Arab

[[File:Maria Gażycz - Arabka.jpg|right|165px|thumb|A depiction of an Arab woman by Maria Gażycz.]]
{{race}}
'''Arabs''' (Arabic: الشَّعْبَ الْعَرَبِيُarabi) are an ethnic group originating from and inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula. They are a {{wpl|Semitic}} ethnic group, much like [[Jews]], and speak {{wpl|Arabic||,}} which is a Semitic language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/may/10/semites-not-necessarily-jews/|title=Semites not necessarily Jews|last=Schafer|first=Dan|date=May 10, 2019|publisher=Spokesman}}</ref> In the 6<sup>th</sup> century CE, [[Islam]] originated and spread among Arabs in the Arabian peninsula, and spread worldwide from there.<ref>[https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/97181/21h-912-spring-2003/contents/study-materials/hoarabcivilizatio1.pdf History of Arab civilization]</ref>

Arabs also spread across North Africa and the Levant, setting up various empires referred to as [[caliphate]]s. The Arabs who migrated there supplanted or intermingled with the native populations, such as in [[Egypt]]. They also brought their culture and religion (in this case, Islam), and made their culture the dominant culture in these regions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815042526/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/archive-divers/2014/04/how-the-arabs-gained-control-of-egypt|title=How the Arabs gained control of Egypt|last=Bruning|first=Jelle|date=April 3, 2014|publisher=Leiden University}}</ref>

==History==
Arabs originated in the Levant and the Northern Arabian Peninsula during the 9<sup>th</sup> century BCE, descended from nomads who inhabited the Arabian Desert for several thousand years prior. The Arabic language also appeared during roughly the same timeframe, and its spread southward coincided with the spread of Islam.<ref name="let's talk">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWTB59TrNqQ&t The Origins of Arabic] - Let's Talk Religion</ref> The native religions at the time were various different kinds of [[pagan]] faiths, which were eventually superseded by [[Christianity]] and Islam.<ref>[http://www.krauselabs.net/writings/pre-islamic-arabia-and-pagan-foundations-of-islam/ "Pre-Islamic Arabia and Pagan Foundations of Islam"] - Chris Krause</ref> 

There is a widespread [[myth]] that the pre-Islamic Arabs were illiterate, but this is simply not true. In fact, ancient graffiti indicates that [[literacy]] was nearly universal at certain points of the pre-Islamic period.<ref name="let's talk"/> However, the Arabic script ''itself'' was only invented a few short centuries before the advent of Islam, so the early Arabs weren't necessarily writing in scripts we would recognize as ''Arabic'' today.<ref name="let's talk"/>

Pre-Islamic Arabs also formed significant civilizations of their own, notably including the {{wpl|Nabateans}} who controlled the trade of frankincense and myrrh, both very important incenses to civilizations of the ancient world, as their aromas blocked out the smells of [[disease]] and decay that were so common to the cities of the ancient world.<ref name="cooper">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSfFq02pK4s&pp=ygUfZmFsbCBvZiBjaXZpbGl6YXRpb25zIG5hYmF0ZWFucw%3D%3D "The Nabateans"] - ''Fall of Civilizations'' podcast hosted by Dr. Paul Cooper.</ref> The Nabateans ended up being conquered by the [[Romans]], and eventually fully converted to Christianity.<ref name="cooper"/> Some have speculated that the {{wpl|Thamud}} referred to in the [[Qur'an]] were actually the Nabateans.<ref>Firestone, Reuven (2006), "Thamūd", in McAuliffe, Jane Dammen (ed.), ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān'', Volume Five, Brill, {{isbn|978-9004123564}}</ref>{{rp|252-254}}{{efn|Like the Nabateans the Thamud were a powerful polity who underwent collapse, although the reason for the Thamudic collapse according to the Qur'an was because of hubris.}} The Arabic script is also thought to be derived from the {{wpl|Nabatean script||.}}<ref>Gruendler, Beatrice (1993). ''The Development of the Arabic Scripts: From the Nabatean Era to the First Islamic Century According to Dated Texts.'' Scholars Press. p. 1. {{isbn|9781555407100}}.</ref>

