The Arab World: Obviously, The Arab World is full of both a misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Arab world and Arabs. Write a note to Hall correcting his information and discussing the impact of such misrepresentation by a scholar.
Post your response to Hall on the replies to the article as well. Hall should hear our opinion.
Post your response to Hall on the replies to the article as well. Hall should hear our opinion.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteI have not been brought up with an Arab mentality although having moved to Beirut i am able to understand what you mean by your representation of the Arab world. I felt that it was very bias and almost every point you made concerning Arabs was somehow negatively compared to western society ways.
Your text has many fallacies of casualty as you have accused Arabs of being how they are, in a way similar to accusing ice cream for being the cause of deaths in summer due to the consumption of ice- cream close before their death. I do not agree with your explanations as to why Arabs are as they are, they are very generalized and mainly relate to primitive mentalities of Arabs and do not acknowledge they’re modern ways.
One point that caught my attention was how you ignored the fact that Arabs do most of the things you pointed out due to the fact this is what they have been taught as a way of showing politeness/ friendliness such as eye contact, being close while communicating with each other etc instead you mocked the way you’re friend tried to respect you by maintaining eye contact and referred to their closeness while communicating as an obstruction of personal space.
You’re misrepresentation and bias fallacies may have negative impact on people who are not Arab and do not understand their mentality. In general the misrepresentation by scholars can be detrimental on their audiences and future generations who will be exposed to their work.
Hall,
ReplyDeleteI admire the persistence and time it took you to write that extensively long work of yours, too bad that it is complete and utter crap. I hope I have not offended you though, for it is not your fault that you think us Arabs are the way you say we are. It is just the way you were brought up to think. Just as you imply we are brought up to be abominations that are inferior to your 'Utopian' culture. I took my time into prying up some logical fallacies that I have found in your article; the fallacy of casualty, the fallacy of false dilemma, appeal to the person.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I really hated your text because first of all you are talking about Arabs as if they are inferior to Westerners. You mentioned many characteristics of Arabs that make us look dumb and very primitive people, you also made us look very rude and without any manners which is very wrong. Arabs, especially Lebanese are know for being very friendly and kind. Other than that your essay is full of stereotypes about Arabs. Maybe some of what you mentioned is true but in very rare cases. So I think you should re-check your sources and try to change your opinion concerning Arabs because what you wrote is total nonsense.
That's a very good point! Indeed, Arabs are known to have the best of manners; they are generous, hospitable, humble....These are qualities we've had for ages and we actually find people who come up and say that we have bad manners....very surprising and disappointing...
DeleteDear Mr. Hall,
ReplyDeleteI don't know to which backwards society you've managed to grow up in and which Stone Age university you hail from, but I hope for the sake of the entire world, you remain there and do absolutely nothing else with your life other than to accept criticism for the awful research you've posted. Mr. Hall, you're arguments are based on such ignorant mistakes. You have many examples of fallacy of composition: what applies to one does NOT necessarily apply to the whole. As a scholar, your research shouldn't be based on such invalid assumptions. You also seem to say everything with such alleged certainty, simply to conclude your ideas and make them sound true. What you prove with your research is that you have no tolerance for the practices of certain people and that your knowledge is very limited on the subject. Conduct a better research and maybe this would be more worthwhile of a read.
Dear Mr.Hall,
ReplyDeleteEven though you seem to have put effort in your text, you were biased and you've generalized a lot. I'd like to point out that a personal experience especially a bad one shouldn't be your judgement criteria.
There is no Arab definition of "space", it simply differs from one person to another. Also, mentioning the amputation of a thief's hand as suitable punishment might be offensive to a religious person; this punishment is mentioned in the Kuraan.
In addition, not all Arab employers provide their servants with the accommodations you mentioned, especially in Lebanon they've been treated very well.
To my surprise, you stated that there isn't an equivalent of the word "rape" but anyone who speaks Arabic can tell you that such a word exists. Your sources should've been double checked.
I did like what you presented about Arabs and how they're social by nature. I agree with you on this point and the quote your provided is solid and pretty common among Arabs.
