Arab culture

Making Arab carpets in Algiers, 1899

Arab culture is the culture of the Arabic speaking-peoples, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to
the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean
Sea. Language, literature, gastronomy, art, architecture, music, spirituality, philosophy, mysticism
(etc.) are all part of the cultural heritage of the Arabs.[1] The Arab world stretches across 22 countries
and consists of over 200 million people. Arab is a term used to be only for people of the Arabian
Peninsula who are semitic but now, with the expansion of Arab caliphates in the past, it's used to
describe the people whose native tongue is Arabic. Arab now is a cultural term, not a racial term,
and Arabic people come from various ethnic and religious backgrounds.The 21 Arab countries are:
Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab
Emirates, and Yemen.

ARAB LITERATURE
Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language.
It does not include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such
as Persian and Urdu literature. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a
word meaning "manners" and implies politeness, culture and enrichment. Arabic literature emerged
in the 6th century, with only fragments of the written language appearing before then. The Qur'an,
from the 7th century, had the greatest and longest-lasting effect on Arabic culture and literature. Al-
Khansa, a female contemporary of Muhammad, was an acclaimed Arab poet.
Mu'allaqat

The Mu'allaqat (Arabic: ‫المعلقات‬, [al-muʕallaqaːt]) is the name given to a series of seven Arabic poems
or qasida that originated before the time of Islam. Each poem in the set has a different author, and is
considered to be their best work. Mu'allaqat means "The Suspended Ones" or "The Hanging
Poems," and comes from the poems being hung on the wall in the Kaaba at Mecca.
The seven authors, who span a period of around 100 years, are Imru' al-
Qais, Tarafa, Zuhayr, Labīd, 'Antara Ibn Shaddad, 'Amr ibn Kulthum, and Harith ibn Hilliza. All of the
Mu’allaqats contain stories from the authors’ lives and tribe politics. This is because poetry was used
in pre-Islamic time to advertise the strength of a tribe's king, wealth and people.
The One Thousand and One Nights (Arabic: ‫ أ َ ْلف لَ ْيلَة َولَ ْيلَة‬ʾAlf layla wa-layla[2]), is a medieval folk tale
collection which tells the story of Scheherazade, a Sassanid queen who must relate a series of
stories to her malevolent husband, King Shahryar (Šahryār), to delay her execution. The stories are
told over a period of one thousand and one nights, and every night she ends the story with a
suspenseful situation, forcing the King to keep her alive for another day. The individual stories were
created over several centuries, by many people from a number of different lands.
During the reign of the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid in the 8th century, Baghdad had become an
important cosmopolitan city. Merchants from Persia, China, India, Africa, and Europe were all found
in Baghdad. During this time, many of the stories that were originally folk stories are thought to have
been collected orally over many years and later compiled into a single book. The compiler and ninth-
century translator into Arabic is reputedly the storyteller Abu Abd-Allah Muhammad el-Gahshigar.
The frame story of Shahrzad seems to have been added in the 14th century.

Music
Arabic music is the music of Arab people, especially those centered around the Arabian Peninsula.
The world of Arab music has long been dominated by Cairo, a cultural center, though musical
innovation and regional styles abound from Tunisia to Saudi Arabia. Beirut has, in recent years, also
become a major center of Arabic music. Classical Arab music is extremely popular across the
population, especially a small number of superstars known throughout the Arab world. Regional
styles of popular music include Iraqian el Maqaam, Algerian raï, Kuwaiti sawt and Egyptian el gil.
"The common style that developed is usually called 'Islamic' or 'Arab', though in fact it transcends
religious, ethnic, geographical, and linguistic boundaries" and it is suggested that it be called
the Near East (from Morocco to India) style (van der Merwe, Peter 1989, p. 9).
Habib Hassan Touma (1996, p.xix-xx) lists "five components" which "characterize the music of the
Arabs:

1. The Arab tone system (a musical tuning system) with specific interval structures, invented
by al-Farabi in the 10th century (p. 170).
2. Rhythmic-temporal structures that produce a rich variety of rhythmic patterns, awzan, used
to accompany the metered vocal and instrumental genres and give them form.
 3. Musical instruments that are found throughout the Arabian world and that represent a
standardized tone system, are played with standardized performance techniques, and
exhibit similar details in construction and design.
4. Specific social contexts for the making of music, whereby musical genres can be classified
as urban (music of the city inhabitants), rural (music of the country inhabitants),
or Bedouin (music of the desert inhabitants).
5. A musical mentality that is responsible for the aesthetic homogeneity of the tonal-spatial and
rhythmic-temporal structures in Arabian music,
whether composed or improvised, instrumental or vocal, secular or sacred. The Arab's
musical mentality is defined by:
1. The maqām phenomenon.
2. The predominance of vocal music.
3. The predilection for small instrumental ensembles.
4. The mosaiclike stringing together of musical form elements, that is, the arrangement
in a sequence of small and smallest melodic elements, and their repetition,
combination, and permutation within the framework of the tonal-spatial model.
5. The absence of polyphony, polyrhythm, and motivic development. Arabian music is,
however, very familiar with the ostinato, as well as with a more instinctive
heterophonic way of making music.
6. The alternation between a free rhythmic-temporal and fixed tonal-spatial organization
on the one hand and a fixed rhythmic-temporal and free tonal-spatial structure on
the other. This alternation... results in exciting contrasts."
Much Arab music is characterized by an emphasis on melody and rhythm rather than harmony. Thus
much Arabic music is homophonic in nature. Some genres of Arab music are polyphonic—as the
instrument Kanoun is based upon the idea of playing two-note chords—but quintessentially, Arabic
music is melodic.
It would be incorrect though to call it modal, for the Arabic system is more complex than that of
the Greek modes. The basis of the Arabic music is the maqam (pl. maqamat), which looks like the
mode, but is not quite the same. The maqam has a "tonal" note on which the piece must end (unless
modulation occurs).

The riq is widely used in Arabic music

The maqam consists of at least two jins, or scale segments. "Jins" in Arabic comes from the ancient
Greek word "genus," meaning type. In practice, a jins (pl. ajnas) is either a trichord, a tetrachord, or
a pentachord. The trichord is three notes, the tetrachord four, and the pentachord five.
The maqam usually covers only one octave (two jins), but sometimes it covers more than one
octave. Like the melodic minor scale and Indian ragas, some maqamat have different ajnas, and
thus notes, while descending or ascending. Because of the continuous innovation of jins and
because most music scholars don't agree on the existing number anyway, it's hard to give an
accurate number of the jins. Nonetheless, in practice most musicians would agree on the 8 most
frequently used ajnas: Rast, Bayat, Sikah, Hijaz, Saba, Kurd, Nahawand, and Ajam — and a few of
the most commonly used variants of those: Nakriz, Athar Kurd, Sikah Beladi, Saba Zamzama.
Mukhalif is a rare jins used exclusively in Iraq, and it does not occur in combination with other ajnas.
The main difference between the western chromatic scale and the Arabic scales is the existence of
many in-between notes, which are sometimes referred to as quarter tones for the sake of
practicality.
However, while in some treatments of theory the quarter tone scale or all twenty four tones should
exist, according to Yūsuf Shawqī (1969) in practice there are many fewer tones (Touma 1996,
p. 170).
In fact, the situation is much more complicated than that. In 1932, at International Convention on
Arabic music held in Cairo, Egypt (attended by such Western luminaries as Béla Bartók and Henry
George Farmer), experiments were done which determined conclusively that the notes in actual use
differ substantially from an even-tempered 24-tone scale, and furthermore that the intonation of
many of those notes differ slightly from region to region (Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq). The
commission's recommendation is as follows: "The tempered scale and the natural scale should be
rejected. In Egypt, the Egyptian scale is to be kept with the values, which were measured with all
possible precision. The Turkish, Syrian, and Iraqi scales should remain what they are..." (translated
in Maalouf 2002, p. 220). Both in modern practice, and based on the evidence from recorded music
over the course of the last century, there are several differently tuned "E"s in between the E-flat and
E-natural of the Western Chromatic scale, depending on the maqam or jins in use, and depending
on the region.
Musicians and teachers refer to these in-between notes as "quarter-tones" ("half-flat" or "half-sharp")
for ease of nomenclature, but perform and teach the exact values of intonation in each jins or
maqam by ear. It should also be added, in reference to Touma's comment above, that these
"quarter-tones" are not used everywhere in the maqamat: in practice, Arabic music does not
modulate to 12 different tonic areas like the Well-Tempered Klavier, and so the most commonly used
"quarter tones" are on E (between E-flat and E-natural), A, B, D, F (between F-natural and F-sharp)
and C.
The prototypical Arab ensemble in Egypt and Syria is known as the takht, which includes, (or
included at different time periods) instruments such as the 'oud, qanún, rabab, nay, violin (which was
introduced in the 1840s or 50s), riq and dumbek. In Iraq, the traditional ensemble, known as the
chalghi, includes only two melodic instruments—the jowza (similar to the rabab but with four strings)
and santur—with riq and dumbek.