Arabs spread their culture and religion across West Asia (aka the Middle East) and the wider world (North Africa, South Asia, Southern Europe) through trading or conquest of various regions. Islamic identity eventually became absorbed as part of Arab identity (though Arab Christians do continue to exist as part of Arab culture albeit with a separate and unique identity).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/arab-origins-identity-history-and-islam/|title=Arab Origins: Identity, History and Islam|last=Webb|first=Peter|date=July 20, 2015|publisher=The British Academy}}</ref>

==Discrimination==
Arabs have faced persecution at various points throughout history. The first recorded instances of anti-Arab [[discrimination]] was during the [[Spanish Inquisition]], where [[Spanish]] Muslims, many of whom were of Arab descent, were murdered, expelled, or forcefully converted (along with Spanish Jews) by Spanish Christians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historytoday.com/reviews/purging-muslim-spain|title=‘Blood and Faith’ by Matthew Carr review|last=Edwards|first=John|date=November 11, 2017|publisher=History Today}}</ref>

Over the last two centuries, the Arab world increasingly suffered from [[colonialism]] and general [[Western]] intervention. Present bigotry mostly occurs in the Christian majority Western world, after the tragedy of [[9/11]] that shocked the [[United States]] and several other [[terrorist]] attacks that occurred afterwards in other parts of the west, such as in several European countries (such as the July 7<sup>th</sup> bombing in London). Due to the perpetrators being Arab Muslims, this led to mass persecution of both Arabs and Muslims because of the mass [[paranoia]] generated by [[Islamist]] terror attacks.<ref>[https://cmsny.org/publications/imr-race-and-arab-americans-before-and-after-911/ "Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects"] - Center for Immigration Studies</ref>

Many other ethnic groups have been confused with Arabs, especially within the Western world. These include, (but are not limited to) [[Iranian]]s, [[Indian]]s, [[Armenian]]s, [[Turk]]s, and Berbers, among other groups. As a result of [[racial profiling]] and lack of distinguishing cultures, these groups are often misidentified as Arabs by Westerners not familiar with Arab culture and history.<ref>[https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/social/rights/profiling "Racial profiling and Islamophobia"]</ref>

In most [[European]] countries, Arabs are usually persecuted by white Christians as they view Arabs and Muslims as foreigners and [[other]]s. In recent decades, attacks from [[Christian fundamentalist]] and [[white supremacist]] groups against Arab Muslims have increased at alarming rates.<ref>[https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/28/europe-social-pandemic-hatred-muslims-blm "There's a social pandemic poisoning Europe: hatred of Muslims"] - ''[[The Guardian]]''. Patrycja Sasnal and Yasemin El Menouar (September 28, 2020).</ref> [[Ironically]], there are Arab Christians, but these groups are mostly ignored by Christian fundamentalists and white supremacists.

Other countries where Arabs face persecution are [[Israel]], [[Iran]], [[India]], [[Turkey]], and various other countries beyond the Arab League. Ethnic tensions and waning Muslim populations from rejection of Islam as well as past [[bigotry]] and forced conversion from the Arab Muslim empire against these groups have led to bigotry against Arabs. Interpersonal conflict also occurred from religious tension amongst Christians and Muslims.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/16032023-christians-in-the-middle-east-a-persecuted-and-forgotten-people-analysis/|title=Christians In The Middle East: A Persecuted And Forgotten People – Analysis|last=Šerić|first=Matija|date=March 16, 2023|publisher=Eurasia Review}}</ref>

Despite many Arabs being Brown or White, Black Arabs are a significant minority who face significant oppression in the Arab world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/uncovering-anti-blackness-in-the-arab-world-162060|title=Uncovering anti-Blackness in the Arab world|last=Al-Azraki|first=Amir|date=June 9, 2021|publisher=The Conversation}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Islam]] - the primary religion of most Arabs.
 
==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Middle East]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Social justice]]

Categories: Culture, Ethnic groups, Middle East, Racism, Social justice