[Enter at Your Own Risk] (EAYOR)

[Beiruti]

NOTE: The following posts were removed from various other threads for obvious reasons.

There are many complaints about useful and informative threads being hijacked and turned into debates on SSC, so in an effort to avoid that from happening at the Lebanon forum while at the same time embracing freedom of speech, I chose to keep this thread open just preventing the debates from ruining other threads.

If you wish to post here, just remember to follow the rules and respect each other.

[Joop20]

lebanon must be the most surprising country ive ever seen on SSC! the media in the west apperantly likes us to believe that lebanon is some undeveloped fundamentalist country, but its totaly different from that! it seems so developed, almost like a european country, yet its GDP per capita and HDI index were not that high when i checked them on wikipedia. Is there a huge gap between poor and rich people in lebanon? And the people also look very european to me, very different from turks or arabs for example, how come? And i dont understand how an organisation like hezbollah can have such a large support in a country that looks so developed, but thats another story i guess!

[Beiruti]

wow you asked many important questions and made some interesting points... I will try my best to answer them.

1. Don't listen to anything the media tells you!

2. Lebanon is a highly advanced and developed modern society. There is a high level of diversity and tolerance as the country is actually quite liberal socially.

3. The Lebanese people look very different from Arabs, Turks, etc, because they have a unique genetic make-up which encompasses Phoenician, European, and Mediterranean and other ethnicities.

4. YES there is a huge gap between rich and poor, but the upper class is actually quite large and noticeable.

5. Hezballah does not have "such a large support" because their supporters are mainly from the Shia population - in a country with several different religious sects. They don't represent the Lebanese people as a whole and a significant portion of the population does not support them.

[Lebanese Cedar]

Originally Posted by Beirut!

3. The Lebanese people look very different from Arabs, Turks, etc, because they have a unique genetic make-up which encompasses Phoenician, European, and Mediterranean and other ethincities.

This actually is not limited to Lebanon only.

All Eastern Mediterranean Arabs look quite similar and have a bit of that Greek/Italian look.

[shayan]

Beirut i think you paint a very pink and blue image of lebanon :S how can you not look like other middle eastern people, IMO from the pictures I/ve seen of lebanese people you look just North Middle easterners... :S

[shayan]

OK finally Lebanese Cedar made the comment i wanted to hear

[Beiruti]

I dont think all Eastern Med Arabs look alike. We dont look like Egyptians or Palestinians and we certainly dont look like Syrians!

[Lebanese Cedar]

Originally Posted by Beirut!

I dont think all Eastern Med Arabs look alike. We dont look like Egyptians or Palestinians and we certainly dont look like Syrians!

Egyptians aren't really Eastern Mediterranean. They are on the eastern side of the Mediterranean, but Eastern Mediterranean refers to those who live along the eastern coastline.

You're right, we don't look like Egyptians very much. Their roots are Hamites and some Berber as well.

We do very much look like Palestinians and Syrians. We share Phoenician and Canaanite genes with them.

If you have a group of 20 people who are a mix of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrians, and Jordanians, you won't be able to pick out who is which.

[Hassoun]

lebanese_cedar,we don't look like palestinians,especially those of south and central palestine.and we sure don't look like syrians who live in the easten and southern parts of syria.whai want to say is that lebanon and he area around lebanon.pple there look like eachothers.

[Lebanese Cedar]

Originally Posted by Hassoun

lebanese_cedar,we don't look like palestinians,especially those of south and central palestine.and we sure don't look like syrians who live in the easten and southern parts of syria.whai want to say is that lebanon and he area around lebanon.pple there look like eachothers.

I completely disagree with you.

I have a few Palestinian friends from Beersheba (Central Palestine) who could very easily pass for Lebanese. Infact, they look more Lebanese than I do because I am a bit dark skinned.

Same goes for Syrians.

Keep in mind there is no such thing as a strict "Lebanese look." There are Lebanese who are dark skinned and look like they could be bedouins from Jordan if you want to generalize.