Dance
Arab folk dances also referred to as Oriental dance, Middle-Eastern dance and Eastern dance,
refers to the traditional folk dances of the Arabs in Arab world (Middle East and North Africa).[3][4] The
term "Arabic dance" is often associated with the belly dance. However, there are many styles of
traditional Arab dance,[5] and many of them have a long history.[6] These may be folk dances, or
dances that were once performed as rituals or as entertainment spectacle, and some may have
been performed in the imperial court.[7] Coalescence of oral storytelling, poetry recital, and
performative music and dance as long-standing traditions in Arab history.[8] Among the best-known of
the Arab traditional dances are the Belly dance and the Dabke.[9]
Belly dance also referred to as Arabic dance (Arabic: ‫رقص شرقي‬, translit. Raqs sharqi, lit. 'Eastern
Dance') is an Arab expressive dance,[10][11][12][13] which emphasizes complex movements of the
torso.[14] Many boys and girls in countries where belly dancing is popular will learn how to do it when
they are young. The dance involves movement of many different parts of the body; usually in
a circular way.[15]

Media
Prior to the Islamic Era, poetry was regarded as the main means of communication on the Arabian
Peninsula.[citation needed] It related the achievements of tribes and defeats of enemies and also served as
a tool for propaganda. After the arrival of Islam other forms of communication replaced poetry as the
primary form of communication. Imams (preachers) played a role in disseminating information and
relating news from the authorities to the people.
 The suq or marketplace gossip and interpersonal relationships played an important role in the
spreading of news, and this form of communication among Arabs continues today. Before the
introduction of the printing press, Muslimsobtained most of their news from the imams at
the mosque, friends, or in the marketplace. Colonial powers and Christian
Missionaries in Lebanon were responsible for the introduction of the printing press. It was not until
the 19th century that the first newspapers began to appear, mainly in Egypt and Lebanon, which had
the most newspapers per capita.
During French rule in Egypt in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, the first newspaper was published,
in French. There is debate over when the first Arabic language newspaper was published; according
to Arab scholar Abu Bakr, it was Al Tanbeeh (1800), published in Egypt, or it was Junral Al
Iraq (1816), published in Iraq, according to other researchers. In the mid-19th century the Turkish
Empire dominated the first newspapers. In the Northern African countries
of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria the French colonial power built a press link between mainland
countries.
The first newspapers were limited to official content and included accounts of relations with other
countries and civil trials. In the following decades Arab media blossomed due to journalists mainly
from Syria and Lebanon, who were intellectuals and published their newspapers without the
intention of making a profit. Because of the restrictions by most governments, these intellectuals
were forced to flee their respective countries but had gained a following and because of their
popularity in this field of work other intellectuals began to take interest in the field. The first émigré
Arab newspaper, Mar’at al Ahwal, was published in Turkey in 1855 by Rizqallah Hassoun Al Halabi.
It was criticized by the Ottoman Empire and shut down after only one year. Intellectuals in the Arab
world soon realized the power of the press. Some countries' newspapers were government-run and
had political agendas in mind. Independent newspapers began to spring up which expressed
opinions and were a place for the public to out their views on the state. Illiteracy rates in the Arab
world played a role in the formation of media, and due to the low reader rates newspapers were
forced to get political parties to subsidize their publications, giving them input to editorial policy.
Freedoms that have branched through the introduction of the Internet in Middle East are creating a
stir politically, culturally, and socially. There is an increasing divide between the generations. The
Arab world is in conflict internally. The internet has brought economic prosperity and development,
but bloggers have been incarcerated all around in the Middle East for their opinions and views on
their regimes, the same consequence which was once given to those who publicly expressed
themselves without anonymity. But the power of the internet has provided also a public shield for
these bloggers since they have the ability to engage public sympathy on such a large scale. This is
creating a dilemma that shakes the foundation of Arab culture, government, religious interpretation,
economic prosperity, and personal integrity.
Each country or region in the Arab world has varying colloquial languages which are used for
everyday speech, yet its presence in the media world is discouraged. Prior to the establishment
of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), during the 19th century, the language of the media was stylized
