Arab Identity, Pan-Arabism, and the Arab Spring Explained

Introduction: Defining 'Arab' and Why It Matters

Certain words must be understood not only for maximum clarity, but because misunderstanding them can be a matter of life and death — especially when their meanings are taken for granted. Defining the term "Arab" is not itself a difficult task, yet doing so precisely has remained important because of the frequent and pervasive misuse of the term, particularly in the West. The Arab world and the Muslim world have been conflated in the minds of many Western commentators and citizens, so that the two terms function interchangeably despite describing two entirely different groups of people and sets of ideologies. Examining the historical formation of an Arab identity alongside the contemporary development of pan-Arabism (or pan-Arab nationalism) helps dissolve these misconceptions while revealing an important strain of political and social identity in the Middle East — one that has influenced many of the region's major developments over the last sixty years and continues to shape ongoing revolutionary movements today.

Historical evidence suggests that "Arabs are kin to the ancestors of other people who speak Semitic languages, such as the Hebrews, the Assyrians, and the Arameans," with the tribes that would eventually coalesce into the Arab people likely migrating from the Fertile Crescent into the region eventually named the Arabian Peninsula (Goldschmidt & Davidson, 2006, p. 23). However, when discussing Arabs in a modern context, this geographical delineation does not sufficiently encompass the full scope of the Arab population — not only because Arabs live throughout the Middle East and the wider world, but because in a modern context the term "Arab" encompasses more than any single ethnic group.

Historical Origins of Arab Identity

Over the course of the twentieth century, a kind of pan-Arab nationalism evolved that argued for the cooperation and shared national identity of Arabs from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. The common unifying features were the use of Arabic as a first language and the tracing of one's family to the historical tribes of the Arabian Peninsula — tribes that were essentially "extended families that migrated together and held their property in common" (Goldschmidt & Davidson, 2006, p. 23). The transformation from a largely ethnic and linguistic identity to a national political identity occurred largely following World War II, as leaders of the Arab world attempted to retain control over the future of the Middle East in the face of Western powers intent on carving it up as the spoils of war.

The formation of the Arab panethnic and cultural identity is discussed by Arthur Goldschmidt and Lawrence Davidson (2006) in their book A Concise History of the Middle East. Goldschmidt and Davidson begin their discussion of Arabs by mentioning "popular legends [which] identify them as descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's son by his Egyptian maid, Hagar," and in doing so they unconsciously highlight one of the reasons behind the pervasive ignorance regarding Arabs and Arab culture (Goldschmidt & Davidson, 2006, p. 23). The "popular legend" the authors refer to is recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible; in that story, Ishmael is essentially disowned because his birth results from Abraham disregarding God's instructions. The authors do not investigate this story further, being more interested in providing the concise history their title promises, but a closer look at the ideological work performed by the story of Ishmael serves to inform and contextualize any effort to define the term "Arab."

Western Misconceptions and the Legacy of the Ishmael Narrative

This "popular legend" regarding the origin of Arab peoples implicitly supports a Judeo-Christian tendency to view Arabs with disdain or distrust. The emergence of Islam centuries after the formation of an Arab identity simply gave the largely Christian ruling powers further justification for the discrimination and subjugation of Arabs. Subsequently, the ideology behind this legend has remained potently influential: the idea that Arabs are somehow the "illegitimate" recipients of any land or natural resources — combined with a conflation of Arabs with Muslims — served as the backbone of everything from the Crusades of the medieval period to the United States' contemporary military campaigns in the Middle East. Furthermore, this legend essentially excludes Arabs from Judaism and Christianity. Although there are Arab Christians and Jews (and there were before the formulation of Islam), it is unsurprising that the religious tradition most heavily represented among Arab populations today is Islam. Thus, Goldschmidt and Davidson's first example not only helps to demonstrate the origins of Western ignorance regarding Arabs, but also the ultimately serious ramifications of that ignorance.