...Arabic language First, it is important to define what actually makes an Arab. The answer is quite simple – The Arabic language! An Arab is a member of a linguistic group—and therefore, the Arab World can best be defined as the region in which people predominantly speak Arabic. Yet throughout what would be considered the Arab World, tens of thousands of people speak languages other than Arabic, ranging from the numerous dialects of Berber on the African coast of the Mediterranean to Kurdish and Armenian in southwest Asia, and so on. Arabic is a Semitic language and the sixth most common language in the world. It is a language of religious importance since it is the holy language of the world's approximately 1 billion followers of Islam. It is used as a first language by approximately 200 million people and as a second language by about 246 million speakers. It does also belong to the six official languages of the United Nations. It is characterized by diglossia, a linguistic situation in which two varieties of the same language have a functional distribution, with the spoken variety used in informal and intimate contexts and the written variety, the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), acquired through literacy and used in written and formal discourse. For those wanting to do business in Arabic-speaking markets, the Modern Standard Arabic is important, because it is common to all the countries in the Arab world, and is used in newspapers, magazines, books, and government documents...
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...Culture is the collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that distinguish a society. Culture is important to companies because it determines the rules within which businesses operate. Culture is a learned behavior that may be transmitted intergenerational or intragenerationally. Culture’s elements are interrelated, and may change to adapt to external forces. Culture is shared by members of a society. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE The basic elements of culture are social structure, language, communication, religion, and values and attitudes. The way in which the elements interact affects the local environment in which international businesses operate Islamic Law (known as Shariah) forbids charging interest. Instead, lenders under Islamic Law may charge “fees” or “rent” to borrowers. Shariah scholars say there is no prohibition against using an interest rate as a benchmark to calculate appropriate fees or rents. Several U.S. lenders (including Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) are now offering “Islamic home mortgages.” Such mortgages are described in detail in the textbook. The price of the Islamic mortgages tends to be very comparable to the price of traditional mortgages. Values and Attitudes * Values are the principles and standards accepted by members of a society; attitudes encompass the actions, feelings, and thoughts that result from those values. Attitudes about time, authority, education, and rewards reflect an individual’s deep-seated values...
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...<Writing Score> <Date Graded> Assignment 1: Building the vision My name is Siham Wallace and I am originally from Casablanca, Morocco. I moved to the United States in 1998 and I attended Western Michigan University. I graduated in 2000 with a Masters Degree in Communications. I have worked in healthcare for the last 14 years and am currently employed as a Director of an assisted Living for Dementia /Alzheimer’s patients. I have 2 children, a boy and a girl, ages 11 and 9. I am interested in teaching women how to be leaders, especially Arab women. In the Arab culture, men are predisposed from birth to be leaders while women are taught to be followers. Women are taught to take care of their husbands and children. From Birth, they are conditioned to be daughters, sisters, mothers and bread winners. They can acquire higher education and join the workforce but in the back of their minds, they are not born leaders. An Arab woman is an “uneducated housewife and an educated one. She is an exhausted modern professional wife and mother...
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...Outline of Article Arabs and the West (Failure of West to understand Arabs) - Main focus is the bad perceptions gained by Europeans on Arabs Perception of Western Attitude on Arabs - Ideas developed from past - Divided into 3 strands 1. Battle between Christian Europe and Islam - 7th century - 18 century - Fears, animosities and suspicions reflected in European Education - Normally Western deny but subconscious is another story (prejudice) - Oriental is defined with adjectives: duplicity, cruelty, servility, despotism. - Another possibility is the misunderstanding of Islam 2. European Expansion - 17th century - End of First World War. - Euopean Imperialism (destruction of literacy) - British Global Supremacy (lead non-europeans to civilization) - sincerity from British was due to belief that non-european are not modern - Heightening European Power and ideals over non-european - British Outlook in Arab Territories was based on British Ideals (not looking at arab culture) 3. Struggle between Imperialistic Power versu Growing National Movements - After World War I and still existing today - Attempt of Nationalists to remove foreign power yield: - Rebellion and repression - Loss of life - Bitterness of opinion - British handicaped due to 2 reasons a. Failure to realize impact of superior strength on weaker nations - Weaker nation feels suffocated when under superior power - Believes they are stopping their aspirations b. National liberation...
