69 million page views

Iranians-Better anti Arab nationalists

Reader comment on item: Berbers as Anti-Islamists and Anti-Arab Nationalists

Submitted by Shishir (United Arab Emirates), Mar 20, 2010 at 16:55

Berbers seem to be a people who are only recently reasserting their ethnic identity.A consequence of European influence throughout the Middle East when ethnicity for a while seemed to be religious feeling as a mode of identity.Perhaps the zenith of this was in WWI when the Arabs threw off the Turkish yoke even though the Turkish sultan was the Caliph!

Even so ,their discovery of their roots is relatively recent and their identity ,geography, demography and economy is too interdependent on their neighboring Arabs for them to break out in any meaninful way.

Dr. Pipes referred to Spengler of Asia Times to hint at Irans demographic demise.Certainly living in Dubai with its large expatriate Iranian and Emiratized Iranian community, I have seen a lot of anecdotal evidence of what he speaks.For eg. Iranian hookers are ubiquitous ,they are giving stiff competiton to their Russian and Ethiopian counterparts who so far dominated the seedy bars and hotel lobbies.Also practically every Arab woman above the age of 25 walks around with a stroller but I hardly see any young Iranian woman with any baby paraphanelia! Compared to Arabs, a Farsi toddler is getting rarer by day. So I can see Spenglers point about the desperation of the Iranian regime to do something while they are still relevant.

At the same time as Dr. Pipes points out in the case of Eurabia, liner projections may not always be accurate.Also in Dubai, I have come across many Iranians, who secretly confess to me that they dont think much about Islam which they think is Arab construct. They yearn to return to Zoroastrianism(the pre Islamic state religion of Iran) ,some have even expressed an interest in Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. Even those who wish to remain Muslim ,mostly Shia, view Shiism as a more inclusive Iranian alternative to Islam. A faulty assumption since Shiism was introduced by Arabs to Iran and only stuck in the 17th century due to the Azerbaijani Safavid rule,but never mind that for now.

The Zorastrian symbol of winged bearded Ahura Mazda is ubiquitous in the Iranian shops in Dubai. And please note even the Revolutionary Guards dare not touch the pagan celebration of Novroz! The Iranian collapse of the old guard is imminent, even with Spenglers dire prediction for Iran ,they may be able to deal more effectively with Islamism due to memory of their religion(of whom the remaining adherents in India are very succesful) and their empire.

Berbers identity only came into being after contact with Arabs and therefore maybe dependent on them

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

<< Previous Comment      Next Comment >>

Reader comments (27) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Iranians-Better anti Arab nationalists [424 words]ShishirMar 20, 2010 16:55170444
2The Amazigh View: Let my people in [933 words]Atlas KahenaMar 27, 2009 03:26152835
2A moroccan perspective [418 words]Farid H.Mar 25, 2009 05:01152736
I doubt it. [174 words]Peter HerzMar 19, 2009 15:21152503
Thanks to Daniel Pipes [12 words]AkselMar 7, 2009 17:42151828
Old civilizations are not conjured away [344 words]dhimmi no moreMar 7, 2009 08:46151814
Please see this debate between an Amazigh spokesman and an Arab sent to me by an Amazigh friend [7 words]Gerald A. HonigmanMar 5, 2009 22:21151728
Thanks for directing us to that debate. [84 words]M.D'SouzaMar 9, 2009 08:57151728
Ancient Berber alphabet [51 words]paul reissMar 5, 2009 19:01151718
1The "original" Phonician alphabet [191 words]Stan GoodmanJul 15, 2009 06:15151718
Changing the name of Barbers to Amazighs does not change their history. [163 words]M.D'SouzaMar 5, 2009 13:37151697
Barbary coast and turkish pirates [32 words]AkselMar 7, 2009 17:32151697
The logic of D'Souza [137 words]HamMar 7, 2009 21:00151697
For those wondering about where the Berbers live [9 words]Abu NudnikMar 5, 2009 11:46151686
2The So-Called Arabs Who Built The Pyramids ?? [537 words]RebeccaMar 4, 2009 11:21151620
Arab Semitic Whites of North Africa [13 words]CNJun 9, 2009 11:18151620
Berbers [30 words]CNJun 13, 2009 04:30151620
one day, arabs will claim they built the moon [58 words]berberAug 18, 2010 13:17151620
Amazighs [200 words]Mohamed EljahmiMar 3, 2009 16:47151561
Berbers in History [52 words]Anglo-AmericanMar 2, 2009 23:01151493
About moroccan Amzigh [55 words]Esther spinozaJul 10, 2009 06:21151493
The Amazigh which means "free humans" [177 words]YnnatchkahMar 2, 2009 03:11151430
Berber [12 words]Jon PurizhanskyMar 1, 2009 16:01151406
The only solution [110 words]Jurist Benedictos Mohamad AliMar 1, 2009 14:02151399
Factoring Out, Not In. [85 words]DavodMar 1, 2009 06:47151385
I also read that Berber-related MEMRI thing yesterday, and was intrigued by this: [72 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Charles MartelFeb 27, 2009 10:34151288
Islam & Arab Colonialization go hand in hand [80 words]ASMar 4, 2009 01:03151288

Comment on this item

Mark my comment as a response to Iranians-Better anti Arab nationalists by Shishir

Email me if someone replies to my comment

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

See recent outstanding comments.

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)