Most of what you said agitated me as an Arab. What you've written will give a bad name for Arabs and our image is already not the best. Your experience with us might have not been good but many tourists' experiences have been. Again, you've generalized too much. I had to express what I thought about your text and I hope you take it into consideration the next time you write something similiar.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteEven though I'm not and Arab, I found this text very offensive. There are many points you've talked about and accused the Arabs with, without being sure if what you're Saying Is right or wrong.
First of all, how can you accuse the Arabs of being pushy? Are all of them like that? The fact that you had a bad experience with and Arab at the hotel lobby doesn't mean that all Arabs are like that. In addition, you should tell your friend that a word exists for "rape" in arabic. Being an arab doesn't give a person the right to abuse another person's body. Rape is rape after all.
I agree with you with the fact that Arabs are social. That's true, especially the Lebanese Arabs. They love the social life. I disagree with you when you said that arabs don't abide by the rules to manage their behavior. Maybe in some countries this may be the case, but talking about KSA, UAE, Qatar ... The respect of the rules is a major thing in their lives.
Your article is irritative and provocative. It is too general. In order to make a judgment about a population, you just can't base your judgment on what you've heard or what you've lived in a short time with few Arabs.
Hall, I do not agree at all with your text and your representation of arabs. You surely did misrepresent arabs. Your text could give people a bad image of arabs around the world. In my opinion, a scholar should not write such texts as it makes the scholar look "unprofessional". A scholar should have verified information and good research concerning such topics. For example, you said that there is no physical privacy in the Arab family. That is not true. On the contrary, physical privacy can be found everywhere, even in Arab families. Since your a scholar, your text can be falsely regarded as a true representation of arab.
ReplyDeleteDear Hall,
ReplyDeleteI can truly say that what I had just read was a completely biased and stereotyped article. We Arabs, are misjudged and misunderstood, and I don't think that you (among other "Westerners") are allowed to interpret our actions without actually living our lives and "being in our shoes".
We tend to preserve our culture; something your people had always neglected. And part of our priceless culture was and still is the importance of companionship. Whether it's our family,neighbor or just a stranger walking next to us, we tend to be as loving and caring as possible. The reason behind this is that we want to face modernity and globalization in the best way possible, and this by not letting the sense of individualism take over the sense of community and inter-dependency. Unfortunately, this is not the case in your Western societies where your family is almost a stranger to you and every individual is living his own private place forgetting what it means to belong to a community or to participate in a public aspect.
So I don't see how you could possibly interpret our affectionate actions as a kind of hostility and insult.
The second point you stated in your article that I found completely ridiculous was the Arab "smell". Don't you think it is a bit of exaggeration? We really aren't people who have no sense of hygiene, in fact it's the complete opposite, the Arab culture focuses on hygiene the most. Our perfume might be a bit too "strong" but that's what helps us mark our presence.
It is very true that Arabs are social, and that is actually a very strong and helpful trait that helps us make connections easily. So again, why take it as hostility?
I really suggest that you go and visit the Arab countries and live the culture and discover its beauty. Arabs are not perfect, but Westerners surely do not define what perfection is. Please revise your article and do not easily misinterpret us or generalize. Double check your resources in order to gain credibility.
I just wanted to clarify my opinion and I respect yours, I just really hope that others do not think of us the same way you do.