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...and Discrimination * Explain the difference between Muslims and Arabs. The difference between Muslims and Arabs are that Arabs are an ethnic group coming from Arabic countries that speak Arabic. Muslims are a religious group; Islam is the faith Muslims follow. * Explain the deficit model of ethnic identity found in chapter 11 (Shaefer, 2006). Why are some Arab Americans viewed as less Arabs than other? Explain in your own words. The deficit of ethnic identity means that your ethnic characteristics are lessened depending on your affiliation to your ethnic group, for example, if you speak the language, if you marry someone other than your ethnic background and if you have visited or lived in the country of your background. Some Arab Americans are viewed as less than Arab because of the factors listed above, including the factor of being too Americanized. * List two to three characteristics of Orientalism. How many Orientalism and prejudice contribute to hate crimes against these groups? Some examples of characteristic associated with Orientalism are that the eastern culture is eccentric, backward and their progress with comparison with western culture is inferior and conquerable. This includes the blockage of Mosques being built because of a belief of a foreign threat being posed. The ignorance and myths of the eastern culture contributes to people committing hate crimes against people of Arab descent and Muslims. * What may individuals do to promote tolerance...
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...between the Arab World and the West Mustapha Ettobi McGill University Introduction In 1990, Edward Said wrote an article entitled “Embargoed Literature” which was published in The Nation. In it, he argues that Arabic literature is “embargoed” in the West even if one of its most prominent figures, the Egyptian novelist and short story writer Naguib Mahfouz, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. Said spoke of some “singular” reasons for this situation: [...] of all the major world literatures, Arabic remains relatively unknown and unread in the West for reasons that are unique, and I think remarkable at a time when tastes here [the United States] for the non-Western are more developed than before and, even more compelling, contemporary Arabic literature is at a particularly interesting juncture (Said 372). Although Said’s article was well received by Arab and non Arab critics and researchers (such as Richard Jacquemond, 1992), its main argument was also challenged by other critics and scholars such as Peter Clark (2000). The latter maintained that Arabic literature in translation has significantly progressed since 1988 and has been more reviewed and studied than before. In this article, I do not intend to either defend or question Said’s view but would like to examine an important issue which is central to his article: the impact of geopolitical conflicts on literary translation. I will be looking specifically at the influence of conflicts between the Arab world and...
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... 1. Executive Summary 2. Situation analysis Oriental Beauty Salon Company is in its first year of business as a start-up company, and it is preparing to launch an elite oriental beauty services for the Arab American female community living in USA. The Arab American population has been growing rapidly as a result of immigration, high birth rate, and conversions, it was estimated that in 2010 that Arab American community will form % 0.50 of total population of the USA (Asi& Beaulieu, 2013).The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the Arab American population to be approximately 1.4 million. However, the Arab American Institute (AAI) notes that this estimate is low as a result of a lack of comprehensive tracking. The AAI estimates the actual population of Arab Americans to be 3.4 million (AAI, 2008).The median household income for Arab Americans is $56,331 which is higher than the median income for all U.S. households (AAI, 2008). However, approximately 14% of the population lives below the poverty line with the figure increasing to over 28% for single mothers. The Arab American female community consists of many sub segments of varying nationalities including Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Palestinian, Jordanian, Moroccan, Yemeni and others and who have diversity in culture, physical types and racial backgrounds, and aspiration....
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...praising the knowledge of the doctor on the trip, he reminded us that ye olde pilgrim sawbones was familiar not only with Hippocrates and Galen, but "Rhazes, Hali, Averroës and Avicenna." It is convenient—but not a good idea—to pigeonhole our own cultural history into tidy episodes: The Renaissance, The Age of Reason, The Enlightenment, The This & That, as if they had happened all of a sudden with no connection to anything else—as if Leonardo woke up one fine morning in 1500, looked at his homemade (obviously) hour-glass and said "Gee, it's the Renaissance; I'd better build a helicopter." The point of this entry, then, is simply to draw your attention to how interconnected European and Arabic culture used to be, and how there is a link between the glorious age of Arab science and culture (800-1100)...
