Muslims

[TJ347]

Abos are hopeless but they are not what i would consider dangerous and i worked in night clubs for years.Lebs have a very bad reputation over here for violence and rape and drug dealing but that's our government's fault for not been tough enough on crime and handing out wimpy sentences.

What percentage of the overall violent crimes would a group have to commit for you to consider them "dangerous"? That said though, it's like criminal statistics used here in the US when discussing black people... Often carefully tailored to say what people pushing a certain agenda need them to say. Or not say.

"Abos are hopeless"... Were they always, or was it only after they were pushed to the outer fringes of Australian society by laws designed just for that purpose? Same with Native Americans here in the US, only the plight of Aborigines hasn't improved notably in decades under what is essentially an apartheid system. I'm surprised other western nations haven't imposed sanctions, though as the condition of Aborgines isn't reported here at all, I suppose I shouldn't be. It's the shame of Australia, as is its treatment of other groups, as mentioned previously. The greatest country in the world, so long as you're not a native, of Asian descent, Muslim or at all religious...

[russtafa]

Asians do very well in Australia.Aboriginals have access to free university,free housing,only 3 payments on a car and a indigenous pension free medical treatment .Wow i wish the government would give me such rough treatment.Muslims have their own schools and Mosque's .Jewish people own a lot of business's and their own school's.People have it so rough here .The kkk must run Australia lol

[Stavros]

And everybody who is middle eastern knows lbnan is worst country in middle east first of all lbnese are NOOT arab. i repeat lbnese are NOT arab.. and they have so many crimes there because they are not real muslims they are very westernise and do drugs and fill with prostitutes..

The myth that Lebanese are not Arabs is propagated by those who claim they are descended from the Phoenicians of old, a theory that has not stood up to scrutiny for so long I am surprised anyone would refer to it. Lebanon is claimed by Syria as part of what would have been the Kingdom of Syria succeeding Ottoman rule in 1920-21. As most people know, under the 1916 'Sykes-Picot' Agreement, Britain and France divided up the Arab provinces of the Empire (excluding the Hejaz) into their own spheres of influence and then got the League of Nations to recognise their 'Mandate' over these territories. The French, for administrative purposes, divided Syria into mini-states: the State of Lebanon was one of them, and after the collapse of Vichy rule the Lebanese formed their own independent state with a confessional democracy which allocated power proportionately among Christians, Muslims/Sunna, Muslims/Shi'a and the Druze. With its Christian majority Lebanon became the banking centre of the Middle East until the internal contradictions plus Palestinian politics imploded in 1975; Lebanon was also the ideal summer refuge from the blasting heat of the Gulf and other parts of the Middle East, as its mountain retreats were within easy reach, cheap and set in some of the most beautiful landscape in the region.

Lebanon's liberal attitude to sex has always meant that in some parts of the city, anything goes, but that is also true of Damascus and Cairo, as long as your anything doesn't go on in public view.

In short, before the Civil War Lebanon was one of the most popular and desirable places to live in the region -for both Arabs and non-Arabs; yes it was badly damaged by the civil war and the oppressive nature of Syrian influence there, but it could have some of the gas fields that run north from Egypt, and tourism still has the capacity to generate revenue; and its cuisine is heavenly.

As for crime, tsNajwa -its everywhere: the city in Saudi Arabia with the highest crime rate is, yes you guessed it, Mecca.

[smilingbutt]

where is the "just another religion for the unevolved apes" option?

[tsnajwa]

Abos are hopeless but they are not what i would consider dangerous and i worked in night clubs for years.Lebs have a very bad reputation over here for violence and rape and drug dealing but that's our government's fault for not been tough enough on crime and handing out wimpy sentences.

I will quote this
"ABORIGINES HAVE Highest Crime Rate in the World

The Aborigines boast one of the highest crime rates of any racial group in the world, reflected in their imprisonment rate, which pro-rata is the highest anywhere. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, the Aborigines, who make up only two percent of the country's population, account for 30 per cent of the inmates of the country's prison cells - a rate which is higher than American Blacks or New Zealand Maoris, two other groups identified by the Institute as having high imprisonment rates.
"
LOL hopeless and you don't consider them dangerous? please get real and just admit that you are racist why you hate middle eastern people.. i am from middle east and i have never drink alcohol, never been to jail, never even got police ticket..

And everybody who is middle eastern knows lbnan is worst country in middle east first of all lbnese are NOOT arab. i repeat lbnese are NOT arab.. and they have so many crimes there because they are not real muslims they are very westernise and do drugs and fill with prostitutes..