I agree that we don't look like Eastern Syrians and Eastern Jordanians, who look very much like Iraqis, but those aren't Eastern Mediterraneans. They live inland and look very much like their Iraqi counterparts and their dialect is very much like their Iraqi counterparts as well.

You cannot draw a fine line between Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinians and Jordanians. These boundaries did not exist until after World War II and 60 years is not enough time for a people to develop a gene pool.

[crazyeight]

Took the words right out of my mouth, Lebanese Cedar

[Hassoun]

I don't agree with u lebanese_cedar,u can say that maybe like 20 or 30% of jordanians and syrians look like lebanese,but that's it.i mean,go to palestinian refugee camps in lebanon,u can easily tell that they r not lebanese.

[crazyeight]

Is that your reply? where do you come up with stupid figures like 30%? Pathetic. Listen, no one is dying or trying to look Lebanese or anything, alright? I mean, if you cannot admit to a fact that people from the mediterranean region, and the levant to be exact, look like each other when it is also proven that they share similar genetic make-up then i really don't know what to tell you. I am also pretty sure that you are trying to prove otherwise because of the fact that you resent your neighbouring countries. I mean there is nothing wrong with it! I swear, i cannot understand some people!! All humans are equal.

[Hassoun]

lol,take it easy dude,i'm not saying u r dying to be lebanese or anything,i just say what i see.they look exact?????EXACT??????Sorry,i disagree.

[crazyeight]

Ofcourse they don't look exact! because it's not possible for people to look exact! do all lebanese males look like ragheb alame or do all lebanese girls look like haifa wehbe, for example? No...but they do look SIMILAR. This similarity is shared throughout the Levant.

[Hassoun]

well,yesssssssssssss,but don't tell me all palestinians look like lebanese,also all syrians and jprdanians loko like lebanese,koz it's untrue,and yes there's the lebanese look which is between the arab look s and the european mediterranian look.this is simply my opinion.

[Jayme]

each one of u's are right i guess i have a syrian friend i thought she was lebanese at first i know another syrian guy he dosent look Lebanese at alll i knew he was arab but i could tell he didnt look lebanese at my church i thought the palestinian people there were lebanese

[Lebanese Cedar]

Originally Posted by Hassoun

i mean,go to palestinian refugee camps in lebanon,u can easily tell that they r not lebanese.

I don't need to go to a Palestinian refugee camp to see what Palestinians look like.

I have been to the country with the biggest Palestinian population in the world, Jordan.

The vast majority of people I saw there had that Arab/European mix look that you claim is distinctive to Lebanon only.

And as I have said in my earlier post, there is no such thing as a distinctive "Lebanese look." Lebanon in particular, has a mix of light-skinned and dark-skinned people, some who look very European (such as those with blue eyes) and those who look more Arab with their darker skin and brown eyes. Some have straight hair, some have curly hair.

What I have said above can be applied to Palestinians, Syrians, and Jordanians as well.

So please tell me, what is this unique distinctive Lebanese look that is only unique to Lebanon? I beg you, give me an example. Show me a picture.

When I was young living in Saudi Arabia, my best friend was a Palestinian from Jordan. His sister had blonde hair and blue eyes and was very light skinned. She could possibly pass for being Scandinavian!

Fact remains is people of the Levant share common roots. The entire Levant has been exposed to the Europeans, the Phoenicians, and the Canaanites, not just Lebanon as you claim.

[Lebanese Cedar]

Originally Posted by Jayme001

each one of u's are right i guess i have a syrian friend i thought she was lebanese at first i know another syrian guy he dosent look Lebanese at alll i knew he was arab but i could tell he didnt look lebanese at my church i thought the palestinian people there were lebanese

Thank you for proving my point.

To add to what I said earlier, let me show you a picture of a famous Palestinian, Queen Rania, wife of King Abdullah II of Jordan:



She's considered to be one of the most beautiful Arabs.

Tell me, couldn't she easily pass for being Lebanese? Or Syrian?

[Hassoun]

well,1st i didn't say that Arab/European mix look is distinctive to lebanese only,i said some syrians and palestinians look like lebanese pple.
the lebanese look i said is between arab looks and mediterranian european look.