# Do you think Syrians/Lebanese look similar to any of these European populations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614 "2012-07-08T18:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/1 "2012-07-08T18:40:34Z")
My last thread on anything “anthropology” related… as I said I originally came from anthropology sites. 🙂 This is like the other one (North African) with the same options. It’s multiple choice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/2 "2012-07-08T19:03:16Z")
I thought you said the other thread was the “last time.” ---
**Author:** ![kirk1168](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@kirk1168](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk1168)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/3 "2012-07-09T01:11:55Z")
I think people from the Levant look like Mediterranean people, so I voted for all of them. Portuguese may be pushing it a bit, now that I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/4 "2012-07-09T01:18:19Z")
> [@kirk1168](#): > > I think people from the Levant look like Mediterranean people, so I voted for all of them. Portuguese may be pushing it a bit, now that I think about it. Portuguese, despite not being on the Mediterranean, are generally grouped in with them too though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/5 "2012-07-09T03:58:25Z")
I know one Syrian (he’s half-Croatian though) who looks a lot like Klaus Von Stauffenberg. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/6 "2012-07-09T07:34:23Z")
Sicilian again, of course, though not as close a match as with North Africans. So I’m afraid I haven’t any Levantine-looking Sicilians to cite this time. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/7 "2012-07-09T07:46:44Z")
In the USA people were always assuming I was hispanic, I actually had two Lebanese guys start speaking arabic at me assuming I was Lebanese and then when I said I didn’t speak it they made a comment about my parents letting me not learn arabic! I think black hair throws everyone for a loop. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/8 "2012-07-09T07:48:49Z")
> [@grude](#): > > In the USA people were always assuming I was hispanic, I actually had two Lebanese guys start speaking arabic at me assuming I was Lebanese and then when I said I didn’t speak it they made a comment about my parents letting me not learn arabic! > > I think black hair throws everyone for a loop. If you’re not Hispanic nor Lebanese, what’s your background? You don’t have to share but I am just curious given the context of your comment. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/9 "2012-07-09T07:53:43Z")
> [@the\_apples\_fell](#): > > If you’re not Hispanic nor Lebanese, what’s your background? You don’t have to share but I am just curious given the context of your comment. 🙂 My dad is from the US and my mom is from Germany, both call themself white. My nephew says I look like Snape from the Harry Potter movies. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/10 "2012-07-09T11:07:19Z")
I’ve never been to Syria or Lebanon, so I can’t say. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/11 "2012-07-09T16:08:28Z")
By this point in the series, it’s appropriate to mention the Italian WWII movie _Mediterraneo_. Bunch of Italian sailors who don’t know how to navigate get marooned on a Greek island. They get to sit out the war, drink weird muddy coffee, and make Greek girls pregnant. Anyway when they first show up on the beach, the Greeks are not thrilled about playing host to a bunch of Fascist military, even comic ones. The Italians persuade the Greeks to let them stay by saying “_Una faccia, una razza._” (One face, one race.) In other words, Mediterranean peoples all share similar features, so let’s all be friends. Then a Turk shows up on the shore. The Italians are not thrilled to have his company. So he appeals to them by calling out, “_Una faccia, una razza!_” and they let him land his boat and he breaks out the hashish… ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/12 "2012-07-10T16:14:08Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The Italians persuade the Greeks to let them stay by saying “_Una faccia, una razza._” (One face, one race.) In other words, Mediterranean peoples all share similar features, so let’s all be friends. Is this movie where that saying first came from? I hear it used often now when discussions come up about Greece and Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/13 "2012-07-11T02:30:06Z")
I don’t know how it got started, the only time I came across it was in _Mediterraneo_; no doubt the movie helped popularize it whether or not it was the origin. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/14 "2012-07-11T03:03:40Z")
I know the saying applies mostly to southern Italy, as they were the ones who had the most contact with Greece. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/15 "2012-07-14T00:49:46Z")
Bumping this one more time in case anyone wants to give their opinion, but then that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/16 "2012-07-14T07:27:32Z")
Why don’t you post links to pictures of those examples of Levantine-looking Sicilians you mentioned to me? I thought you made some good picks. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/17 "2012-07-14T14:35:22Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Why don’t you post links to pictures of those examples of Levantine-looking Sicilians you mentioned to me? I thought you made some good picks. It was Enrico Lo Verso, Corrado Fortuna, and these two girls from Google Images [![](https://baroquesicily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Simona.jpg) ](https://baroquesicily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Simona.jpg) [![](http://www.hollywoodauditions.com/PortfolioPictures/gamberdella.jpg) ](http://www.hollywoodauditions.com/PortfolioPictures/gamberdella.jpg) Although now that I searched, this came up and might be a good example too. [![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDIIWqxD0oo/TbLeTr9wTmI/AAAAAAAACXA/45_qtAOK-68/s400/P4130552.jpg) ](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDIIWqxD0oo/TbLeTr9wTmI/AAAAAAAACXA/45_qtAOK-68/s400/P4130552.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/18 "2012-07-14T20:36:41Z")
Hmm, that last guy has the Libyan eyes I mentioned in the other thread. I googled a picture of Corrado and thought he looked more Jewish or Israeli than anything else, but maybe that was a function of the beard-and-fedora combination. As for the women’s pics, gamberdella.jpg is an excellent example. I kind of think I see Libyan eyes on Simona.jpg too. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/19 "2012-07-14T22:35:59Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I googled a picture of Corrado and thought he looked more Jewish or Israeli than anything else, but maybe that was a function of the beard-and-fedora combination Jews originally came from the Levant themselves (and would have been similar to today’s Lebanese pretty much) so that makes sense as well. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614/20 "2012-09-20T19:01:22Z")
Not sure if it’s against the rules to bump threads, but any other opinions? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-syrians-lebanese-look-similar-to-any-of-these-european-populations/627614.md?page=2)