
names can change and can get different connotations (cf. the term Arab, cf. the
sources you yourself quote from!)

>But why can't we read and read and read...
>There are references, books by knowledgeable people, facts on the
>ground etc...It is not, unfortunately, a matter of choice, nor
>a constitutional right.  It is a history, a culture, a language,
>a land, a nation...
>
>Let me suggest this to those who have doubts. 
>Read about the topic first, and then we can engage in a more 
>intellectual discussion with the objective of convincing each other
>of what is the correct origion of Lebanon, (not on individual basis):
>
>suggested readings:
>
>1. "History of the Arabs"  by Albert Hourani.
>2. "House of Many Mansions" by Kamal Salibi.
>
>-Hani
>
>
>>                             Sylvie
>> -- 
>> Sylvie Feghali                  | GO AS FAR AS YOU CAN SEE; 
>> NCR,  E&M Columbia              | WHEN YOU GET THERE, 
>> Quality & Strategic Initiatives | YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE FURTHER
>> Email address: sylvie.feghali@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
>--
> ____    ____ "These views are explicitly/implicitly mine...and
>|    \  /    | not that of U-M or CAEN", hani@caen.engin.umich.edu  
> | |\ \/ /| |  University of Michigan| "Badi Soubat Na'alto franjieh,
> | | \  / | |  1354 G.G.Brown Lab.   |  shrito kamel, ye-sa'eb a'ala 
> | |  \/  | |  Ann Arbor, MI 48109   |  ijri..w-ilo tsa'aa wtsa'aeen
>|___|    |___| (313) 936-0440        |  mousmar"     :-) ...Shou Shou
>