There are different variations of arab tradition, however they all come from a basic overall outlook on certain topics and ways of life. I for one understand why people would want to marry someone from the same country as them and i do not believe that this makes them racist in any way. I also think that if you are to do wear the veil for one person then it should be worn for all. In my personal opinion if a woman wants to wear a veil it should be because she personally believes in it and wants to wear it for herself so it should not matter who is around or where the man is from because i think it should be kept on at all times.
Lebanon and Egypt are less strict on the tradition about marriage within the country and are more accepting to marriage to anyone from the middle east, however there still are people who do the same as the people in the gulf. I really believe in this tradition to marry within the arab culture and would do so wether my family expected it or not. Since i am an arab man and i was raised by an arab mother in an arab culture i learned to really appreciate our way of life and i would like my wife to be able to pass down these traditions to my children like my mother did for me. If my wife is not from the arab world then she would not understand these traditions and to me, i dont really find this racist. I would expect my children to speak arabic since they are arabs and if their mother is not arab and doesnt speak arabic it will make things harder.

I am very happy that the synagogue was rebuilt in lebanon because i strongly support the view that Judaism is religion and it should be respected like we would expect others to respect our religions. I have many friends that are jewish and they respect middle eastern culture as whole because they were exposed to it and became more informed about our culture. I think that that Americans need to meet more arabs and look into our culture so they can realize that we are all about respect and peace and that some bad examples do not represent us.

This summer i saw many American students in Lebanon doing summer courses abroad. I think that these people are taking the initiative to really understand us and our way of life. I think that more people make half the effort that these people do then they will understand that we are not the way the media presents us to be. Today I was in a discussion and I was kind of shocked that the students who seniors were not very informed on the Mosque in Ground Zero situation because it gave me the impression that they dont look into topics that they hear about and therefore don’t develop their own opinions and take in the opinions that the media presents them on tv.

I am very excited to be a part of these discussions because i think i will be able to help add to the conversations. I took SOC 119 last year and we were involved in a similar setting of discussions. I was very interested to hear so many different points and i am sure that i will have an even more interesting experience this time. I agree that it is all about curiosity because i really am curious to listen to their opinions and to understand what makes them think the way they do. In one of the other blogs a girl said that she was looking forward to more disagreements and i am too. I do not want to get into a heated argument but if we do not disagree then there is no point in talking.

I think its important for us to exchange our views so that both sides of the conversation can end the semester with a more balanced view on the topic and maybe encourage their friends to do the same. I understand that they are not coming into the conversation to change their way of thinking but i think that it is important for us to explain our backgrounds and culture so that they can at least fully understand the other side of the argument instead of just the western sides.

Like many others in class, when Sam and Laurie first brought up the lifers I was very interested and wanted to know more about them. I have always wanted to visit a prison and see how the prisoners cope and live in a place that becomes their whole world. When i think of a prisoner, I automatically think of bad things that relate to crime and bad people. A lot of the times that is the case, the prisoners in jail have done a very bad thing and deserve to be put in jail.
One thing i have no idea about is the circumstances they were in before the crime they committed. When i read the letter, i didn't feel that i was reading a letter from a prisoner. The letter sounded very real and as if it was written from the heart. When to people in jail hate each other you expect the worst, you expect one of them to hurt the other but the last thing we expect is for one of them to hold the other as he cries. The letter really opened my eyes because these people also have hearts and feel compassion for one and other.
The lifers all murdered people, they obviously did not feel for the person they killed and did what they did for their own reasons. I am guessing that the man who wrote this letter has been in prison for a long time and the two men he talked about probably have served for a while as well. Its hard to think about a murderer in a good light, however reading this honestly made me feel bad for some of them. I think that when they are put in jail and forced to come to reality they with time come to their senses and understand the mistakes they have made.
I don't think it is easy to fake the passion that this prisoner had in his writing and i honestly believe that this man has at least become a better person while he spent his time in jail. I do not have to be in jail to know how it feels to hate someone and for a prisoner to feel for his enemy in a time of need makes me think that if they went back in time they would not make the same mistake which lead them to life in prison.
I believe that anyone who commits murder deserves to be in prison, however reading this letter really taught me that people can change for the better no matter what they did. I am glad that i read such a letter and i would love to be able to visit the lifers in the future.