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...What are Arab Americans? An individual can be classified as “Arab” if the person speaks Arabic, practices Islam, and identifies with the traditions of Arabic-speaking peoples. (Aguirre and Turner 276)These individuals are usually subject to negative and differential treatment by others. It is essential to identify the differential treatment of Arab Americans by others in society. The mistreatment of Arabs in the United States can be contributed to many factors; however, there have been certain events that have occurred in the United States, which have increased and enraged these strong emotional feelings in many Americans. Discrimination and stereotypes of a culture or group mainly develops from a lack of understanding. We can become a stronger society and nation if there is a greater awareness of the different cultures, in general, and not just about Arab Americans. With a better understanding by all Americans, these Arab-Americans, as well as other stereotyped individuals in society, would not have to worry about defending their identities, ancestries, cultures or traditions. Since Sept. 11, Arab Americans have been beneficiaries of what it feels like to be a member of the African American community. Although it is wrong to treat Arab Americans like criminals, we should not be surprised that they are treated in these ways. September 11 is a day that no one will ever forget. Everyone can remember where they were eleven years ago when terrorist attacked the twin towers of...
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...Arabizi speakers Aysha Al Khaldi, Lamya Tawfeq and Wisam Dhubaibah. Among the other interviewees are academics (what do you mean academics), a producer at MBC, and Arab locals. The documentary grabs the viewers’ attention by combining contradictory points of view from experts in education, while also allowing the viewer to listen to the Arabizi speakers' and their parents'/friends' point of views. Due to globalization, in today's world the west has become the center of power, and control. The western invasion of the east, has led Arabs to welcome the idea of combining the western and eastern culture, or completely eliminating the Arab culture and replacing it with that of the west without hesitation. The documentary acknowledges this, when Dalia Al Khury interviews Dr. Hisham Ghaseeb, Dean of "Princess Sumaya University" in Jordan. He aims to awaken the Arab nations' consciousness, in order to do so, he encourages Arabs to incorporate the Arabic culture and language back into their lives. Dr. Hisham believes that the new trend of Arabizi has become very common, because the westerns are seen as the "modern civilization makers". He affirms his position by bringing up a strong argument: that Arabizi speakers tend to "imitate" the western language and habits, rather than mastering and embracing their own language and culture. He attacks those who stray...
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...Annotated Bibliography BSHS/345 Diversity and Special Populations Annotated Bibliography Arab Culture: Learn about Arab etiquette and protocols. (2004). In Planet Egypt online. Retrieved from http://www.planetegypt.co.uk/samoora.shtml This article discusses the difference between Arab, Middle-Eastern and Muslim people. The author talks about the region in which a person is from, as well as language and religion is what determines which group one would identify with. The history and cultures of Arabic people are provided in this article. Cacho, L. M. (2001). Asian Americans. University of Hawaii Press The article discusses the relationships between Asian Americans and their families. The author explains how they have to deal with certain stereotypes in order to succeed in a place where they are Americans, but still considered to be foreigners. The article is a good resource for understanding how Asian Americans feel in a country where so many barriers are placed upon them. Caroll, S.R. (1994, December). Why poor black children succeed or fail. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/africanamericancultue The conceptual article begins with the broad discussion about African American culture. It projects today’s youth and the inconsistency of what Americans idolize as equality in school systems. It discusses the present’s findings of family and individual studies that factor in the high and low achieving African-American students...
