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Arabs (Arabic: الشَّعْبَ الْعَرَبِيُ) are an ethnic group originating from and inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula. They are a Semitic culture, much like Jews, and speak Arabic, which is a Semitic language. In the 6^th century CE, Islam originated and rose among Arabs in the Arabian peninsula, and spread worldwide from there.

Arabs also spread across North Africa and the Levant, setting up various empires referred to as caliphates. The Arabs who migrated there supplanted or intermingled with the native populations, such as in Egypt. They also brought their culture and religion (in this case, Islam), and made their culture the dominant culture in these regions.

History

Arabs originated in the Levant and the Northern Arabian Peninsula during the 9^th century BCE, descended from nomads who inhabited the Arabian Desert for several thousand years prior. The Arabic language also appeared during roughly the same timeframe, and its spread southward coincided with the spread of Islam. The native religions at the time were various different kinds of pagan faiths, which were eventually superseded by Christianity and Islam.

There is a widespread myth that the pre-Islamic Arabs were illiterate, but this is simply not true. In fact, ancient graffiti indicates that literacy was nearly universal at certain points of the pre-Islamic period. However, the Arabic script itself was only invented a few short centuries before the advent of Islam, so the early Arabs weren't necessarily writing in scripts we would recognize as Arabic today.

Pre-Islamic Arabs also formed significant civilizations of their own, notably including the Nabateans who controlled the trade of frankincense and myrrh, both very important incenses to civilizations of the ancient world, as their aromas blocked out the smells of disease and decay that were so common to the cities of the ancient world. The Nabateans ended up being conquered by the Romans, and eventually fully converted to Christianity. Some have speculated that the Thamud referred to in the Qur'an were actually the Nabateans. The Arabic script is also thought to be derived from the Nabatean script.

Arabs spread their culture and religion across West Asia (aka the Middle East) and the wider word through trading or conquest of various regions. Islamic identity eventually became absorbed as part of Arab identity (though Arab Christians do continue to exist as part of Arab culture albeit with a separate and unique identity).

Discrimination

Arabs have faced persecution at various points throughout history. The first recorded instances of anti-Arab discrimination was during the Spanish Inquisition, where Spanish Muslims, many of whom were of Arab descent, were murdered, expelled, or forcefully converted (along with Spanish Jews) by Spanish Christians.

Over the last couple centuries, the Arab world has increasingly suffered from colonialism and general Western intervention. Present bigotry mostly occurs in the Christian majority Western world, after the tragedy of 9/11 that shocked the United States and several other terrorist attacks that occurred afterwards in other parts of the west, such as in several European countries (such as the July 7^th bombing in London). Due to the perpetrators being Arab Muslims, this led to mass persecution of both Arabs and Muslims because of the mass paranoia generated by Islamist terror attacks.

Many other ethnic groups have been confused with Arabs, especially within the Western world. These include, (but are not limited to) Iranians, Indians, Armenians, and Turks, among other groups. As a result of racial profiling, these groups are often seen as Arabs in addition to cultural ignorance.

In most European countries, Arabs are usually persecuted by white Christians as they view Arabs and Muslims as foreigners and others. In recent decades, attacks from Christian fundamentalist and white supremacist groups against Arab Muslims have increased at alarming rates. Ironically, there are Arab Christians, but these groups are mostly ignored by Christian fundamentalists and white supremacists.

Other countries where Arabs face persecution are Israel, Iran, Turkey, and various other countries beyond the Arab League. Ethnic tensions and waning Muslim populations from rejection of Islam as well as past bigotry and forced conversion from the Arab Muslim empire against these groups have led to bigotry against Arabs. Interpersonal conflict also occurred from religious tension amongst Christians and Muslims.

An often underreported situation is that of the Black Arabs, who face significant oppression in the Arab world.

See also

• Islam - the primary religion of most Arabs.