This was a very interesting and almost emotional lecture for me. I know very well that a lot of people in the United States do not know much about Arabs and have a completely wrong and twisted image. I think Sam's lecture did a very good job in opening peoples eyes and allowing them to look at things from a completely different side, a side that people would never think of looking at. The lecture provided me with a lot of information, some I knew already and even more that I didn't.
I think that all of the people who got insulted by Sam's comments either missed the point completely or made it a point to take it offensively. When we were pretending to be Arab Muslims in the lecture, he showed us videos and quotes from important American leaders. As Muslims, we read and heard people threatening to make us run away back to our caves. "Muslims" were commonly used, not Arabs, not radicals but Muslims. From what I understood, Sam was just trying to show us their thought process and how they see things not knowing too much about Americans and how they feel.
As an American, if I saw scary Arabs blowing things up and threatening me every time I turned on my TV I would feel a certain way about them. As an Arab if all I saw was people killing innocent civilians and taking away my friends for oil, I also would feel a certain way about Americans.
Since Americans are in Iraq, I think that Americans should be more educated about Arabs and about the Iraq war in general. I know that a lot of people had a completely different idea about what was going on over there and looking at the comments above, there are too many people who still do not understand why America is at war with Iraq.
Since all anger and misinterpretation is through the media, I think people should be more educated in the middle east and in the States so that they do not have an one sided view and so that they do not believe everything the media feeds them. At the end of the trailer it asked if I would raise my hand and join to fight against the Americans in my country. I think that is a very difficult question, however I think that potentially, I would. If my father and brother were taken away or killed then I think that would be why, however if my life did not face the reality of what was going on in Iraq then I would not.

I think that this game is disgusting and morally wrong and I'm very shocked that it is allowed to be bought or even played anywhere in the world. I feel like a game like this should not be allowed to be produced as it allows players to enjoy something so sick and illegal. I think that this game could make people more prone to rape as they could start to enjoy it through the game. People could argue that there are other games like Grand Theft Auto that also allows you to break the law, however, to me that does not come close to the repulsiveness . In GTA you do not meet the character that you are stealing from or shooting. The rape game to me has no entertainment value and attracts only sick people who could enjoy playing such a game. I am pretty shocked that the Japanese government did not do anything about the game and allowed shops to sell the product. I do not think that people in Japan think that rape is ok and I am pretty sure that many people are against the game. I think the fact that the game is not illegal in Japan portrays the Japanese in a bad way making them look like rape is of no consequence or importance when this is obviously not the case. I don't understand how anyone who thinks he/she is normal can play a game like this. Reading above comments, people say that it could make the players less prone to commit the crime in real life. I think that if people are sick enough to play a game so wrong, they will be more interested and excited by the game and this could make them want to turn the game into real life. I read a comment saying that because brothels are common in Japan that rape is less frowned upon. First of all brothels all over the world consist of trafficking and forcing women into sexual situations. Secondly, I think a comment like that is wrong as there are brothels all over the world INCLUDING the USA and although they are not as common there is still too big of a number of them. To say that a whole country thinks that rape is less frowned upon is a huge generalization. I think if i was to ask someone from Japan if rape was ok, he/she would almost definitely say no. I understand however, how people could be curious about the Japanese as to why such a game is allowed to sit on shelves.

We must be comfortable about our body and we must know how our organs work. Although some girls might feel like it is embarrassing, it is actually very normal. yes, guys do get disgusted by it and it is best that girls dont talk about their PERSONAL period, but the fact that we understand how the period works and why exactly girls have it is important for a person to know, especially the women themselves.
In our discussion group we talked about the topic for quite a long time and I feel like people are looking into this a bit too much, or at least our group was. I definitely have a lot of respect for women and understand that their period is a HUGE part of their life, however the fact that guys or even women do not want to talk about it does not necessarily mean they do not respect women or that society has taught us that it is a bad thing. A period to some women can be very personal and this can be for many different reasons. When i as a guy talk about the period i try to get off the topic pretty fast. This is not because I don't care about women or because I dont respect what they go through but for the simple reason of me not wanting to talk blood flowing out of parts of the body especially when many men look at that part of the body as a sexual place and dont want to think about it leaking blood.
I think that a topic like this does not need so many questions because it is fairly simple. People should have a right to be able to feel how they want about a topic which honestly is not a big issue. When sam brought this up in class i dont agree with people getting upset and walking out because it is not offensive and everybody has heard talked about it before in some form or another. Understanding and respecting the topic is one issue but having to engage in the topic is another.
Personally, when my girlfriend tells me she is PMS-ing ,I can't really tell her that i know how she feels because i dont know how she feels emotionally or physically. I do however, understand what she is going through and that is what is important.

