I know that I have referred to myself as an Arab previously, whether in person, text, or even some of my previous blog posts. And I don't exactly take it back, as I do consider myself Arabian, to a certain extent. But, I have gained some insight from a deep discussion with a friend, during dinner one night, as to why these labels are important. Any quotes that I insert will be the points mentioned by my friend. You could consider this post as a collab of some sort. Generally speaking, it is important to know where we come from, and I feel like if I call myself an Arab it will confuse certain people as to why I am in Israel. And so, basically, I am explaining my right to exist within the Israeli borders.
I am, essentially, a Canaanite who was conditioned by Arabians
who took over and colonized the middle east. "Studies on Palestinian DNA has linked us back to the land ancestrally, as far back as the Canaanites. We are also genetically closer to populations in the Levant like Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, and Kurds way more than ethnic Arabs." Naturally so, Arabians and Canaanites intermixed, and the heavier influence was the Arabian one, as there was an Arab dominance in the region, resulting in some groups of the Canaanites adapting to the Arabic language, religion, culture, and lifestyle. However, "the main idea is that we are ancestrally, culturally, politically, historically, and even dialectically different to Arabs and even many of the countries that surround us." Even within the borders, we have minor differences in traditional foods, clothes, customs and even dialects. Although the discussion with my friend was very interesting, to say the least, it is the recent political events that have shed light upon the importance of this topic for me: the deals between the Arab countries and Israel reveal where their loyalty lies, pulverizing an unspoken brotherhood that was established throughout history. And so it became to clear to me and many other Israeli-Arabs and Palestinians what my friend means when he says that "the idea that we are Arabs, and other Arabs have some joint interest or cause is misleading and hopeless because I, as a Palestinian, cannot depend on them to face my own issues." My friend did say that he would not be surprised if this happened way before it actually did, practically predicting the ongoing talks, because
although we call ourselves Arab, and they also call us Arab, they do not see us as one of them.
Which is how it should be... "We have our own land, identity, interests, conflicts, politics and history. I would like for the Palestinian identity to be independent and complete, which it can be. It does not have to be under another identity's umbrella. We're very clearly our own ethnic group." Imagine calling all of the different people who were historically conquered by Germanic tribes, as Germanic. That would mean grouping Germans, Austrians, Swiss, Danes, Dutch, English, Flemish, Frisians, Icelanders, Scots, Norwegians, Swedes, and more, and then further expecting them all to have the same cause. "I think that the idea that a Mauritanian, and Egyptian, Palestinians, Syrians, Saudi, Omani are all the same and share the same national interests is ridiculous!... keeping those who do not belong in our cause only harms us and our future." Furthermore, "the Arab identity and Arab world has very seldom, if at all ever benefitted Palestinians. We are massacred and mistreated in Arab countries terribly. Just because I speak Arabic, does not mean that I am Arab. Languages can cross ethnicities, religions, and continents too easily to group people based off of them." This grouping of ethnic people is a form of orientalism that was imposed by Westerners, grouping us all together as one group which is ethnically insensitive and simply xenophobic. "Pan-Arabism has always been a foreign idea."
It is time for me to claim my identity, ethnically.
Although I do agree with my friend that it is important to distinguish ourselves from pure Arabians, it is also important to recognize the immense impact that they have had on us in terms of religion, language and culture. I also feel that although it is important to recognize who and what we are... "Embracing our own culture and identity." Additionally, I think that it is just as important to try and focus on the similarities that we have with one another and not just appreciating our differences. I felt that my friend agrees with this when he mentioned that "it's obviously not my goal to create animosity and division... it is probably one of the saddest things that have happened to us... that we have divided ourselves into different nations, races, and sects." I would really like to thank my friend for contributing to my growth as an individual by bringing this topic to my attention, and I hope that I do the same to you.
Sincerely,
Ed the Bedhead