Yo! Non-Arab readers!

Therefore, would you accept us for who we are regardless of our conservative culture, religion, skin color, political problems, and fabricated stereotypes?

Conservative culture: Although I don’t have much in the way of other Arabs to compare against, you strike me as less conservative than other Arabs.
Religion: Who cares who you pyay to (or don’t pray to). Although the not accepting evolution is a bit dogmatic.
Skin colour: Who cares!
Political problems: You don’t come across as someone who cares much for politics. Besides, the middle east’s lack of democracy is hardly your fault
Fabricated stereotypes: Well, stereotypes are always good for a laugh

Yes, but I will never date another arab in my life. Way too complicated. Unless, I get back with my ex, lol.

I tend to be a bit uncomfortable with religious people in general – when they espouse their views based on that religion. I couldn’t care less if you’re Arab, Christian or anything else, I just have a difficult time with the idea of people acting in accordance with how they believe a supernatural entity wants them to.

But if I was talking to you about sports, business, entertainment or anything where those views don’t surface, your religion would be irrelevant as to how I interact with you.

Hope you find this useful.

ronny

i came on yr blog caz it was a post about muslims n i wants 2 learn everything i can about muslims n see other peoples views 4 me i would still be friends with ya mona lol i dont always agree with what u say but hey there always goin be some1 that dont agree with ya n me 2 lol i would be friends with any1 if he/she is a good person i think there r arabs that give other arabs a bad name as 4 arabs not wanting 2 be friends with non arabs well the arabs that r like that thats there loss n the same 4 non arabs not wanting arab friends i think alot of people need 2 open up there eyes n explore the world arabs n non arabs p.s i love arabs

I have no problem with being friends with Muslim, but their parents have a problem with it.
Once they find out what my job is they don’t invite me in or they are very rude. i got into a fight with one girls dads once and I was just trying to explain to him not to judge me because of my occupation. just like how he doesn’t want people to judge his kids or family I am PROUD to be in the military

@Mona

That’s what I said haha…My brother-in-law is a Muslim. but thats an another story lol

I didn’t realize this was even a question, though now that I think about it, I do know many people wouldn’t know how to react to some of the conservative aspects of being an Arab or for that matter being a Muslim. But, I think anyone who has a brain would take the time to ask questions to be able to understand why someone is the way they are before making judgments as to whether they can be friends with them.

Only 84% said yes!? No way! Mona I think all your non-Arab readers like you so that 16% must be some Arab guys messing up the poll results!

I think we can see kinds of Arab; traditional, religious and modern(and off course some proportion of mix between the three).
I don’t know which one you are, Mona, but modern arabs
(or arabs with large proportion of being modern) are much more fun and can get along with other people better.

And I found most of religious Arabs are humble and kind, despite they’re somewhat annoying being too serious attitude in viewing so many things using the eyes of religion.

They’re also shaped by their education and financial status. Most educated Arabs are somewhat easier in comprehending other culture.

They are also different by region. Syrian,Lebanese,Palestine are more open
and tolerant compared to Saudis or other khaleeje arabs.

Why not???
Life is about adding more life into life.
Welcome ! Welcome ! Welcome !

If you check my Facebook, you will see several Arabs are my friends. And the best thing is that they are TRUE friends, not just people who requested me as a friend and I confirmed them. I am very happy to have Arab friends. Most are religious Muslims (as opposed to merely Muslim-in-name-only), but they aren’t intolerant. Most have been fine with our discussions of faith and politics and I find those talks super-exciting most of the time!

My best friend is an Arab. Did I grow up with Arab friends? No. But that’s because I never knew any around here. We just don’t have a large Arab population where I live. But for 2 years now, I have welcomed several mostly Syrian Arabs into my life and I truly adore them. In fact, I’d love to live in Damascus for a while! I visited earlier this year. Do you honestly think an American like myself would travel all the way to SYRIA if she didn’t love Arabs?

I hope that answered your question.

Sure I would! I’d be friends w/ anyone who shares interests with me, no matter what their background is.

