dispellingthemyths

DISPELLING THE

MYTHS NADA OBAID

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To my country the United Arab Emirates

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As a Graphic Designer I believe that we can change the world and contribute our ideas and beliefs visually so they can communicate to a larger number of people. I also believe in clearing the air between Arabs and the rest of the world to stop the prejudice that has existed for centuries.

Nada Obaid

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Dispelling The Myths is a research project about Arabs and Muslims stereotypes done by Nada Obaid as a part of her Masters of Visual Communication program at Monash University.

Photography By Nada Obaid Special thanks to: Gene Bawden, Nicos Souleles, Veronica Grow and Farah AlAjmani.

Type faces: Akzidenz-Grotesk & Mercury Text

Contents 1800s

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Silver screen perception

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perception

1920s 1950s 1990s 2000s

perception

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perception

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perception

perception

Obama/Osama Personal experiences Golden Age of Islam Conclusion

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30 34 42 54 106 113

1800s perception

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Lord Frederick Leighton (1830–1896)

The most unusual museums in London, designed by the painter with his friend, the architect George Aitchison, to house his remarkable collection of objects d’art as well as to provide the man himself with studio space and a home.

The Eastern influence is particularly strong in this entrance to the house, but is continued throughout in objects collected by Leighton throughout his life, though the study off the Arab Hall, for example, is much more traditionally Victorian, displaying sketches and Morris fabrics, though also containing Persian rugs.

The drawing room, with its Corots and Corot copies, is again more traditional, also featuring an impressive glass chandelier, while the dramatic colors of the dining room again suggest the artist’s eye for color.

The house itself provides an interesting study in the extent to which the Eastern influenced Victorian tastes in decor, and how this aspect fits into other contemporary styles and designs.

The house itself provides an interesting study in the extent to which the East influenced Victorian tastes in décor

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perpetuating

The Myth After many directions to achieve my goal in changing the views toward Arabs and Muslims around the world, I decided to dispel the myth and show the world the real Arabs without the media or Hollywood being involved.

My book is a summary of one and a half years of research into the reasons behind the western practice of dehumanizing Arabs and Muslims. I also looked at the main cause of these misjudgements...

...the silver screen

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1920s perception

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Rudolph Valentino

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The Sheik 1 9 2 1

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“When Diana goes to the local casino, she is informed it has been appropriated for the evening by an important Sheik, and that none but Arabs may enter. Annoyed at being told what she cannot do, and her curiosity piqued, Diana borrows an Arab dancer›s costume and sneaks in. Inside, she finds men gambling for new wives. When she is selected to be the next prize, she resists. Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan (Valentino) intervenes, then realizes she is white. Amused, he sends her away.”

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1950s perception

NOT

Who are the Arabs?

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Ideally, prior to any prejudices taking hold we should

have an objective overview about the ‘other’. We live in a world where we breath stereotypes and instantly we prejudice others often from first sight.

Almost always Arabs are connected to the desert. There are many definitions for the word ‘Arab’. Some people define the word in association with people who speak Arabic, while others state that it describes the people

who live in the Arabian Peninsula. If we check the word in a dictionary we come up with descriptions such as: ‘Arab: a member of a Semitic people, originally from the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring territories, inhabiting much of the Middle East and North Africa.’

Jabra I. Jabra, a critic, provides a different definition: ‘An Arab is anyone who speaks Arabic as his own language and consequently feels as an Arab.’

Many people think that Arabs are always Muslim.

Although Arabs consider themselves the core of Islam, there are a huge numbers of Arabs who are Christian.

o e ?

Harum Scarum (released in Europe as Harem Holiday) is a 1965 musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley which was shot on the original Cecil B. DeMille set from the film The King of Kings. Some of the film was based on Rudolph Valentino›s The Sheik released in 1921.[1] The film reached #11 on the Variety national weekly box office chart, earned $2 million at the box office, and finished #40 on the year end list of the top-grossing films of 1965

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Elvis 22

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was elvis an arab?

CLIC

CHÉ

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ovie scene

m This is not a

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1990s perception

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Aladdin (1992) The song that played in the credits of the movie Aladdin did project Arab land as a barbaric and aggressive place. The whole movie carried loads of stereotypes and clichés; Poverty is much exaggerated in relation to Arabs.

Camels were used as means of transportation.

Women are all portrayed as beautiful, exotic, sexual creatures that are “to be won”.

