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Stereotypes on the Middle East

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Stereotypes on the Middle East
Payton Clarke
February 16, 2012
Honors World History
Balcerzak
Your Stereotypes

Since September 11, 2001, countries in the Middle East have been stereotyped to be terrorists. Personally, I don’t believe in any stereotype about the Middle East. The Arabs, and Muslims, are two types of the people in the Middle East. "Terrorists" might be the most likely responses Americans say about the Middle Eastern people. Besides the belief that the Middle East is all about Arabs and Muslims, the Middle East includes non-Arab countries too. Countries that are non-Arab include Iran, Israel, Somalia, and the Comoro Islands. Also, the Middle East includes non- Muslim counties such as Lebanon and Israel. The American’s view that Middle Eastern people are only Muslim is really not true. One should feel sorry for the Americans who think that the Arabs are backwards and uncivilized, but if they spent an hour of their time reading about Arabs, they will find the exact opposite of their stereotypes (source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/types/index.html).
Arabs have made major contributions to the world. For example, Ibn Khaldoun was the founder of the social sciences; Ibn Haytham made major contributions in the field of optics. Saudi Aramco, the oil company of Saudi Arabia, is the largest oil corporation in the world and the world’s largest in terms of proven crude oil and production. Nowadays, Saudi Arabia is ranked number one in the world in terms of producing and exporting Petroleum. So if it wasn't for Saudi Aramco, in the Middle East, most of our oil imports would not be here in the United States (source: http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/6207.html)
One major stereotype of the Middle East is they are violent people. Crimes levels in the United States are considered as one of the highest in the world of gun violence and homicide after South Africa and Colombia. I have talked to a person that grew up in a Middle Eastern country. He said,

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