and resembled literary language of the time, proving to be ineffective in relaying information.
Currently MSA is used by Arab media, including newspapers, books and some television stations, in
addition to all formal writing. Vernaculars are however present in certain forms of media including
satires, dramas, music videos and other local programs.
Media values
Journalism ethics is a system of values that determines what constitutes "good" and "bad"
journalism.[16] A system of media values consists of and is constructed by journalists' and other
actors' decisions about issues like what is "newsworthy," how to frame the news, and whether to
observe topical "red lines."[17] Such a system of values varies over space and time, and is embedded
within the existing social, political, and economic structures in a society. William Rugh states,
"There is an intimate, organic relationship between media institutions and society in the way that
those institutions are organized and controlled. Neither the institution nor the society in which it
functions can be understood properly without reference to the other. This is certainly true in the Arab
world. Media values in the Arab world therefore vary between and within countries. In the words of
Lawrence Pintak and Jeremy Ginges, “The Arab media are not a monolith.
Journalists in the Arab world hold many of the same values with their news generation as do
journalists in the Western world. Journalists in the Arab world often aspire to Western norms of
objectivity, impartiality, and balance. Kuldip Roy Rampal's study of journalist training programs in
North Africa leads him to the conclusion that, "the most compelling dilemma faced by professional
journalists, increasingly graduates of journalism degree programs, in the four Maghreb states is how
to reconcile their preference for press freedom and objectivity with constraints imposed by political
and legal factors that point to a pro-government journalism."[20] Iyotika Ramaprasad and Naila Nabil
Hamdy state, “A new trend toward objectivity and impartiality as a value in Arab journalism seems to
be emerging, and the values of Arab and Western journalism in this field have started to converge.
Further, many journalists in the Arab world express their desires for the media to become a fourth
estate akin to the media in the West. In a survey of 601 journalists in the Arab world, 40% of them
viewed investigation of the government as part of their job.
Important differences between journalists in the Arab world and their Western counterparts are also
apparent. Some journalists in the Arab world see no conflict between objectivity and support for
political causes.[22] Ramprasad and Hamdy's sample of 112 Egyptian journalists gave the highest
importance to supporting Arabism and Arab values, which included injunctions such as “defend
Islamic societies, traditions and values” and “support the cause of the Palestinians.” Sustaining
democracy through “examining government policies and decisions critically,” ranked a close
second.[21] This view is further endorsed in Kirat's survey where 65 percent of Algerian journalists
agreed that the task for the press is to "help achieve the goals and objectives of development
plans.[23] Such an approach to media fits within the larger scope of development communication and
journalism. The extent to which professional and political aims conflict is a subject of study for
scholars of the Arab world's media.
Other journalists reject the notion of media ethics altogether because they see it as a mechanism of
control. Kai Hafez states, “Many governments in the Arab world have tried to hijack the issue of
media ethics and have used it as yet another controlling device, with the result that many Arab
journalists, while they love to speak about the challenges of their profession, hate performing under
the label of media ethics.
Historically, news in the Arab world was used to inform, guide, and publicize the actions of political
practitioners rather than being just a consumer product. The power of news as political tool was
discovered in the early 19th century, with the purchase of shares from Le Temps a French
newspaper by Ismail the grandson of Muhammad Ali.
Doing so allowed Ismail to publicize his policies Arab Media coming to modernity flourished and
with it its responsibilities to the political figures that have governed its role. Ami Ayalon argues in his
history of the press in the Arab Middle East that, “Private journalism began as an enterprise with
very modest objectives, seeking not to defy authority but rather to serve it, to collaborate and coexist
cordially with it. The demand for freedom of expression, as well as for individual political freedom, a
true challenge to the existing order, came only later, and hesitantly at that, and was met by a public
response that can best be described as faint."
Media researchers stress that the moral and social responsibility of newspeople dictates that they
should not agitate public opinion, but rather should keep the status quo. It is also important to
preserve national unity by not stirring up ethnic or religious conflict]