Thank you.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteI would like you to know that once I finished reading your text I directly searched the web to check if you’re a well-known author which I doubt it. I mean I think a professional writer would have analyzed things way better than you did. In fact, your text exposed your hatred to Arabs since you were considering all their actions and behavior as bad instead of analyzing them in a more logical way. All your explanation was based on some silly stereotypes that make no sense at all. You talked how rude they behave in public and don’t respect other’s privacy which is something that’s related to manners and have nothing to do with Arab’s culture: as there’s lot of Arabs who act this way there’s also many Americans who are even worse. I have to say also that this “small sphere of privacy” in public places was a bit funny. What makes your text worse is that you criticized our warm relationship between each other which I think is better that the distance you retain between yourselves because it shows strong we are tied. I would like also to know from where you get these ideas about us for example the olfaction issue. I suppose that trying to have a good breath smell is a good manner since the person with who we are talking will normally smell it. The last thing I would like to add is that the examples you gave about how we intervene in anything that we see happening in front of us shows how much we are related to each other and try to stop anything that seems to be wrong. Finally, I wasn’t really surprised about your opinion because I know that the west has the wrong idea about us.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteI must say your article was very interesting but it was too stereotypical. Throughout the text you seemed to not have anything good to say about Arabs; you clearly showed some hatred towards Arabs. Just because, according to you, you had a bad incident with an Arab you generalized it and made it seem as though all Arabs don’t like privacy and love to be up in people’s faces. I hate to tell you this but there are a lot of Arabs that enjoy their privacy. I would like to ask where in the world did you get the idea about “Olfaction”?? I must say it made me laugh. There is nothing wrong with people wanting to smell good at all times. You say that Arabs don’t know how to walk and talk at the same time, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to face someone as they talk, its called respect, something Arabs have in their culture. Next time you decide to pick on a certain group of people please make sure you get credible information about them. Your negative attitude towards Arabs is very understandable as many people have it.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteYour so called 'study' actually made me laugh. I cannot believe the extend to which your text is based on ridiculous stereotypes. Curious question, did you conduct any research at all before making those appalling claims? Who are those Arabs you interviewed?
It is preferable if you site your sources because as it is, your text is weak and not credible. People cannot go around and say they've conducted a study without giving any proof that your claims are based on credible sources.
Personally, after reading your text, i question your level of education. Indeed, this type of attitude towards Arab in very common in Western cultures, but educated people outgrow these stereotypes. It is shocking to know that a published writer can still be making such accusations.
Also, your text is based on a lot of logical fallacies. All the proof you gave to support your claims which are based on fallacies cannot stand firm. As a critical reader, you leave me with practically no sustainable evidence. Your study is highly emotional which weakens it again and makes me question the validity of your claims. Your hatred towards Arabs is clear but you shouldn't interpret facts such as they fit your view on the matter. One can easily interpret all your example to the benefits of Arabs while degrading the Western culture.
Overall, i won't take the time to discredit each and every claim you made because the lack of consistency behind your evidence does the job. :)
To Mr. Hall,
ReplyDeleteI have read your article and I wanted to notify you that, as an Arab myself, I felt personally offended. Moreover, I have found that you've made quite some logical fallacies. The fallacies you made include fallacies of assuming conclusion when you talked about tolerating amputation of a thief's hand and about spying on the servants. These are not signs of disrespecting the body but rather abiding to clear religious rules in the first case and making one's home more secure in the second case since the servant is, in fact, a stranger in one's home.
You also assume that Americans have an idea about Arabs from their crowded social groups and vast homes; well, small things can allow us to make conclusions, but you could be going too far with your conclusions. One of the points you stated was that Arabs view Westerns as pushy and vice versa. This is simply because the different groups have different beliefs and traditions; an expression of gratitude in one society can be considered a sign of bad manners in another. For example, in some Asian countries, burping at the end of the meal is a sign of satisfaction with what is served in their society1 while other societies would consider it to be disrespectful. Another thing you said was that it is rude to sit near you when in your sphere of solitude, ACCORDING TO AMERICAN CULTURE. You cannot say that it was rude of the Arab to sit next to you because he, probably, has a different background. Moreover, this is just an example and does not allow one to generalize anything about Arabs. You might have also generalized a lot when you talked about other points as olfaction and privacy because, as an Arab, these points did not ring any bell in my head. It would be really useful if you credit your sources more because, probably, other people, too, are having a hard time believing what you're claiming.
1http://iaap-swcd.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/table_manner_trivia.pdf
Mr. Hall, from what I’ve read of your book, I can honestly say that you know nothing about the Arab world. Even the way you discuss Arabs doesn’t sound like they’re worthy enough for you to acknowledge them as human beings. I walk down the streets of the crowded city of Beirut every day and I can honestly say that no one has ever pushed me, shoved me, pinched me, or breathed in my face. I don’t even know how to begin to correct your ridiculous generalizations. All I can say is that Arabs can walk and talk at the same time, behave well in public and fascinatingly manage to get through the day without smelling people.
