Comments on: 10 Facts Every Westerner Should Know About the Middle East

By: Read This Link » 10 Things Everyone Should Know About the Middle East |

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:58:48 +0000

[...] 10 Things Everyone Should Know About the Middle East | [...]

By: Nirg

Nirg — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:26:20 +0000

Here's another facts: of all Arab, Persian, Turkish and Muslim countries, Israel is the only state in the state in the middle east that Christian arabs aren't leaving.
Palestine and Lebanon for example, both both have "democratic" regimes, have the highest rate of Christians looking for shelter in western countries (with Israel among them)

By: jdlyndon

jdlyndon — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:32:47 +0000

It's all well and good saying that most terrorists are Muslim (and it's probably true). But you have to realize, Americans are just more cunning and sly about the way they go about killing massive amounts of people. America uses covert terrorism; this means instead of using bombs and missiles (which they also use obviously) they will bring the enemy down from within, by means of misinformation, propaganda, blackmail; they will turn a society against it's self.

You also have to understand how frustrated these people are, some of the things they and their parents have gone through since WWII are terrible and a lot of them blame the USA and their allies. The USA has put a lot of funding into many wars etc including the Gulf War, and the Palestinian – Israeli conflict.

In fact the USA gives more aid to Israel than any of the other countries combined. Roughly 10 times more tax payers money goes to Israel than goes to fight the greatest plague the earth has seen since the middle ages; AIDS.

So you can hardly blame anyone for thinking that USA and Israel are one-and-the-same.

Moreover, if you stopped to listen to our friendly neighborhood Osama Bin Laden, you would realize that his main hatred for the USA stems from the Palestinian – Israeli conflict. as you can see here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/the...

Anyway, sorry for the rant I just thought I would demonstrate that they really are just as bad as each other.

If my mother was in charge she'd just bang both their heads together and send them to bed with no dinner.

By: meneame.net

meneame.net — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:59:03 +0000

10 cosas que todo occidental debería saber acerca de Oriente Próximo...

La mayoría de occidentales tienen muy pocos conocimentos acerca de Oriente Próximo y de los habitantes de la región. Esta desinformación dificulta la discusión y el entendimiento de los acontecimientos actuales. Por ejemplo, muy pocas personas con...

By: boyd

boyd — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:47:07 +0000

and when you post as a guest you get a random picture from someone else… yeah :)

By: boyd

boyd — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:45:30 +0000

I believe Bahrain's population is mostly Shi'a (60%) but the ruling family is Sunni. Which has caused them quite a few issues in the past (revolts) and still makes it one of the less stable country in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

(I live and work in the UAE, for now.)

By: Name

Name — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:50:30 +0000

Palestine is not a country.

By: 10 Facts Every Westerner Should Know About the Middle East « Netcrema - creme de la social news via digg + delicious + stumpleupon + reddit

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:55:56 +0000

[...] 10 Facts Every Westerner Should Know About the Middle Eastdanielmiessler.com [...]

By: frosso

frosso — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:00:58 +0000

What I understood in this very good article, is that Egyptians are Arabs. Your family is from Egypt? Correct? And…The Arabs are Christian Muslims. That means that they believe in Jesus Christ. I hope I understood Correctly.

By: JB

JB — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:54:30 +0000

Interesting...

But not as interesting as the Electronic Cigarette...

By: Richard P.

Richard P. — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:36:09 +0000

IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM IRAN IS NOT ARAB WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE ARAB SCUM

We get it, sand nigger.

By: Daniel Miessler

Daniel Miessler — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:38:08 +0000

There's always one.

It's an interesting fact that it's NOT the Middle East.

By: Name

Name — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:20:26 +0000

"The country with the world’s largest Muslim population is Indonesia."

What does that have to do with the Middle East?

Perhaps we should add "11. Indonesia is in Southeast Asia, not the Middle East"!

By: Today is a Monday « Motley World View

Today is a Monday « Motley World View — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:35:20 +0000

[...] 10 Facts Every Westerner Should Know About the Middle East (Photo) [...]

