--- Radhakrishnan Nair <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > <<Gypsies is ofcourse the derogatory word used for > Egyptians by Europeans.>> > > Gypsies Egyptians, Selma? > > RKN -------------------------------- Hi RKN,
Here it is: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Gypsy Gypsies are hated across Europe and the term "gyped" means to be deceived. Anti-Semitism and Anti-Arabs sentiments generally ran and runs high in Europe, stemming from a 2000 year history of Crusades, wars, colonisation and subsequently problems with integration into European societies. Interestingly I was reading a book recently on the role Egyptians and Armenians played during the Crusades. Caught between the Islamics in Turkey and the Crusaders from the Frankish Empire, they were wedged in between these two worlds, and were often spies, intermediaries or men of (personal) fortune. It's funny that Egypt still plays that role in the Middle East, and Armenians are still hated in Turkey. take care, selma __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