ReplyDeleteIn the story of the Arab student in Kansas, you wrote: “He only discovered something was wrong when they took him to town and tried forcibly to put him on a bus to Washington, D.C., the headquarters of the exchange program responsible for his presence in the U.S.” If this is true, isn’t what those Americans did considered a “public intrusion”? Forcibly putting someone on a bus requires you to be quite close to that person and probably involves pushing and shoving. You unintentionally provided an example on Americans publicly intruding someone, which is something you said only an Arab would do. The whole concept is yet another absurd generalization.
I don’t know if I should go on. Instead of pointlessly correcting all of your preposterous claims, I will present a generalization of my own: everything you stated is incredibly inaccurate due to the fact that you failed to provide any valid evidence.
P.S: You might want to look up the definition of this word: اغتصاب
Dear Mr. Hall,
ReplyDeleteAs an Arab, there were many points that you have mentioned in which I was unable to relate to. Your audience made me question 2 things: the Arabs that you studied and whether or not us Arab can be labeled under a common cultural practice such as the ones you mentioned. One of the inaccurate points that you have mentioned is your statement about how Arab houses are usually larger than those of Americans. I don’t think that is accurate because several Americans live in houses that consist of a few floors whereas many Arabs live in flats. A second inaccurate statement is “there is no such thing as intrusion in public”. If someone were to intrude my space in a public sphere I would be irritated. Maybe not surprised like you were but definitely irritated. I would not assume that this is part of the man’s culture, but it is part of his lack of manners. A third fallacy is Arabs being infuriated by someone cutting in front of him on the highway. I think that only applied to some egotistic Arabs but surely not most Arabs. Also you mentioned that Westerners would not tolerate pinching women in public. Do you think that us Arabs tolerate this behavior? This is not part of our culture, but unfortunately the number of misbehaved people is abundant in the Arab world compared to the West, and this is because of the corruption that rules our countries. I have previously been exposed to misbehaved westerners like those Arab ones; the only difference is that they are a few. The statement you mentioned about a man rejecting a woman if her smell was unpleasant startled me because I have never heard of such a situation. I know that Arabs like to smell pleasant, but a relationship is not determined based on that. You also mentioned that Americans feel uncomfortable by the intense eye contact that Arabs have during conversations. I think that this is inaccurate because I have encountered many American civilians that also look into one’s eye intensely as they engage in a conversation. Finally you said, “strangers and enemies are very closely linked” in an Arab culture. That for sure is not true because an Arab is willing to hurt and kill his enemy but not a stranger.
Hall,
ReplyDeleteWe live in a world that consists of different cultures and societies. Each culture is unique and different in its own way so it is normal for the Arab and Western worlds to be so contradicting. Each society has its own background and tradition, and each one of them live a different lifestyle. I believe that everyone should be more aware of this point when travelling or meeting people from different cultures. We should understand that these people can be different and we should accept them. I’ve seen quite many examples in your text where people get offended by each other’s behaviour even though they are aware that they belong to different cultures, yet I can’t seem to understand how they can feel this way . Respecting other societies’ differences is essential to show the respectful society you come from.
Nonetheless, when a writer wants to study a society, he should base his ideas on real studies and evidence not just outside observations. I find your text pure subjective. You used few examples about individuals to prove a theory about a whole community. Your text lacks the presence of statistics or group studies that is an essential thing when studying community to have a credible opinion. I myself being an Arab who was raised in the Arab world have never seen any of the behaviours you’ve mentioned. It’s a fact that in each society there are sort of intruders who have the attitudes that you mentioned so focusing on this group that is found in the Arab world isn’t a sufficient reason to generalize.
A credible judgement has to be based on scrutinized search. A scholar who has a valuable opinion should be aware that stereotyping a society gives a false impression that can cause major harm.
Dear Mr. Hall:
ReplyDeleteAs an Arab citizen myself, I felt offended while reading your text but more than that i was disappointed by the lack of solid proof behind your argument and its unprofessional stereotyping. Certainly, like all other communities, the Arab world does have its imperfections but i expect of each responsible writer to keep his objectivity.
