# How do we get the Arab countries to like **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 4, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024 "2003-05-04T15:03:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/61 "2003-05-06T00:10:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\* > First of all, Osama is an extreme radical, and not representative of every Arab in the world. The attack on 9/11 was irrational, and should be roundly condemned by any sane person. > \ > I think it’s shortsighted to think that EVERY Arab on the planet is some kind of nut with an insane, irrational hatred of the U.S. that could never be quelled. This idea that they would hate us no matter what we ever did is bullshit. > \ > … be cognizant of the Arab point of view without dismissing the Arab world as an entire race of crazy people. > > \*\* I never said OBL or SH was representative of every Arab. I very clearly said > [@](#): > > …at least some of the leadership in some Arab countries… I still think there are **SOME** of those extreme radicals you mentioned who **WOULD** hate us no matter what we did. And I still find it interesting that so much vitriol is spent on the U.S. and so little on countries like Red China who is involved in genocide and whatever the term is for killing a culture, in Tibet. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/62 "2003-05-06T00:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \* > \*\*Not to nitpick, but Iran isn’t an Arab country. \*\* D’oh! I forgot. _sigh_ But then again, perhaps it is part of that region, and some people would think of that as a reason. (Which ARE the Arab nations? I get so confused!) ---
**Author:** ![2Thick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/a88e57/32.png) [@2Thick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Thick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/63 "2003-05-06T02:05:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Well, there was that time in the 1950s when we overthrew the democratically elected leader of Iran and reinstalled the Shah. Although that wasn’t quite an invasion. \*\* Iran is not an Arab country. ---
**Author:** ![2Thick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/a88e57/32.png) [@2Thick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Thick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/64 "2003-05-06T02:06:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \* > \*\*Not to nitpick, but Iran isn’t an Arab country. \*\* You are not nitpcking. You are education the ignorant masses. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/65 "2003-05-06T02:35:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*D’oh! I forgot. _sigh_ > > But then again, perhaps it is part of that region, and some people would think of that as a reason. > > (Which ARE the Arab nations? I get so confused!) \*\* The ones with Arabs in them. Basically, The Iran/Iraq border is the eastern border of the Arab world. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/66 "2003-05-06T02:44:07Z")
Look, I KNOW it’s not an Arab nation, okay? Do you guys have to keep reminding me? I screwed up. ---
**Author:** ![2Thick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/a88e57/32.png) [@2Thick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Thick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/67 "2003-05-06T03:02:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Look, I KNOW it’s not an Arab nation, okay? Do you guys have to keep reminding me? I screwed up. \*\* I did not mean to sound like a dick. I did not see the other responses before I posted. But it is important to remember that Persians are one of the world’s oldest civilzed people (and have one of the richest histories in the world), so comparing them to Arabs (who inavded Persia) is a hot button issue. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/68 "2003-05-06T03:30:38Z")
I would just like to post in order to inform Guinastasia that Iran is NOT an arab country. I’m not sure where you got this idea from but I can assure you, you are wrong. I would like to see at least 10 more posts on this subject of Guinastasia being wrong about Iran being an arab country please. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/69 "2003-05-06T03:41:18Z")
\*\*Guin, \*\* as penance I hereby assign you to do an in-depth study of the regional variations in Middle Eastern cuisine. Your plane leaves at midnight. You are not to return until you have sampled the most memorable dish of every major and medium-sized city in the Middle East; bonus points will also be given for each village of less than 1,000 inhabitants you visit. You are to bring back as many recipes as possible, with each one preferably accompanied by a genuine little old lady, who will conduct a master class for Dopers with the aid of an appropriate interpreter. If that doesn’t teach you about Arabs vs. Persians vs. Turks, nothing will. Plus, it’ll be fun! ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/70 "2003-05-06T04:15:00Z")
Between the post here and the GQ post, methinks **Eva Luna** is hungry. 😉 If you like all sort of ME cuisine, come to Dearborn. In one block, you can go from Lebanese to Pakistani to ‘Amoglamated Arab’. All good. (Except the lamb tongue.) Wash it down with a smoothee or some turkish coffee, have them bring out the houka, and relax. Oh ya. ---
