Egyptian NOT Arab!

May 27th, 2007D.B. Shobrawy (Egypt)
It’s fair to say I grew up in an environment that convinced me of having a purely Arab identity. Referring to myself and other Middle Eastern people as Arab was very convenient, anyone I met from other Arabic speaking countries felt like brethren by virtue of being “Arab.”
My Arab identity was not of my parents making, actually it was public opinion and the prevalence of ignorance around me which assured me of my Arab-ness. I remember once I referred to myself as Arab in front of my father, I’ve rarely seen such a furious combination of anger and mentoring from my father.
My Dad: What!? What did you say? You’re not Arab, don’t ever say that, you’re Egyptian!
My father always had a great influence on me, every word he spoke was like Divine word to me. But in that moment I still had trouble accepting I wasn’t Arab, The influence of popular opinion was that pervasive.
I was especially curious and my fathers stern words weren’t pacifying enough for me so I had to ask, “but why?” So typical of a curious child, right? It was at that moment my father said something that I’ve carried with me in this debate until this day.
My Dad: Who settled America?
Young Me: The British.
My Dad: Bravo! And what language do they speak in America?
Young Me: English.
My Dad: Good, Good! Do you know who the Native Americans are?
Young Me: Yea the Indians.
My Dad: Exactly the Indians, they were there before the British and the British took over and now the Indians speak English right?
Young Me: Yea? (with my curiosity increasing)
My Dad: So why don’t we call the Native Americans Englishmen?
Finally I was able to understand and you should too. Replace “America” with Egypt, “English” with Arabic, “Indians” with Egyptians and “British” with Arabs.
In reality the word “Arab” is the second largest misnomer and most presumptuous ethnic label (after African American). Sadly in history, groups of people have given up their identities in order to accept a foreign one and I find myself ashamed when I listen to them talk about their ancestors as if they are a foreign and imperfect race. Phoenicians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syrians, Berbers, Philistines and many others all now calling themselves Arab.
These groups have become recognized as Arabs not because it was forced upon them to be called Arabs but because they gave into the cultural imperialism which is and was Arabization and called themselves Arab. The Iranians are a good example of a group who were too proud of their own rich history to call themselves Arab and to this day refuse to be called Arab and so called “Arabs” refuse to call them Arab.
So who is Arab? The answer is SOOOOOO much easier than you may think, especially if you’re having trouble accepting what I’m saying. Prepare yourself for a mind blowing revelation. People from the Arabian Peninsula ARE Arab, those include the countries of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
Declaring yourself as Egyptian has negative ramifications in the Arabized world though. We are often accused of nationalism (a faux pas both culturally and Islamically) and failing to unite the so-called Arab nations. I resent that accusation, I just want to be identified with my true ethnic identity and not one we’ve been borrowing for 1000+ years.

Bengalis are the Largest Desi Ethnic Group

If you look up any random encyclopedia, it’ll tell you Bengalis are known to overpopulate the Bengal region. “Bangla” is the second most spoken language in India after Hindi. And prior to 1971 the Bengalis of Pakistan composed 55% of the total population of the Pakistani Union. Even in Pakistan today there are around 2 million or more Bengalis (I may be wrong) residing there, some from the time of East Pakistan and most of them from current Bangladesh. Bengalis are the largest ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. But how is that possible?
In the Deliberation of Samiha Esha blog, Samiha throughly explained that arranged marriages is the main reason for the Bengal to be densely populated. In America and in the rest of the West, a person usually has to find someone for himself or herself. However in the East, a person will get married no matter what; it’s not always true but it happens to most people. In the Bengali community and in the rest of the Indian subcontinent, love is ignored and honor, authority, and power is more favored in the foundation of marriages which forms alliances between families. The male spouse usually says yes, but the female partner usually has a hard time accepting the marriage despite pressure from her family. In the Bengali society marriage is one of the most important factors of a person’s life, especially for females. Since a girl’s teenage years, her mother will be discussing her marriage and plan for the great day.
Arranged marriages in the Bengali community and in other Desi communities has caused a massive exponential growth throughout the centuries in the Indian subcontinent. When the bride and groom tie the knot under expectations of their families, they get all the privacy they need. When they are together privately it’s in their human instinct to get their groove on in bed; they get to have all the sex they want. Until modern times Desis did not familiarize themselves with contraceptives unlike the Europeans and other civilizations. With the lack of contraceptives comes a lot of offspring. In my case my father has 7 brothers and 3 sisters plus himself; on my maternal side my mother has 7 sisters and 1 brother. Yeah I know, my grandparents just didn’t know when to say no.
Another reason that Bengalis are high in numbers is the Ganges Delta. The delta provides surplus food available to the population that surrounds it. With surplus food, people tend to reproduce more and more. The Ganges Delta is under the Muslim-controlled territory of the Bengal that’s why there are more Muslim Bengalis than there are Hindu Bengalis.
Bengali population has surpassed all other Desis in numbers; therefore, even without the Bangladeshis the numbers of West Bengalis of India have made Bangla the second most spoken language in the country.