As Arabs, we are proud of our collectivistic culture that we intend to protect it.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteI see through your text a sort of hate for Arabs. You are trying your best to create propaganda against Arabs using logical fallacies. Almost all the arguments you used are wrong. Moreover, we can smell racism in your text since you believe that western are superior to Arabs.
First of all you said that “,In public, American are compressed and overwhelmed by smells, crowding, and high noise levels”. I just want to remind you that body smell is something normal. Moreover, western countries have a higher popular density than the Arabic countries, and you feel overwhelmed by crowds in America more than any Arabic country. Another logical fallacy you used is “In addition, the dark mass of his body”. America has the largest rate of obesity. (2012, nation master). I can stay the whole day correcting your fallacies. Next time try to use correct argument.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity
Dear Mr Hall,
ReplyDeleteYou are an American criticizing Arabs. Our behavior is annoying to you because it is different to how you are. Your article was extremely disturbing because I felt personally concerned as I have many foreign friends and relatives that might agree with you and complain about us. Your article describes perfectly the stereotypic Arab Westerners think of and prejudge. It is the first impression they have on us before even getting introduced to our lives. I know that by experience because when my friends and relatives visit Beirut, they are annoyed by the stare random people on the streets give them and by sound pollution all around. Although we have come to get used to this way of life, we can see the trouble it makes. Your article was not entirely true and your evidence was based on your only opinion and from your own point of you. We find Americans lonely, closed to themselves and rude but we don’t judge, and if we can’t acclimate with your way of living we don’t try to follow it. However, your criticism should not be on Arabs only because as your article shows, your problem is not with us, but with our actions. And this is not because we are who are, it’s because we live in a society where there is no privacy, where families stick together and living alone is impossible. This is also the case in many any other European and South American countries such as Greece, Italy and Mexico.
Mr. Hall,
ReplyDeleteYour text is much frustrating, but to show you the real aspect of Arabs, I won't start insulting you: I'll show you that you are wrong. You are contradicting yourself in many ways and means and your text includes many logical fallacies.
First, how can you generalize the consequences of a simple incident that occurred with you and an Arab person in a lobby and stick it to the whole Arab population in the world?!
Second, how can you talk on behalf all Americans about privacy?! In fact, a woman can't walk down the street in America without being abused instantly and repeatedly. This behavior is far less seen in Arab societies due to the fact that Arabs' culture and religion protect women from such abuses. Islam protected women's rights of privacy by urging them to wear long dresses and veiled ( Aabaya and Hijab), which obliged men to show respect to women everywhere. This respect had become a tradition that implies not only in Islamic societies, but also in other non-Islamic Arabic societies as well.
Third, population density in cities is spread all around the world. Road traffics in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and other Western cities are far more unbearable than the ones in the Arabic major cities. One cannot just walk comfortably while crossing the street at Trafalgar Square: he or she are pushed, bullied, and even insulted and criticized in public without any respect of their feeling and privacy.
At last, Arab societies are well known for their hospitality and cordiality. These characteristics can't be found in Western societies as much as in The Arab world. You shouldn't have a prejudge on the Arabs. I suggest than you take a look yourself and visit any Arab country and I can insure that you'll change your mind.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteI have to say, despite the fact that there is no coherence throughout your writing, you have formed a bias generalization about the Arab world. This does not mean that the points you mentioned are false and non-existenet amongst Arabs, rather there are many aspects of truth in them. Moreover, I think that there are far more deeper cultural differences between the Arabs and the American which would also show the superiority of your nation. If your writing was rid off subjectivity, readers would not have responded very offensively. I stress on the fact that there is much validity in what I've read but it lacks proper targeting, meaning there are far more cultural gaps to be mentioned. I am very well aware that trying to defend something means that the thing itself is vulnerable and unstable on its own, hence I sall not rebel, attack, or argue what is being said but only self-reflect and enhace my cultrue.