Oh

I come from a land from a faraway place

where the caravan camels roam where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face It’s barbaric, but hey,

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2000s perception

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SEX & THE CITY

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“I lived in Abu Dhabi for 17 years. Immodesty dressed women are commonplace; however, the harassment of women is not. Harassment is likely to get one arrested in Abu Dhabi. Jail is just too high a price to pay for some cheap thrills. Thus, women tend not to get harassed in Abu Dhabi.

So Michael Patrick King’s depiction of how typical Arab men react to scantilyclad Western woman is also wholly inaccurate and just plain racist. The movie was not allowed to be filmed in the United Arab Emirates.

Morocco, by allowing the film to be shot on its soil, seems to have played a cruel joke on Arabs in general and Emirates in particular.”

Saad Pakistani/Candian Born in the United Arab Emirates

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Absurd

“Consider the film’s painful climax, in which Samantha, now wearing shorts and a low-cut top, spills dozens of condoms from her purse in the middle of a crowded market. Right before the condom explosion, the Islamic call to prayer, the Adhan, is conveniently heard for no discernible reason. The angry, hairy men, overwhelmed by anger and shock, decide to abandon their daily activities and busy life to encircle Samantha and condemn her as a harlot and slut, but not before Samantha proudly holds the condoms up high and dry humps the air telling the men she uses them to have sex. Because they cannot tolerate a sassy, back-talking, condom-using female baring her legs, they decide en masse to spontaneously chase all four women.

Appearing like an oasis in the desert, two mysterious women in a Burqa’a silently nod to the four girls, who subsequently follow the women into a secret room revealing the existence of a secret book club attended by a dozen women with Burqa’a, who disrobe to reveal their hidden designer clothes, fashionable shoes and makeup.”

By Wajahat Ali

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“The more Arab women are advanced the more Hollywood locks them in the past �

Jack Shaheen

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Obama/Osama

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b

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good” McCain Tells Crowd Obama is not Arab

decent” “He is not Arab, he is

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“not Arab, he is

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I believe all the fuss about Arabs and Muslims started to build after 9/11.

Osama bin Laden made an enormous shift in many Muslims lives in the US and the West. But today after announcing the death of Osama, will the US announce the death of stereotypes about Muslims? Will Arabs and Muslims have the rights to live peacefully in any western country?

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OBAMA GOT OSAMA

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Now that he is dead maybe we can be friends?

Personal experiences

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a word

TALIBAN TALIBAN Oh look

It was around 9 o’clock in the evening in the Gold Coast after a lovely dinner with my friend.

We decided to walk around the area.

All of the sudden out of nowhere a bunch of guys came and one of them pointed at me and screamed “Oh look Taliban!” several times.

I couldn’t move nor say a word. Why on earth did he say “Taliban”? I was all dressed up that night or maybe that’s what I was thinking. Is it my hijab? I never knew the Taliban wear hijab.

Nada 30th of July 2011

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Despite being conservative, my family is very open minded and supportive.

I made my own decisions at a very young age. At the age of fourteen I decided to wear the hijab. After that decision I was a reprehension of a Muslim women wherever I traveled.

Before the Veil in my travels everyone seemed equal despite the differences.

On the other hand, my shock of the misunderstanding about Arabs really started in my first journey outside the Arab world with the hijab.

The challenge starts when I travel with the hijab from my comfort zone into a country of inferiority perception about the hijab. Many questions were addressed to me about the purpose of the head scarf.

I also have been accused of being a terrorist and controlled by men. The image of the veil in the western world is a symbol of domination, being backward and terrorism by many.

My Veil is a mirror of my

identity and religion

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A personal situation at Vitra Design Museum in the year 2008. Happened to myself and other group of Emarati female artists and designers who were in an official opening of Dubai Next Exhibition. At that point we had to wear Abaya (our traditional fully black veil that covers the body). We were not part of the show but somehow we became the show.

People started to snap pictures of us while we walked around the exhibition. I still can remember one of the conversations I heard between two western women“Why are they dressing like that?”, when the other replied “I have heard they are dominated by men.”

Did they think we were deaf or we couldn’t understand them ?

Yes we were judged because we looked different. Those average middle-aged women lacked knowledge about Muslims women.

Despite being covered from head to toe, we are not mind covered. We are educated and we have our rights in every single aspect in our country.

Why are they dressed like that ?