The values of media in the Arab world have started to change with the emergence of “new media."
Examples of new media include news websites, blogs, and satellite television stations like Al
Arabiya. The founding of the Qatari Al Jazeera network in 1996 especially affected media values.
Some scholars believe that the network has blurred the line between private- and state- run news.
Mohamed Zayani and Sofiane Sabraoui state, “Al Jazeera is owned by the government, but has an
independent editorial policy; it is publicly funded, but independent minded.”[26] The Al Jazeera media
network espouses a clear mission and strategy, and was one of the first news organizations in the
Arab world to release a code of ethics.[27] Despite its government ties, it seeks to “give no priority to
commercial or political over professional consideration” and to “cooperate with Arab and
international journalistic unions and associations to defend freedom of the press.” With a motto of
“the view and the other view,” it purports to “present the diverse points of view and opinions without
bias and partiality.” It has sought to fuse these ostensibly Western media norms with a wider “Arab
orientation,” evocative of the social responsibility discussed by scholars such as Noha Mellor above.
Some more recent assessments of Al Jazeera have criticized it for a lack of credibility in the wake of
the Arab Spring. Criticism has come from within the Arab Middle East, including from state
governments.[28] Independent commentators have criticized its neutrality vis-a-vis the Syrian Civil
War.
Media values are not the only variable that affects news output in Arab society. Hafez states, “The
interaction of political, economic, and social environments with individual and collective professional
ethics is the driving force behind journalism.”[16] In most Arab countries, newspapers cannot be
published without a government-issued license. Most Arab countries also have press laws, which
impose boundaries on what can and cannot be said in print.
Censorship plays a significant role in journalism in the Arab world. Censorship comes in a variety of
forms: Self-censorship, Government Censorship (governments struggle to control through
technological advances in ex. the internet), Ideology/Religious Censorship, and
Tribal/Family/Alliances Censorship. Because Journalism in the Arab world comes with a range of
dangers – journalists throughout the Arab world can be imprisoned, tortured, and even killed in their
line of work – self-censorship is extremely important for many Arab journalists. A study conducted by
the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ) in Jordan, for example, found that the
majority of Jordanian journalists exercise self-censorship.[30] CPJ found that 34 journalists were killed
in the region in 2012, 72 were imprisoned on December 1, 2012, and 126 were in exile from 2007 to
2012.
A related point is that media owners and patrons have effects on the values of their outlets.
Newspapers in the Arab world can be divided into three categories: government
owned, partisan owned, and independently owned. Newspaper, radio, and television patronization in
the Arab world has heretofore been primarily a function of governments.[32] "Now, newspaper
ownership has been consolidated in the hands of powerful chains and groups. Yet, profit is not the
driving force behind the launching of newspapers; publishers may establish a newspaper to ensure a
platform for their political opinions, although it is claimed that this doesn’t necessarily influence the
news content".[33] In the Arab world, as far as content is concerned, news is politics.
Arab states are intimately involved in the economic well-being of many Arab news organizations so
they apply pressure in several ways, most notably through ownership or advertising.[34]
Some analysts hold that cultural and societal pressures determine journalists' news output in the
Arab world. For example, to the extent that family reputation and personal reputation are
fundamental principles in Arab civilization, exposés of corruption, examples of weak moral fiber in
governors and policy makers, and investigative journalism may have massive consequences. In fact,
some journalists and media trainers in the Arab world nevertheless actively promote the centrality of
investigative journalism to the media's larger watchdogfunction. In Jordan, for example, where the
degree of government and security service interference in the media is high, non-governmental
organizations such as the Center for Defending the Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ) and Arab
Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) train journalists to undertake investigative journalism
projects.
Some Saudi journalists stress the importance of enhancing Islam through the media. The
developmental role of media was acknowledged by an overwhelming majority of Saudi journalists,
while giving the readers what they want was not regarded as a priority.[36] However, journalism
codes, as an important source for the study of media values, complicate this notion. Kai Hafez
states, “The possible hypothesis that Islamic countries might not be interested in ‘truth’ and would
rather propagate ‘Islam’ as the single truth cannot be verified completely because even a code that
limits journalists’ freedom of expression to Islamic objectives and values, the Saudi Arabian code,
demands that journalists present real facts.”[16] In addition, Saudi journalists operate in an
environment in which anti-religious talk is likely to be met with censorship.
Patterns of consumption also affect media values. People in the Arab world rely on newspapers,
magazines, radio, television, and the Internet to differing degrees and to meet a variety of ends. For
Rugh, the proportion of radio and television receivers to Arab populations relative to UNESCO
minimum standards suggests that radio and television are the most widely consumed media. He
estimates that television reaches well over 100 million people in the region, and this number has
likely grown since 2004. By contrast, he supposes that Arab newspapers are designed more for
elite-consumption on the basis of their low circulation. He states, "Only five Arab countries have daily
newspapers which distribute over 60,000 copies and some have dailies only in the under-10,000
range. Only Egypt has dailies which distribute more than a half million copies."[37] Estimating
newspaper readership is complicated, however, by the fact that single newspapers can change
hands many times in a day. Finally, the internet continues to be a fairly common denominator in
Arab societies. A report by the Dubai School of Government and Bayt.com estimates that there are
more than 125 million Internet users in the region, and that more than 53 million of them actively use
social media. They caution, however, that while "the internet has wide-ranging benefits, these
benefits do not reach large segments of societies in the Arab region. The digital divide remains a
significant barrier for many people. In many parts of the Arab world levels of educational attainment,
economic activity, standards of living and internet costs still determine a person's access to life-
changing technology.[38] Further, according to Leo Gher and Hussein Amin, the Internet and other
modern telecommunication services may serve to counter the effects of private and public ownership
and patronage of the press. They state, "Modern international telecommunications services now
assist in the free flow of information, and neither inter-Arab conflicts nor differences among groups
will affect the direct exchange of services provided by global cyberspace networks."[39]
Magazines
In most Arab countries, magazines cannot be published without a government-issued license.
Magazines in the Arab world, like many of the magazines in the Western world, are geared towards
women. However, the number of magazines in the Arab world is significantly smaller than that of the