Mr. Hall, I don’t know where to begin with your text. But in brief, if your text is an example of a bunch of fallacies, then your text is the perfect example. Besides the fact that you turned every coincidence into a general rule, one of the fallacies you committed was the alleged certainty when you talked about the person who was sticking to you and then concluded that if A is standing on a street corner and B wants his spot, B is within his rights if he does what he can to make A uncomfortable enough to move. I mean... really? Not to mention that it is like you are pointing out that the Arabs are interested in the smallest details, which is not always true. Furthermore, everyone knows that eastern cultures are different from the western’s. Therefore, your statement that an Arab in Kansas did not recognize that the silent treatment means there is something wrong supports the idea that Arabs are different from Americans, which is an idea that is very well known. Hence, this idea of yours is out of subject (and you chose the subject) and is not related to representing the Arabs. The same goes to the way Arabs look at each other while talking… it is a comparison. In fact, you said it yourself when you stated that, to the Americans, Arabs’ look is hostile. However, Arabs are known for being friendly, and others see that through their eyes and their eye contact. Being nice is also related to friendly; hence, your claim that Arabs provide their servant a boxlike room is not valid, especially when Arabs are known for being nice to their servants in general. Your text presents a new level of misrepresenting people which in this case are the Arabs. Your text is also very unprofessional and you need to take a lot of English courses to know how to write suitably. Reading this text of yours shows me that you have a personal vendetta against the Arabs, and good writing is not based on that.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Hall,
ReplyDelete"Never judge a book by its cover," have you heard of this saying? You can't point out fingers without making sure of your information. You have a very bad impression about Arabs, maybe you met some that are like that but you can say all of them are the same. You should visit the middle east more often to know that most of what your saying is wrong. Maybe you have some good points but they aren't a major issue in our society but in general most of what you said is very disturbing. A man only gets married to a lady who smells good? That doesn't even make sense. My advice to you is that you should get evidence about everything you say or write!
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteYour intensive, hard work of looking up closely at the Arabs would have been appreciated, only if it hadn't been knitted with utter superiority and complete ignorance. You have failed to attain credibility and validity through what you have presented throughout your entire text. The act that you generalized the few observations that you had witnessed onto the entire Arab world reveals the lack of concrete evidence that you possess. Any educated, scholarly writer would double-check what he offers in his text and makes sure that no space will be left for heavy criticism to take place. You sir have been extremely unfortunate to have encountered such Arabs, because I can assure you that they do not even belong to our society. They belong to the minor section of our Arab society which is in no relation to the Arabs as whole. and what is actually more unfortunate was reading his text, and realizing that there are still people in this civilized century who do not tolerate the existence of others. Take a cue from Arabs, at least I haven't ever read any Arab essay criticizing heavily and ignorantly Westerners.
Hall,
ReplyDeleteHow do you call yourself an anthropologist after publishing such a thoughtless and idiotic text?
First, let's shed a light on some of the fallacies that you committed; (logical fallacies are misconceptions resulting from incorrect reasoning.). Throughout your arguments you have shown us that you are not different than any other anti-Arab person. You tend to fall into logical fallacies starting by the fallacy of composition where you just generalized about Arabs being disrespectful regarding the subject of personal space and intimacy just because once during your life you encountered an Arab person that "violated" your privacy by standing close to you.
Furthermore, It is clear that the text holds strong emotions against Arabs; this is where you stumbled upon another fallacy; that, which appeals to emotion. You feed your hate towards Arabs by stating ridiculous "facts" and negative thoughts about them.
Any person with little knowledge about the Arab civilization, just by reading this text, would rather not talk to Arabs or get close to them.
How did you think it was rational to judge the east by the values of the west?
The only thing you have proved by publishing this text is that you are an ignorant and ethnocentric person.
Enough with this racism already, people should really start thinking and not just toss around ridiculous thoughts and claims. The fact that Arabic people are being treated differently in most airports around the world is pure discrimination. Texts like this one are what discrimination feeds on...