“I have heard they are dominated by men�

Why are they dressed like that ?

Why are they dressed like that ?

Why are they dressed like that ?

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Genie’s wife “Arabian Nights”

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“My husband keeps me in a box because he is jealous”

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a single h a n d c a n n o t make a sound by itself

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As I live in such a diverse cosmopolitan country (the United Arab Emirates), I don’t think we do have feminist issues. We are more civilized than wasting our time proving equality between both genders we are equal in so many aspects, it’s a fact. There might be some restrictions but they do not function as boundaries. We do have principles we simply cannot leave behind in the name of “globalization”. Our identity is built on these principles whether they are religious, traditional or neither, they are simply our choice and we’re free to follow them, it’s who we are.

But unlike the past, Arab women for many decades are decision-makers; not any less important than any male in the society because we operate as one, we complete each other with our duties, a single hand cannot make a sound by itself! Differences that we have make us more connected facing future challenges. And now we live that future where my country is hosts major Art Museums such as the Guggenheim and the Louvre...such development says clearly: being an Arab is simply being “human”.

During the era of globalization, I wondered where I belong in this whole ‘pot’ of ethnic groups and different cultures. Nobody today is originally one thing, one ethnicity. I believe the mixture of backgrounds we have, creates and influences our individual personality. My ancestors used to travel around the region of Arabia and Persia and finally settled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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I am the fourth generation to live in the UAE, and I cannot consider or see myself other than an Arab and Muslim Emirati woman

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I never chose the group I belong to, yet I am so proud of it. Like most people nowadays, I use the social website Twitter to share my ideas and thoughts.

One of my followers that I barely know once tweeted “@nadaobaid; ‘your tweets are always so mysterious, I love it. I can’t figure out where you live, what race you are or religion or your ideas in the world.’ (@beliciababe) Her words again posed the question, where do I belong? My response to her was quick and I said; “I am a human being, living on my home which is earth.” Regardless of all differences between us as humans, that doesn’t change the fact that we all have the rights to share our thoughts and ideas. At the end of the day I am an Arab, Muslim, woman and a designer.

I communicate with the outer world through out my veil, it sends indirect messages to my surrounding. Not to mention the prejudges I deal with especially during my trip to Western countries and today in Australia in particular. On the other hand, two billion searches happen on Google daily. Google is the main engine for us to learn about others. If we try to type Arab Muslim Women and choose the pictures, we will notice many picture that don’t make any simple connection them.

I communicate with the outer world through my veil, it sends indirect messages to my surrounding.

Not to mention the prejudges I deal with especially during my trips to Western countries and today in Australia in particular.

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Yad 74

do

(Yado) Grandma In the Emirates our Yado’s are the only women who still wear the Burqa’a. By Burqa’a I don’t mean the black cloth 75 that covers the whole face that you have seen around the streets or at the movies.

But a very unique Burqa’a, which is hand made from a spesific material exported from India. In the past when a woman gets married she starts wearing the Burqa’a.

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I was always questioned about my veil.

Although the veil was around since the 7th century when it distinguished the Prophet’s harem, there is still a big uncertainty about the purpose of it from the non-Muslims.

The decision of wearing it was entirely my personal choice I was never forced to take that step. When I grew older and understood more about the obligatory of veiling after the girl reaches to the adulthood, I find myself more convinced about my decision. There might be different approaches to the reason behind it, but I always felt it is a spiritual way to be closer to God and of course a symbol of a proud Muslim woman. Embracing the hijab by a Muslim woman is one of the conditions of Islam. There are many misunderstanding that the hijab as a cultural symbol of Arab that should be understandable.

The veil limits a person’s inviolability, it is also a symbol of their modesty and respectability.

Despite the place or the time the function of the clothing in Islam remains the same. It maintains the sobriety, decency and modesty.

A companion of the Prophet Idn ‘Abbas said in the 7th century “Eat whatever you please and wear any clothes you wish, as long as you do not commit either two things: prodigality or parsimony (Malek Chebel, 1997)

A companion of the Prophet Idn Abbas said in the 7th century “Eat whatever you please and wear any clothes you wish, as long as you do not commit either two things: prodigality or parsimony�

(Malek Chebel, 1997)

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GO HOME The body of an Iraqi woman, whose brutal beating death may have been a hate crime, will be flown home for burial.

Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, died of a severe head injury after the attack at her home in Southern California March 21.