I grew up in an “old family,” in a traditional christian southern home, which means there was a subtle tinge of racism that ran through our society. I mean no one was in the KKK or anything, but you just did not associate with people of other colors. Even though the Jim Crow laws had been lifted a generation earlier, separation was still present, on a voluntary basis….they had their churches and events, and we had ours. The best friend (African American) I met in college had lived 2 miles away from me my entire life, but we never met until we were several hundred miles away at school, because of the social segregation in our city. I rejected my family’s awkward prejudice at a young age because it seemed so, frankly, stupid.

I was the girl in high school who could wander freely from one group to another and always feel welcome – I had jock friends, artsy friends, nerdy friends, goth friends, rebel friends….I was both the cheerleader and the drama geek

My friendships as I have grown still encompass a wide variety. I have always enjoyed meeting people from widely different backgrounds. Today I have friends who religiously range from neo-pagan to conservative christian…education-wise from high school to multiple PH.D.’s from Harvard…single people, single moms, and people married with children…I have friends who have never left their home state and friends who have been to more countries than I can count.

What matters to me in a friendship is a person’s heart: kindness, loyalty, respect, sense of self, the ability to both have really meaningful conversation AND laugh til we cry. I am an inquisitive person and I like to hear people’s stories.

The one thing that turns me off in a friendship is ignorance – blind prejudice toward others.

So yes: I would (and have) extend the arm of friendship to Arabs, I look at people as individuals not as a group. If an individual was really sweet and funny and thoughtful I would call her my friend; if she was nasty and hateful toward me or others, I would avoid her. Although I will say, I sometimes get an awkward vibe from Arab women when I approach them, maybe it is because they are so used to dealing with American idiots who equate the idea of Arab or Muslim with terrorism…

To be perfectly honest with you I don’t think that the being in a totally different world by your self, feeling midunderstood, and fabricating stereotypes are things that are uniquely Arab. Everyone is like that to some degree. As for being friends with an Arab, I don’t base friendship on cultural or religious background so the chance of me being friends with an Arab is just as good as the chance of me being friends with anyone else.

@ann

Agree with Ann there, on the last part. I’ve never had a debate with myself about whether somebody was suitable to be a friend of mine or not. If I like the person and get along with them, then I start thinking of them as a friend. I’ve been a bit taken aback the times I’ve run into people who say things like “I don’t think we can be friends because (some factor they have no control over)” Maybe there’s some good reason to be like that but it never made much sense to me. I’ve even met Christians who wouldn’t be involved socially with anyone who wasn’t a devout Christian because they thought it would be a bad influence. That seems the craziest of all because it seems to directly contradict the teachings of Jesus.

Arabs are such great people!!! I like how there is less of a territorial bubble with the males, like hugging and kissing and such. I kind of wish that i could hug and kiss the females, but I also know the religious disposition that the women are in.
By the way, i know that this might sound naive; whatever happened to just being Human?

I have to say around 80% of my closest friends are arabs – but most are born and live in the Middle East (mainly PhD students etc). I guess I came here because I was curious to see what an arab brought up and living in the west was like.

@Brian
“By the way, i know that this might sound naive; whatever happened to just being Human?”

I know exactly what you mean. Us Muslims we believe that this life is nothing but a test, so we try are very best to avoid commiting sins like kissing and hogging as friends. Muslims have something called Jihad al-nafs which translates into English as inner struggle or spiritual strive.

I initially started to read your blog because I just liked how blunt and honest you were. I tend to like that in people, so whether you are an arab or not has nothing to do with if I would be your friend. You keep it real, whether I agree or disagree, and for that, I like you and respect you.

You also give me some additional insight into a culture I do not know much about, which I appreciate. I would rather learn more than to sit and be ignorant all my life.

when it comes to friendships with arabs, it all depends on the TYPE OF ARABS. from my university days i have learned that “type” matters when it comes to arabs. there are two types, friendly arabs and arrogant arabs. friendly ones come from syria, labanon, palestine, and libya. this type has social skills and can talk about anything and everything without being rude or intolerant. the syrians are my favorite, they can crack a joke on anything. on the other hand arrogrant type comes from saudi arabia, kuwait, and oman. the saudis are the champion of arrogance. they would literally make everyone know that they are superior than everyone else. even they would admit that they would be friends with “saudi arabs” ONLY!!. now how can i or anybody be friends with such people. how can i be friends with someone who does want to be friends and looks down on me?