Whilst reading The Arab World, I noticed many misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the Arab world and Arabs. I didn’t really make much of it because it often happens that people have biased opinions of Arabs and thus write inaccurately and unfairly about them. However, when I found out that it was written by a scholar, I was truly astonished. I found myself questioning what could bring someone who is supposedly an established person to write in such a manner. I doubt that you yourself genuinely believe what you wrote, or at least I hope you don’t! I also wonder how such a piece of writing was published anywhere. Your entire text is based on examples, and generalizations based on these examples. A scholar like you should know that that makes for bad argumentative writing. The worst part is that despite this, people are likely to take your word about what you write simply because you, as a scholar, are meant to be a trusted source. You’re supposed to work to inform people about the reality of the Arab world as opposed to misrepresent it as you have done in this text.
ReplyDeleteOne of the examples that you presented in your text was the one in which you were sitting in the Washington DC hotel lobby. In this example, if the person who was supposedly invading your personal space turned out not to be an Arab, but an American for example, would you have come to the same conclusion that Americans don’t have any sense of personal or public space? I doubt it! Your text is emotional in the sense that you seem so set on making the Arabs look bad that you make something out of nothing.
Also, you mentioned in your text that there is no Arabic equivalent of the word rape. That’s not true at all! The word, actually is “ightisab”. It indeed does directly translate to rape.
You also touched upon the topic of Arabs and their eye contact. You made it sound negative that Arabs can maintain eye contact with others. On the contrary, I find it positive! It is an indication of good communication skills and I think more people should learn to adapt this. Although some Westerners may feel uncomfortable around Arabs because they look at them differently than people of other cultures might, that does not mean that the way Arabs choose to look at others is “wrong”. It is simply a part of our culture and most of the time, we do not intend on insulting anyone. We simply do not find fault in holding a lingering look a little longer than people of other cultures might be comfortable with.
I was also surprised by what you said about the odor of Arabs. You seemed to suggest that Arabs do not care for their body odor. That is not true either! Actually, body odor is a very important element to maintain in Arab society and we care very much for remaining clean in that sense (and in all senses).
I think what I mentioned sheds some light on the fallacies that I found in your text (although there are many more). I really hope that people would stop basing their perception of Arabs on stereotypes and it really infuriates me that you, as a scholar, are encouraging this mentality based on false information!
Dear Scientist,
ReplyDeleteTo study how Arab people interact, to know more about their culture, there verbal and non-verbal languages an anthropologist should spend time living and interacting with Arab people in the Arab world ,I couldn’t have thought that I would say this phrase to you , but a person who lived in the Arab world, interacted with Arab people and studied the Arabic culture wouldn’t say any of the thing that you said in your work.
I don’t want to comment on every illogical conclusion you made.
Your research, study whatever you want to call it, lacks a lot of professionalism and contains a lot of fallacies .We would be wasting our time if we commented and explained the fallacies you made in your study, and to just give an example of the magnitude of the unprofessionalism we can just refer to the fact that you said that an Arabic men told you that the word rape doesn’t exist in the Arabic language. I really doubt that the men that told you this is really Arabic; because every sane Arabic person knows that the word rape in Arabic is “اغتصاب”.
I don’t know if you had other intention when you wrote this; which we cannot even call a research or a study, this is just a simple text rich in fallacies, I don’t know if this I just an awful way to continue the offensive propaganda against the Arabs. Yes there is some unacceptable things that happen in the Arab culture, but I really feel that there is a need to glorify your culture every now and then and this time it’s time for the Arabs culture to be attacked simultaneously with the attacks on there economies as their land and resources are being raped by your country and allies .
I think that your text is more about a personal problem with Arabs rather than a plausible demonstration of your thoughts on the Arabs. First of all, as a scholar and as an experienced writer, it was hard to believe that you support your ideas using discrete examples like “the Arab who “intruded” on my space” of some people you may have met. Even more you used false information concerning the word rape and as a matter of fact there is a word for that. This false information make the credibility you have had put at fault. Second, you are implying by your description of Arabs that they are inferior to the westerns, it may be something you are convinced of but you have no right to stereotype Arabs and to mislead people as you have done with some examples. Nevertheless, a part of your text is true, to some extend you have exaggerated. But using your own culture as the unique valid culture is not enough to justify your stereotypes. And a text so emotionally filled is hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteDear Hall
ReplyDeleteI know that for some particular reason you won’t be able to read my letter, but I do believe that your readers will. Well I, as a college student, have read your text about The Arab world, and it still baffles when I think that you, a scholarly author could have written something like that!