A note beside the body told the family to go back to Iraq and called them “terrorists,� her daughter said.

Alawadi, who was hospitalized in critical condition after the beating, was taken off life support Saturday.

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CNN

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“What are you woman?”

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“Get out of my town” One of them told me, while I was walking back from University today. All I heard after was laughter and laughter from his friends. Is that funny?

I really don’t find it funny. Is that how you treat your guests? I do understand that not all Australians are the same. But one simple incident can make you so frustrated and I am so frustrated right now.

I cant get over his voice it has been haunting me all day, and all I could do is shed tears. I couldn’t say a word even if I said something what it would be? After all it is his town. We have a saying in Arabic ”Stranger be polite” and I did that. I held my head high and walked away. I held my head high, yes because I am proud... But also I didn’t want my tears to run down my face in the middle of the street.

Nada 1st of May 2012

I held my head high, yes because I am proud... But also I didn’t want my tears to run down my face in the middle of the street

GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN

Get out of my town GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOW GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN GET OUT OF MY TOWN 85

GET OUT OF MY GET OUT OF MY TOWN

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How did I feel about that?

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Nada Obaid

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So did I mention that today a guy on the street yelled at me saying “Get out of my town� ? facebook 1st of May 2012

...and my friends said

american-pakistany

“You don’t need to pay attention to ignorant people.

They are everywhere sadly, and in all countries”

american

“Maybe it is him who should get out of his own town and see the world”

“Please do not despair. See this as a chance to make yourself stronger, smarter, and wiser. Lift your head up high and walk away when ignorant fools bark their nonsensical blather. This whole thing will make you a better person, no matter how painful it may seem right now.”

“The only thing you should have shed a tear for was their insular, completely unaware backward, lonely lives. Pity their ignorance and know you are loved more than them.”

“Getting a good education may be challenging, but it really is worth it. Trust me, your experiences will your even stronger than you already are.”

spanish

australian-greek

australian

“Ignorant people never see outsiders as an input to the culture but as a threat to their miserable existence. Be proud to be who you are. Thank God.” spanish

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UNveil

THE TRUTH

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Golden Age of Islam

0 Coffee

Cheques

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Windmill Concept of the three-course meal

Surgical instruments

Metal Armor

Parachute Numerals Soap

From the year 800 until 1100 AD

GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAM

This period was the golden age of Islam.

Islam reached to it’s peak in every aspect; philosophy, science, engineering and Mathematics. During that period Baghdad was the intellectual center of the world. Innovations were taken place at that period. During that civilization Muslims contributed with many innovations that had a great impact on our lives today.

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Conclusion

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Kumbaya 1930s Negro spiritual song launched in the 1960s by Peter, Paul and Mary to become the most recognized Chiristian hymns.

The song was originally associated with human and spiritual unity, closeness and

Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya; Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya; Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya, O Lord, kum bay ya.

Someone’s laughing, my Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s laughing, my Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s laughing, my Lord, kum bay ya, O Lord, kum bay ya.

Someone’s crying, my Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s crying, my Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s crying, my Lord, kum bay ya,

compassion, and it still is.

But more recently it is also cited or alluded to in a satirical or cynical ways which suggests

O Lord, kum bay ya.

Someone’s praying, Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s praying, Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s praying, Lord, kum bay ya, O Lord, kum bay ya.

Someone’s singing, my Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s singing, my Lord, kum bay ya; Someone’s singing, my Lord, kum bay ya, O Lord, kum bay ya.

false moralizing, hypocrisy, or naively optimistic views of the world and human nature.

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The Truth 112

h

A brighter day is going to come and alter Western prejudice about Arabs and Muslims. People will consider them human. Although Arabs and Muslims have been around for thousands of years, Westerners still cannot accept them nor see them as advanced.

It is the ego that controls mankind, that makes them feel superior. We still live among people who criticize you for what wear, your faith, your color and the family you come from. We Arabs didn’t choose to be Arabs, neither we did choose our color. But we chose the faith Islam, and in it the freedom of personal choice that all people sing “Kumbaya” about these days. It is time we stop racism and accept the fact that not all people are the same.

My responsibility as an Arab Muslim woman is to clarify the perceptions of ‘us’ carried on during the last centuries. The Truth is Women in my country are educated, advanced and hold prestigious positions.

Men do not dominate us we work side by side with them. Although we are conservative we are openminded, eager to learn about others.

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