The myth that Lebanese are not Arabs is propagated by those who claim they are descended from the Phoenicians of old, a theory that has not stood up to scrutiny for so long I am surprised anyone would refer to it. Lebanon is claimed by Syria as part of what would have been the Kingdom of Syria succeeding Ottoman rule in 1920-21. As most people know, under the 1916 'Sykes-Picot' Agreement, Britain and France divided up the Arab provinces of the Empire (excluding the Hejaz) into their own spheres of influence and then got the League of Nations to recognise their 'Mandate' over these territories. The French, for administrative purposes, divided Syria into mini-states: the State of Lebanon was one of them, and after the collapse of Vichy rule the Lebanese formed their own independent state with a confessional democracy which allocated power proportionately among Christians, Muslims/Sunna, Muslims/Shi'a and the Druze. With its Christian majority Lebanon became the banking centre of the Middle East until the internal contradictions plus Palestinian politics imploded in 1975; Lebanon was also the ideal summer refuge from the blasting heat of the Gulf and other parts of the Middle East, as its mountain retreats were within easy reach, cheap and set in some of the most beautiful landscape in the region.

Lebanon's liberal attitude to sex has always meant that in some parts of the city, anything goes, but that is also true of Damascus and Cairo, as long as your anything doesn't go on in public view.

In short, before the Civil War Lebanon was one of the most popular and desirable places to live in the region -for both Arabs and non-Arabs; yes it was badly damaged by the civil war and the oppressive nature of Syrian influence there, but it could have some of the gas fields that run north from Egypt, and tourism still has the capacity to generate revenue; and its cuisine is heavenly.

As for crime, tsNajwa -its everywhere: the city in Saudi Arabia with the highest crime rate is, yes you guessed it, Mecca.

it is not a "myth" ask any lbnese also and they will not say they are arab, and thjey do not even speak a real arabic... they use french words and bleach their hair, wear contacts and say they are european lol.. There may be some percent of lbnese who are mixed with arab yes.. but for the most part they are decendant of phoenicians and greek but this is very off point..

[TJ347]

I'd bet a DNA test of most Lebanese would disprove that Phoenician stuff real quick... It's that Tiger Woods make-believe all over again.

[trish]

National Geographic together with IBM sponsor an ongoing suite of genetic studies (The Genographic Project) which found that the Lebonese, Maltese and Phoenicians share a number of otherwise unique genetic traits; e.g. an m89 chromosome Y type in males.

[Faldur]

Lebonese = Man, Maletes = Bear, Phoenicians = Pig.... think about it..



Sorry Trish, it was in jest.. I couldn't help myself

[trish]

I see the anti-science buffoon has been trolling again.

[Stavros]

it is not a "myth" ask any lbnese also and they will not say they are arab, and thjey do not even speak a real arabic... they use french words and bleach their hair, wear contacts and say they are european lol.. There may be some percent of lbnese who are mixed with arab yes.. but for the most part they are decendant of phoenicians and greek but this is very off point..

Unfortunately Najwa, in a thread on Muslims it is of the point; there has been some effort exerted in recent years by extremists -Salafi, Takfiri call them what you will, where the right of abode in the Middle East has been linked to the perception that you can only belong if you are Muslim and Arab. It is in part a response to the view some Israelis have that their state should be an exclusively 'Jewish' state even though they can't legally define a Jew to everyone's satisfaction and will probably be unwilling to give up their domestic servants and farm labourers from Asia.

The Lebanese speak French for the most obvious reasons, a long-established trade link to France -whose 'claim' on Lebanon and Syria was made before 1920 by the silk merchants of Lyon; and the experience of the French 'mandate'. Sophisticated Lebanese liked to think they were more oriented to Europe and the Mediterranean world than to the Arab world, but the research done by Kamal Salibi and others has tended to confirm that Lebanon, like most other states in the region was populated from its core base in the Yemen -the same is also possibly true of the Jews; there were long-established Jewish communities in the Yemen and what we now call Saudi Arabia when Muhammad received his first revelations in the 7th century.

French-speaking Lebanese should be seen in the same context as French-speaking Russians at the court of Nicolas II -its a case of snobbery, as simple as that. There are some Lebanese who are not Arabs, the Armenians, for example, but they remain a minority as they always have been.

The idea that the MIiddle East should be reserved for Muslims is a pernicious one that allows extremists to attack Arab Christians, be it in Egypt or Iraq; the Christians of Lebanon may not be targeted in the same way, but over the next ten to twenty years the Shi'a will be the dominant community, if they are not already.
This debate it is not helped by people cliaming the Lebanese are not (for the most part) Arabs and to suggest that this is confirmed by bleached hair or contact lenses, although I assume this was not a serious comment anyway.