There are several flaws I would like to point out. I will begin by the fact that your whole text is based on unprofessional proofs, very personal irrelevant examples. In which you judge people because they Arabs, then give a certain meaning to their actions, thus linking them to their culture. This made most of your links causal fallacies.
On the other hand you have stated many wrong data about the Arabs: not having a word for rape or privacy, in fact there is. So you might want to check your “so called” resources again.
The most flagrant thing is that you judged this community by comparing it to the west, considering the latter a perfect society. When you say that the Arabs engage too much eye contact, don’t you think that the main problem might be that: you in the west do not engage eye contact at all? And what you call “not respecting the other’s privacy”, they call it caring about the other. Unlike the west, the Arab world is a place where people, even strangers, care about each other.
Last but not least: while reading this text, one can feel that it is emotionally charged, subjective, diverging from the norms of professionalism. This might be due to the events that were going on during 2001: Iraq, the twin towers. But let us not forget that a scholarly text must be an objective one, regardless of the author’s emotions, it should be based on solid evidence and not fallacies.
As a sum up, this is not a way an author of such a status writes; your text will influence lots of minds, be cited as reference in many papers and especially by college students. Without realizing, it your work will have a big effect, and people would believe such fallacies and take them as granted.
Grazie.
Dear Hall,
ReplyDeleteAlthough your article was very unprofessional to say the least, I am going to try my best to be as mannered as possible while writing my response to you. That thought must sound strange to you, right? An Arab with manners? I found it extremely shocking once I read that you are supposedly a scholar. What you mentioned in that article and the way you articulated your viewpoints did not come off as intelligent. Instead, your words were belligerent , harsh, and completely incorrect. As a man working in your field of study, you should know that the only way to properly assess a culture is to actually live with them, spend one on one time with members of the Arab community and see things the way we see it. Instead, you seem to have based all of your work on a few bad personal encounters. What you have written is bad on so many levels. Literature wise, you included far too many logical fallacies to count and the text was very negative towards the entire Arab society. As an Anthropologist, you have no right to judge so harshly, especially since your text may influence a lot of other readers into believing that Arabs may actually be like how you described while in reality, they are not. Also, there is a word for rape in Arabic. Get your facts straight before trying to brainwash the world with your ignorant hatred. I do hope your readers have more sense than to listen to the mistakes that you have somehow published. I have lived in America for my entire life and I now currently live in the Arab world and I can tell you for a fact that you are incorrect with what you said about both societies.
I don't even want to begin with all that is wrong about what you have stated about the peaceful religion of Islam! Wow. Way to completely take everything out of context and twist it around in such a way to bring a bad image of Islam. How shameful of a person to do. No one has the right to spread negative and inaccurate beliefs about anyone's religion or culture.
The world does not need people like that.
Spread love,
Not hate!
-Dana.
Dear Mr.Hall,
ReplyDeleteAs an Arab myself, this text has really disturbed in many ways.
To begin with, although you are well educated and a scholar yourself, you should know that using simple or unique examples can't and will not justify your argument. For example you stated the generalization that pushing and shoving in public places is characteristic of Middle Eastern culture. How did you justify that? by giving a simple example about the stranger who walked up to you in the hotel lobby. It is just an example, it does NOT make your claim true. Moreover, your choice of words is very offending. You are driven by your emotions and not by your logic understanding, its making you look unprofessional.
Besides, Your are comparing the Arab culture to your western culture that you are making it seem perfect. Well to be honest, your culture isn't even close to being perfect. It gives birth every single day for more hatred, more violence, and more racism(such as what your text is doing) in our World. Who are you to state what is wrong and what is right? You can NOT judge the Arab culture by the values of the Western culture. Finally, besides that your text contains many generalizations, its contains also MANY false information such as The fact that there is no such word in Arabic that means "rape" is wrong. Well dear Mr.Lord there is and it is "إغتصاب ".