**Author:** ![Anahita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9a28c/32.png) [@Anahita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anahita)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/71 "2003-05-06T06:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jojo \* > \*\*I would just like to post in order to inform Guinastasia that Iran is NOT an arab country. I’m not sure where you got this idea from but I can assure you, you are wrong. > > I would like to see at least 10 more posts on this subject of Guinastasia being wrong about Iran being an arab country please. > > Thank you. \*\* I forgive her. The Board Iranian ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/72 "2003-05-06T06:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AHunter3 \* > \*\*A few years ago we were (somewhat belatedly, perhaps, but were) intervening in Serbia/Bosnia, mostly with an effect of stopping the slaughter of Muslims at the hands of Milosevic’s forces. > > How was this viewed in the internaitonal Muslim community? Was there a sense that America was not so anti-Islamic as had previously been perceived to be? (Or had the US been perceived in that fashion prior to that anyhow?) \*\* heres an article. [http://www.danielpipes.org/article/310](http://www.danielpipes.org/article/310) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/73 "2003-05-06T06:53:20Z")
Arab Countries (members of Arab League and also Arab meaning some large percent of pop actually speak Arabic as mother tonque): Algeria (large restive non-Arab minority) Bahrain Egypt (non Arab minorities present) Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya (non-Arab minorities in Sahara) Morocco (signif non-Arab minorities) Mauretania (signif non-Arab minorities) Oman Syria (Some non-Arab minority presence) Saudi Arabia Sudan (non Arab south, also signif. non Arab minorities in North) Tunisia (some non-Arab minorities) Yemen Qatar UAE Off the top of my head but I do believe I covered everyone. I’m afraid though Eva’s homework assign is not well-concieved as Guin will only begin to confuse the seven different names Warraq Aineb get, in Arabic Turkish and various mixtures thereof. Plus you’ll get fat. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/74 "2003-05-06T08:10:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GoHeels \* > Considering that we’ve “dismissed the Arab world as an entire race of crazy people” I’m curious to hear how you would characterize the initial reactions to the plan from both the Palestinians and Israeli perspective. If that’s true, then it tends to show that the Palestinians aren’t as intransigent as a lot of people seem to think they are. If there is ever going to be peace in the Middle East, we will have to divorce ourselves from the notion that it’s “us vs. the crazy Arab terrorists, who only know hate and only understand violence.” There seems to be an implication **in this thread** that the Arab world will _never_ like us, no matter what we do, which also implies that their hatred is irrational, and that our country has never done anything to earn anyone’s distrust. And were that EVERYONE’S attitude, then I don’t envision the problems in the Middle East ever being solved. However, I’m not sure what you think that has to do with brokering an agreement between Palestine and Isreal. I’m not so partisan as to actually wish failure on the effort. If Bush is able to see past the myopic viewpoint I’m describing, and successfully brokers a peace agreement, then more power to him. MLS: > [@](#): > > And I still find it interesting that so much vitriol is spent on the U.S. and so little on countries like Red China who is involved in genocide and whatever the term is for killing a culture, in Tibet. Well start a thread about it and we’ll all bash China, because they deserve it. It’s old news, though. What exactly do you want? Do you want everyone to preface every sentence with “Notwithstanding China’s imperialism and human rights violations…”? I don’t get this whole “you can’t say x is bad, because y is bad too”, thing. Can’t they BOTH be bad? Monty: > [@](#): > > blowero: Try to keep up, okay? The title of the thread says “Arab countries.” It doesn’t say “Arabs.” Congratulations, that’s the most inane post I’ve seen in quite awhile.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/75 "2003-05-06T09:31:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Collounsbury \* > \*\*Arab Countries (members of Arab League and also Arab meaning some large percent of pop actually speak Arabic as mother tonque): > > Off the top of my head but I do believe I covered everyone. With one particularly glaring exception - Iraq :D. There are also a couple/few countries with Arab minorities of various sizes, into which group Iran is in fact included. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/76 "2003-05-06T09:44:47Z")
Iraq… I … I meant to leave it out, yes that’s right, I meant to. That should be about as convincing as a december analysis. I should be ashamed of myself, but it reminds me of haning out with an Iraqi friend of mine who had largely lived outside of Iraq. Some other Arabs were trying to guess where he was from - the guy was a master of accents and had a generic Med. look. Guessed and guessed, and everyone forgot Iraq. Damn, Iraq. Quite correct on the minorities issue, although I do believe that Iran is probably the host of the largest Arab minority by pop % and absolute numbers. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/77 "2003-05-06T12:12:52Z")
**Guin** - Iran may not be an Arab country, but it does have relevance to this thread as an Islamic, Middle Eastern country where there is considerable anti-American feeling. So Pedant’s Corner aside(!) I don’t think it’s inappropriate to include it to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/78 "2003-05-06T12:49:20Z")
[QUOTE] _Originally posted by december \* \*\*The major split on this thread regards whether or not the US ought to change its behavior, given that many Arabs hate the US. Which of these five ideas do you agree with:[ol][li]Many Arabs hate the US, so the US should change its behavior. [_]Many Arabs hate Israel, so Israel should change its behavior. [_]Many Arabs hate all Jews, so all Jews should change their behavior. [_]Many Arabs consider women second-class citizens, so women should change their behavior. Many Arabs hate gays, so gays should change their behavior. [/ol]I sure hope you don’t agree with #3, #4, and #5. Maybe you shouldn’t agree with #1 or #2 either. \*\*[/li][/QUOTE] just a thought here: would it not be worth your while to find out exactly _why_ they hate you? The answer might provide the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/79 "2003-05-06T14:17:28Z")
Then you’re still not paying attention. The thread appears to have been started to ask about the reaction to the US of Arab countries, not of “every Arab.” Surely, you see the difference there. If you don’t, you’re totally lost in the language used on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-the-arab-countries-to-like/173024/80 "2003-05-06T14:20:50Z")
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