Western world. The Arab world is not as advertisement driven as the Western world.
Radio
There are 90 private radio stations throughout the Middle East and North Africa. (list of private radio
stations in the Arab world)
Arab radio broadcasting began in the 1920s, but only a few Arab countries had their own
broadcasting stations before World War II. After 1945, most Arab states began to create their own
radio broadcasting systems, although it was not until 1970, when Oman opened its radio
transmissions, that every one of them had its own radio station.
Among Arab countries, Egypt has been a leader in radio broadcasting from the beginning.
Broadcasting began in Egypt in the 1920s with private commercial radio. In 1947, however, the
Egyptian government declared radio a government monopoly and began investing in its expansion.
By the 1970s, Egyptian radio had fourteen different broadcast services with a total air time of 1,200
hours per week. Egypt is ranked third in the world among radio broadcasters. The programs were all
government controlled, and much of the motivation for the government's investment in radio was due
to the aspirations of President Gamal Abdel Nasser to be the recognized leader of the Arab world.
Egypt's "Voice of the Arabs" station, which targeted other Arab countries with a constant stream of
news and political features and commentaries, became the most widely heard station in the region.
Only after the June 1967 war, when it was revealed that this station had misinformed the public
about what was happening, did it lose some credibility; nevertheless it retained a large listenership.
On the Arabian Peninsula, radio was slower to develop. In Saudi Arabia, radio broadcasts started in
the Jidda-Mecca area in 1948, but they did not start in the central or eastern provinces until the
1960s. Neighboring Bahrain had radio by 1955, but Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Oman did not start
indigenous radio broadcasting until nearly a quarter century later.
Television
Almost all television channels in the Arab world were government-owned and strictly controlled prior
to the 1990s. In the 1990s the spread of satellite television began changing television in Arab
countries. Often noted as a pioneer, al-Jazeera represents a shift towards a more professional
approach to news and current affairs.[40] Financed by the Qatargovernment and established in
1996, al-Jazeera was the first Arabic channel to deliver extensive live news coverage, going so far
as to send reporters to "unthinkable" places like Israel. Breaking the mold in more ways than one, al-
Jazeera's discussion programs raised subjects that had long been prohibited. However, in
2008, Egypt and Saudi Arabia called for a meeting to approve a charter to
regulate satellite broadcasting. The Arab League Satellite Broadcasting Charter (2008) lays out
principles for regulating satellite broadcasting in the Arab world.[41][42]
"Across the Middle East, new television stations, radio stations and websites are sprouting like
incongruous electronic mushrooms in what was once a media desert. Meanwhile newspapers are
aggressively probing the red lines that have long contained them".[44] Technology is playing a
significant role in the changing Arab media. Pintak furthers, "Now, there are 263 free-to-air (FTA)
satellite television stations in the region, according to Arab Advisors Group. That’s double the figure
as of just two years ago".[44] Freedom of speechand money have little to do with why satellite
television is sprouting up everywhere. Instead, "A desire for political influence is probably the biggest
factor driving channel growth. But ego is a close second".[44] The influence of the West is very
apparent in Arab media, especially in television. Arab soap operas and the emerging popularity
of reality TV are evidence of this notion.
"In the wake of controversy triggered by Super Star and Star Academy, some observers have hailed
reality television as a harbinger of democracy in the Arab world."[45] Star Academy in Lebanon is
strikingly similar to American Idol mixed with The Real World. Star Academy began in 2003 in the
Arab world. "Reality television entered Arab public discourse in the last five years at a time of
significant turmoil in the region: escalating violence in Iraq, contested elections in Egypt, the struggle
for women’s political rights in Kuwait, political assassinations in Lebanon, and the protracted Arab-
Israeli Conflict. This geopolitical crisis environment that currently frames Arab politics and Arab-
Western relations is the backdrop to the controversy surrounding the social and political impact of
Arab reality television, which assumes religious, cultural or moral manifestations."[46]
Cinema
Most Arab countries did not produce films before nation independence. In Sudan, Libya, Saudi
Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, production is even now confined to short films or
television. Bahrain witnessed the production of its first and only full-length feature film in 1989.
In Jordan national production has barely exceeded half a dozen feature films. Algeria and Iraq have
produced approximately 100 films each, Morocco around seventy, Tunisia around 130,
and Syria some 150. Lebanon, owing to an increased production during the 1950s and 1960s, has
made some 180 feature films. Only Egypt has far exceeded these countries, with a production of
more than 2,500 feature films (all meant for cinema, not television).[47] As with most aspects of Arab
media, censorship plays a large art of creating and distributing films. "In most Arab countries, film
projects must first pass a state committee, which grants or denies permission to shoot. Once this
permission is obtained, another official license, a so-called visa, is necessary in order to exploit the
film commercially. This is normally approved by a committee of the Ministry of Information or a
special censorship authority".[47] The most significant taboo topics under state supervision, and the
society, are consistent with those of other forms of media: religion, sex, and politics.
Internet
The Internet in the Arab world is powerful source of expression and information as it is in other
places in the world. While some believe that it is the harbinger of freedom in media to the Middle
East, others think that it is a new medium for censorship. Both are true. The Internet has created a
new arena for discussion and the dissemination of information for the Arab world just as it has in the
rest of the world. The youth in particular are accessing and utilizing the tools. People are
encouraged and enabled to join in political discussion and critique in a manner that was not
previously possible. Those same people are also discouraged and blocked from those debates as
the differing regimes try to restrict access based on religious and state objections to certain material.
This was posted on a website operated by the Muslim Brotherhood:
The internet in the Arab world has a snowball effect; now that the snowball is rolling, it can no longer
be stopped. Getting bigger and stronger, it is bound to crush down all obstacles. In addition, to the
stress caused by the Arab bloggers, a new forum was opened for Arab activists; Facebook. Arab
activists have been using Facebook in the utmost creative way to support the democracy movement
in the region, a region that has one of the highest rates of repression in the world. Unlike other
regions where oppressive countries (like China, Iran and Burma) represent the exception,
oppression can be found everywhere in the Arab world. The number of Arab internet users
interested in political affairs does not exceed a few thousands, mainly represented by internet
activists and bloggers, out of 58 million internet users in the Arab world. As few as they are, they
have succeeded in shedding some light on the corruption and repression of the Arab governments
and dictatorships.

