On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 12:34 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > Officially, it is the "al-Arab" channel, which I find odd since > Hussein was Iraqi, not Arabian.
Arab refers to an Arabic speaker, not a native of the Arabian peninsula. Going back centuries, there's the idea of a single Arab nation and aristocrats in Baghdad, Damascus, and Alexandria (then Cairo) have contended among themselves as to who would be the leader. Until the exploitation of the oil fields in the last century, the Arabian peninsula was a backwater and not a central part of the Arab world. Oddly enough, Egyptians contend that they are not Arabs even as their leaders jockey for influence in the Arab world. Tom -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