By: Toni

Toni — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:29:59 +0000

Can u make a list that is student friendly and accompany a photo of what you write so special ed students can understand the concept TFusco@sjsdny.org

By: Toni

Toni — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:28:41 +0000

Can u make a list that is student friendly and accompany a phot of what you write so special ed students can understand the concept TFusco@sjsdny.org

By: Trevor

Trevor — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:15:24 +0000

Seriously? Would you honor my request to add (STFU) after everything you ever type in caps? Silly.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:12:46 +0000

No. Iraq is mostly Shia just as the author stated. Kurds only represent 16-18% of the total population and have Sunnis, Shias, Yezidi and Christians not to mention non-religious groups among them.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:15:24 +0000

Seriously? Would you honor my request to add (STFU) after everything you ever type in caps? Silly.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:12:46 +0000

No. Iraq is mostly Shia just as the author stated. Kurds only represent 16-18% of the total population and have Sunnis, Shias, Yezidi and Christians not to mention non-religious groups among them.

By: unblock_porn

unblock_porn — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:07:11 +0000

Very accurate and good info.

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:15:38 +0000

"protestants are more like wahhabis (the extremist subgroup of Sunnis)"

I almost decided that this was so preposterous that it was not worth replying to, But I am highly offended. I do not think that all Muslims are zealots and terrorists. Obviously, you think that all Protestants are this way. It must be because you are as ill-informed about Christian denominations as most Christians are about Islam and its different sects.

I am a Protestant. The word comes from protesting against the tyranny of the Catholic church a few hundred years ago, not from extremist attitudes such as "killing infidels". If you want to make an intelligent analogy, then study before you post. You are as caustic as extremists in our camp.

By: aguywhoisMuslim

aguywhoisMuslim — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:35:19 +0000

You know honestly I am Muslim and this site not bad (haven't read many of the comments, but the site post itself is pretty accurate to my eyes). If any non-Muslim reads and understands what is written here he/she knows more than 90% of Americans about Islam.

But not everything you said is exactly right. If you want to use an analogy, protestants are more like wahhabis (the extremist subgroup of Sunnis). Sunni Islam is the large majority of Muslims, and many Sunni Muslims revere saints. Only stupid wahhabis don't. Shi'a respect saints but they have their own, and they really focus on the "imams," who are universally descendants of the Prophet (s). Sunnis use the word "imam" in a different way. Shi'a might say either "Imam" (initial cap) meaning certain descendants of Prophet (s), or "imam" (small 'i') meaning the person who leads prayers and gives instruction at a mosque. Sunnis use the word "imam" in a way similar to the way Shi'a use the word for the person who leads prayer.
There are many other differences also, but they are matters of belief and practice, in the way that Seventh Day Adventists are going to be different from Jehovah's Witnesses or, certainly, from Catholics.
Real Sunni Islam reveres the descendants of the Prophet (s), but wahhabis don't.
There is not really a grand Sunni-Shi'a conflict. There have been wars, of course, but saying there is a long-term ongoing conflict between Shi'a and Sunni is not right--it is just as true to say that there is a long-term ongoing conflict between Protestants and Catholics. It might be true in a very limited way but is on its face an ignorant statement.

Wahhabis say there is no clergy in Islam (and they mean Sunni Islam) but actually there are learned people that Wahhabis don't want to recognize. Also there are saints, almost universally revered in the Muslim world, who are despised by Wahhabis. There is a lot more detail and nuance to this, of course, but what you have said is a good basic starting point.

By: mashaziva

mashaziva — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:22:44 +0000

Study history . Some facts you might learn: Jews populated the area known as Israel for over 5000 years. Jerusalem was the capital of Israel before and during the birth of Christ. Jews lived in Arab countries for thousands of years, as arabs lived in Israel. Over 600,000 jews were expelled from their homes in arab countries before and after 1948 and no one is suggesting that they be able to return to their ancestral homes with or without reparations.
Learn the facts. Research this for yourself and dont buy into the lies being spread.
And then answer this question: Jordan controlled the west bank and east jerusalem from 1949-1967 during which time they expelled the Palestinians to refugee camps in Syria/Lebanon. Why didnt the world demand that Jordan create a Palestinian state. Why did the world stand by and allow generations of palestinians to be hoarded in refugee camps? why?

By: Bare Are - NRK P3 » Linker

Bare Are - NRK P3 » Linker — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:06:46 +0000

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