Public Internet use began in the US in the 1980s. Internet access began in the early 1990s in the
Arab world, with Tunisia being first in 1991 according to Dr. Deborah L. Wheeler. The years of the
Internet's introduction in the various Arab countries are reported differently. Wheeler reports
that Kuwait joined in 1992, and in 1993, Turkey, Iraq and the UAE came online. In
1994 Jordan joined the Internet, and Saudi Arabia and Syria followed in the late 1990s. Financial
considerations and the lack of widespread availability of services are factors in the slower growth in
the Arab world, but taking into consideration the popularity of internet cafes, the numbers online are
much larger than the subscription numbers would reveal.[49]
The people most commonly utilizing the Internet in the Arab world are youths. The café users in
particular tend to be under 30, single and have a variety of levels of education and language
proficiency. Despite reports that use of the internet was curtailed by lack of English skills, Dr.
Wheeler found that people were able to search with Arabic. Searching for jobs, the unemployed
frequently fill cafes in Egypt and Jordan. They are men and women equally. Most of them chat and
they have email. In a survey conducted by Dr. Deborah Wheeler, she found them to almost all to
have been taught to use the Internet by a friend or family member. They all felt their lives to have
been significantly changed by the use of the Internet. The use of the Internet in the Arab world is
very political in the nature of the posts and of the sites read and visited. The Internet has brought a
medium to Arabs that allows for a freedom of expression not allowed or accepted before. For those
who can get online, there are blogs to read and write and access to worldwide outlets of information
once unobtainable. With this access, regimes have attempted to curtail what people are able to read,
but the Internet is a medium not as easily manipulated as telling a newspaper what it can or
cannot publish. The Internet can be reached via proxy server, mirror, and other means. Those who
are thwarted with one method will find 12 more methods around the blocked site.
As journalists suffer and are imprisoned in traditional media, the Internet is no different
with bloggers regularly being imprisoned for expressing their views for the world to read.
he difference is that there is a worldwide audience witnessing this crackdown and watching
as laws are created and recreated to attempt to control the vastness of the Internet.[50]
Jihadists are using the Internet to reach a greater audience. Just as a simple citizen can now have a
worldwide voice, so can a movement. Groups are using the Internet to share video, photos,
programs and any kind of information imaginable. Standard media may not report what the Muslim
Brotherhood would say on their site. However, for the interested, the Internet is a tool that is utilized
with great skill by those who wish to be heard. A file uploaded to 100 sites and placed in multiple
forums will reach millions instantly. Information on the Internet can be thwarted, slowed, even
redirected, but it cannot be stopped if someone wants it out there on the Internet.
The efforts by the various regimes to control the information are all falling apart gradually. Those
fighting crime online have devised methods of tracking and catching criminals. Unfortunately those
same tools are being used to arrest bloggers and those who would just wish to be heard. The
Internet is a vast and seemingly endless source of information. Arabs are using it more than perhaps
the world is aware and it is changing the media.