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...Europeans it symbolized obedience and subduing the ‘other.’ Similarly, in today’s world the Palestinians follow the Arabic term of peace meaning greetings and salutation and take it a step forward by emphasizing more on harmonious relations whereas the international system is imposing a western perspective of peace as a the ideal model. The author further elaborates this analogy by the dividing the article into three main sections: the harmonious relations amongst the Palestinians that the author grew up in, explanation of peace at the institutional level and lastly, the Palestinian perspective of peace in a personal and an interpersonal level. According to the authors stories Palestinians depend on their community, surroundings and culture as the backbone of their lives. Even under the Israeli military occupation the Palestinians lived under warm, nurturing relationships full of aliveness, dignity, generosity and freedom. People in the region followed a common cultural practice that consisted of three different religions Christian women would go to an Islamic town to pray under a Jewish symbolic tree to conceive. All these examples express respect and recognition towards others, which further advocates the notion of peace. Institutions and formal language has imprisoned the individual mind to see the world through words, abstractions, definitions and identities through a linear line. Once it is formalized the term loses its energy and spirit. The word Arabic in...
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...There are many differences between Muslims and Arabs. The biggest difference between the two is there religious. According to Schaefer, “Arabs are an ethnic group and Muslims are a religious group.” Other differences’ between the two are that they hail from different geographical and ancestral backgrounds, and they arrived to the United States at different times.” One policy change that has occurred in the past few years (post 9/11) is that there is a close surveillance of Muslims charity organizations. Another change is that it has been a decrease in the number of visas being given to people coming from Muslims countries (Voices of America News.com, 2006). Orientalism is defining by our text as the simplistic view of the people and history of the Orient with no recognition of change over time or the diversity within its many cultures (Schaefer, 2006). A couple of characteristics of orientalism are that it is an outdated way of looking at Muslim and Arab people without taking into account changes over the years and how they live currently. Also it is a blanket concept that does not look at all of the different cultures within these groups (Schaefer, 2006, p. 286). Orientalism is an ignorant concept and ignorance often leads to meaningless violence hence this uneducated state of mind can directly relate to hate crimes. The best way to promote tolerance and reduce prejudice is by educating people to whom and what Arabs and Muslims really are. Usually, prejudice is caused by...
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...surveillance program has helped the FBI to arrest dozen of young Muslims in western New York, in Detroit, in Seattle, and in Portland, Oregon since late summer. Philip Shenon and David Johnston, the authors of the article, say that the surveillance campaign is centered in the Detroit, Michigan area because the largest population of people of Arab descent lives there. In the article, the authors report that some Arab-Americans and Muslim groups are not happy with what is going on inside their communities. They have complained about the FBI’s unfair accusation that these young men have some connection with Al-Qaeda. In my opinion, the authors of the article have done a valuable thing to make people aware of these problems. I think that the FBI is not doing a great job. I don’t think it came with a right idea to solve this problem. The FBI’s effort to go after these young Muslim men will not eliminate potential terrorists. Their actions will just cause more people to turn into terrorists to protest this treatment. The authors of the article quote Hussein Ibish, communications director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, as saying, “Young Arab Men, in particular, are being treated as suspicious, possibly dangerous.” He also...
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...Translation in Moving Ideas Between Islam & the West Papers: * The Arabs entered Al-Andalus with a great army under the leadership of Tarik Bin Ziad during the Umayyad days. Using such military force, the Arab government controlled Spain for 9 centuries. * The Arabs called Spain “Al-Andalus” because they entered Europe from the west side through Andalusia. * The conquest (takeover) by the Arabs in Spain was not achieved due to using force only, but also due to the coming of a new civilization that invaded all walks of life (social classes). * Within few years, the civilization in Al-Andalus became the richest and most important civilization. It flourished between the 8th and 15th century. * Although the Arab-Islamic Spain seemed to be a strong & unified power, however, this was partly true. There were many fractures in the structure of the nation. * Some remarkable aspects in Al-Andalus: calm & beautiful nature; richness in natural resources. Such aspects helped the Arabs develop a new rich civilization. * The social life in Al-Andalus was very active in such a way that it had no parallel in history, except perhaps in USA where different races thrived & flourished side by side. * The Islamic culture was divided from various sources, but remained near in its essential maintaining. * A new culture was born in Al-Andalus. It was composed of many different elements: Arabs, Muslims, Greeks, Byzantium, Chinese, and Europeans. * Al-Andalus...
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