In our society today, there have been many reactions to the acceptance of LGBT. People being different in one way or another should not be the basis of judgement, having said that i do not believe there is any excuse for denying rights because they do not have the same beliefs as others.

looking at the other comments and responses on the blog, i would like to comment on a few of the things i read. I read that lesbian couples are more accepted than male couples. As wrong as this sounds, i have definitely heard this many times and believe that this is the case because it is more "sexy". I think that all LGBT people should be equally accepted and given all their rights.

I was brought up with no opinion on the topic and slowly matured to realize that happiness is very important and as long as it is not at the cost of anyone else it should not be up to anyone but the people involved. I think that our generation is a lot more accepting and less close minded. I think that a long time ago, people that were LGBT were not as open as they are now, therefore people did not get to mix with them as much as we are able to today.

People believe that same sex marriage should not be allowed and always tend to bring the children into the situation. I can see how people would believe that it could cause some confusion for the children, however their bringing up should not be any different than any other "normal" marriage.

I cannot control the fact that i am attracted to women, nor can one control the fact that he/she is attracted to another person of the same sex. Who are we to deny them love and happiness.

I think it is a shame that the language is dead. To me, language is far more than a means of communication and the fact that so many are dying off means that history and knowledge of culture is leaving with them. I love that there are so many different languages spoken around the world because it shows how much history there is and how may different cultures there are around us. In the clip it said that there are around 7,000 languages spoken today. To me, it shows how many different cultures there are within one country. A tiny example of this is english. There are so many variations of the english language in different parts of the world. Language allows people to feel closer to home and their culture. Switzerland for example has a german speaking part. This is because that part has many people from germany and therefore they all speak german together.
language is very interesting as it tells you alot about someones background. Language gives you a sense of belonging to wherever you are from and i find it very sad that languages are dying off because that means that a big part of history is dying with it. I am from the middle east and there are soo many different variations of the arabic language. Each variation holds its own culture and tridition. This is the same with most countries and i think that it is extremeley important to keep languages alive so their history can stay alive with them.
I love being able to speak the language of the country i come from. I feel closer to the people around me and also more into the culture that i am surrounded by. There is not much arabic spoken in the states, however when i hear somebody i dont even know speak it around me i suddenly feel more at home.

I watched Avatar pretty late as im not really interested in fiction movies. When i finally watched it i felt like a child who tasted candy for the first time. Needless to say i loved the movie. I found Brook's comments very interesting, however i cant say that i agreed with them all. I do believe the movie showed while people going against their own people to help the people of avatar, however i don't feel that i looked at it the same as Brooks did.

To me when i saw the white people going against their own people to help the people of avatar i thought that it showed that although the army and the government wanted to destroy avatar for that rock they needed, not everyone felt the same and that not everyone under them had the same thoughts on the matter. When Brooks says "It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic." I disagree. I dont think that is what it shows at all. i think it shows that just like the white people, they too have their own world with their own government. Not all the people of avatar were athletic and spiritual but it showed the white people working to be like the other warriors which i think gave that impression.

I understand Brooks comment where he says that it looks like nonwhites need a white messiah to lead their crusades, however i am not sure if that is one of the messages that the movie wanted to give out. I think that the white person became one of them when he was in their world. It shows that he couldn't wait to get back into the world of Avatar everyday and slowly he truly became one of them. I cant say that i agree with Brooks when he says that the movie implies illiteracy is the path to grace. I cant remember if the people of Avatar were able to read and write in the movie but they definitely had their own language which they spoke. I do not believe that the director had any intention to give out the message that illiteracy is the path to grace. I feel that people from different cultures and backgrounds will have different impressions and different points of views as they are able to relate to the movie in a different way.