@Craig
I’ve never been able to figure that one out either.

@Brian
Humans died out a long time ago. There’s only a few survivors left.

I don”t care what you are it’s who you are and my grandchildren are part Arabic (Syrian) thus I know and love the food and culture. However as I said it’s what comes out of your heart and soul which makes you who you are..

Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com

ofcourse im friends with arabs. Though sometimes I wonder how they group me you know. Like behind my back what am I to them. The ones I know came to canada two years ago, and Im not stupid enough not to know that they have maids from other countries and they probably dont think much of the people who come from there. Imagine what their parents would say making friends with the same kind people who used to be their maids ?! That crosses my mind sometimes. and when they find out my fathers side of the family come from yemen its kind of like …….:shock: then . Then I dont know whats going on in their minds y’know, is it better then what they thought about me before ? Then when they find out I dont speak the language ….. lol really its kind of weird and annoying. In general the people i I know tend to be open minded, their parents ? Need to know how it feels to be the ones looked down upon.

@mohamed

salaam wa’alaikum brother!
The jihad is very important in the dunya, and I would never cross the line of comfort with women, but to correct myself, I was speaking of just putting all races, colors, and creeds aside and realizing that we are all of the same bloodline, all of the same family tree.

I answered yes, but I choose my friends carefully. I can coexist with others and discuss, but I do have some basic standards for friends, I think that´s a good thing.. also politically, I can´t stand hateful judgemental conservatives who are interferring in others lifes, or nazis etc..

Mona I know this is your Blog but I have a question…

Like I said earlier I have no problem being friends with anyone….But is it true that if I wanted to marry a Muslim girl I would have to convert? Or if a Muslim man wanted to marry and non-Muslim, would she have to convert?

Of course I’d be friends with an Arab! I wish I had more Arab friends!

By the way, you really have a wonderful blog here. Just by being yourself, by sharing your life, I imagine you’re doing much to combat hatred and racism. So keep it up, my friend!

Perhaps I am one of those people that like people for “who” they are not “what” they are. If you are one of those individuals that is comfortable with me, then I am comfortable with you as well. I do find that it is rather unfortunate that cultures tend to get in the way of true friendship.

I hope that you can realize that there probably are more people out there willing to accept you no matter what background you have. Based upon many of the comments, it seems to appear that way. You sound like a very intelligent and forward individual who can see beyond the prejudice. Let’s hope that more people can see beyond those prejudices and like people for who they are.

Assalamu Alaikum

I expressed my opinion about your blog in my email to you a few days back.

I worked under a Syrian boss in UAE for almost 6 years. He only likes Arab nationals.
Coz of my profession and my Muslim identity he appointed me to his concern.
Except three non Arab nationals, all of his staffs were Arabs…most of them were Egyptians. Some were Syrians and one was omm Ahmad from Palestine. She was 50+. All of my colleagues were very friendly, except some minor misunderstandings.

I am obsessed to know why non Muslims are attracted to Islam and reverting in plenty (about 20,000 a year) even though the world and western media is propagating so vehemently and negatively against Islam saying “Islam is a terror breeding religion”.

I also bloging a lot to know why some Muslims leaving Islam. Most of the time I found they left Islam for worldly gain.

I forgot how I entered to your blog. I think the above is the reason I bloged you by seeing REBELLIOUS ARAB GIRL to know why you are rebellious..
wassalam
qamar.

yes i would love to, to know their culture and tradition more. We all know that they are greatly misunderstood in this world because of the movies and media’s “stereotyping”.

Being a Jew, I have many Arab friends, both religious and non-religious.. I don’t look on their backgrounds, but on how they treat me..

In general, being religious, I connect better with Arabs than with the ordinary Dane (living in Denmark), but it’s not like I care much about people’s background, more in whether we share interests.. And since I’m pretty focused on the Middle East (studying Middle Eastern subjects), most of my friends are either from the ME or interested in the ME..

Mah Salaam

I think you’re actions are conservative,but not you’re Thoughts. First of all you are honest,so when im reading you i dont have to spend time second guessing You.Arabs be it Coptic be it Muslim or whatever to me it always comes down to family. bottom line we all want our parents acceptance .The questions that you ask from time to time is my parents acceptance conflicting with my happiness.