Society

A café in Cairo

Social loyalty is of great importance in Arab culture. Family is one of the most important aspects of
the Arab society. While self-reliance, individuality, and responsibility are taught by Arabic parents to
their children, family loyalty is the greatest lesson taught in Arab families. "Unlike the extreme
individualism we see in North America (every person for him or herself, individual rights, families
living on their own away from relatives, and so on), Arab society emphasizes the importance of the
group. Arab culture teaches that the needs of the group are more important than the needs of one
person."[51] In the Bedouin tribes of Saudi Arabia, "intense feelings of loyalty and dependence are
fostered and preserved"[52] by the family.[53] Margaret Nydell, in her book Understanding Arabs: A
Guide for Modern Times, writes "family loyalty and obligations take precedence over loyalty to
friends or demands of a job."[54] She goes on to state that "members of a family are expected to
support each other in disputes with outsiders.
Regardless of personal antipathy among relatives, they must defend each other’s honor, counter
criticism, and display group cohesion..."[54] Of all members of the family, however, the most revered
member is the mother.
Family honor is one of the most important characteristics in the Arab family. According to Margaret
Nydell, social exchanges between men and women happen very seldom outside of the work
place.[54] Men and women refrain from being alone together. They have to be very careful in social
situations because those interactions can be interpreted negatively and cause gossip, which can
tarnish the reputation of women. Women are able to socialize freely with other women and male
family members, but have to have family members present to socialize with men that are not part of
the family.[54] These conservative practices are put into place to protect the reputation of women. Bad
behavior not only affects women but her family's honor.
Practices differ between countries and families. Saudi Arabia has stricter practices when it comes to
men and women and will even require marriage documents if a woman and man are seen together
alone.[54]
Arab values One of the characteristics of Arabs is generosity and they usually show it by being
courteous with each other. Some of the most important values for Arabs are honor and loyalty.
Margaret Nydell, in her book Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times' [54] says that Arabs
can be defined as, humanitarian, loyal and polite. Tarek Mahfouz explains in the book "Arab
Culture" [55] that it is common for Arabs in dinner situations to insist on guests to eat the last piece of
the meal or to fight over who will pay the bill at a restaurant for generosity.
Female Infanticide Like many societies around the world, the preference for a son is much higher
than that for a daughter in the Arab world. In pre-Islamic Arabia, husbands would go as far as
burying female infants alive because of the shame it caused them among their peers. Women are
typically seen as a burden whereas men represent honor and dignity to a family. Muhammad
revealed a verse which deals with this phenomenon. It says, "And God will ask the female infant who
had been buried alive ("mau'udda") for what wrongdoing was she killed."[56] This practice is long gone
in the Arab world, but the sentiment of having a son over a daughter still resides and women are still
subject to divorce for failure to give birth to a son as a first born child.[55]

Sports
The Pan Arab Games are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world.
The first Games were held in 1953 in Alexandria, Egypt. Intended to be held every four years since,
political turmoil as well as financial difficulties has made the event an unstable one. Women were
first allowed to compete in 1985. By the 11th Pan Arab Games, the number of countries participating
reached all 22 members of the Arab League, with roughly over 8,000 Arab athletes participating, it
was considered the largest in the Games History, with the Doha Games in 2011 expected to exceed
that number.
Arab women in sports
Women around the world have struggled in the professional world of sports since it has been
something that has been dominated by men. When looking at the Arab world currently there is an
emergence of Arab women playing sports, something that for the most part is not much discussed
but is of great importance. Muslim Arab women are taking part in playing on futsal, football (soccer),
softball, basketball, and various other teams. Some women are participating in boxing, archery,
running, swimming, tennis and other individual sports. Because more Muslim women are playing
sports, sportswear is being developed so that a woman can still be able to participate in sports like
swimming without limiting their participation due to the way they choose to dress. Although women
have received great support from family members in playing sports, there is still much criticism
towards female athletes in the Arab world.
Many conservative men have criticized that sports and women do not go together and that a woman
would not be able to wear her headscarf or should not wear shorts while playing sport .
Arab women are also challenging and becoming a part of sports that even outside of the Arab world
are considered not for women. There are Arab women who are participating in boxing, even
reaching international competition levels.[59] Arab women are not limiting themselves and although
they receive criticism from some of society, their families and communities have been very
supportive while still considering themselves conservative and faithful to Islam.[60] These women and
their families are challenging the very narrow view that society at times has of the capabilities of
women and have inspired women all around the Arab world to not limit themselves. Despite this
occurring in the Arab world, what these Arab female athletes are doing is an inspiration to women all
over the globe.
Cuisine

Originally, the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula relied heavily on a diet of dates, wheat, barley, rice
and meat, with little variety, with a heavy emphasis on yoghurt products, such as leben (‫( )لبن‬yoghurt
without butterfat). Arabian cuisine today is the result of a combination of richly diverse cuisines,
spanning the Arab world and incorporating Levantine, Egyptian, and others. It has also been
influenced to a degree by the cuisines of India, Turkey, Berber, and others. In an average Arab
household in the Persian Gulf area, a visitor might expect a dinner consisting of a very large platter,
shared commonly, with a vast mountain of rice, incorporating lamb or chicken, or both, as separate
dishes, with various stewed vegetables, heavily spiced, sometimes with a tomato sauce. Most likely,
there would be several other items on the side, less hearty. Teawould certainly accompany the meal,
as it is almost constantly consumed. Coffee would be included as well.
Tea culture
Arabic tea
Tea is a very important drink in the Arab world, it is usually served with breakfast, after lunch, and
with dinner. For Arabs tea is a hospitality drink that is served to guests. It is also common for Arabs
to drink tea with dates.

Dress
Men
Arab dress for men ranges from the traditional flowing robes to blue jeans, T-shirts and business
suits. The robes allow for maximum circulation of air around the body to help keep it cool, and the
head dress provides protection from the sun. At times, Arabs mix the traditional garb with clothes.[61]
Thobe In the Arab states of the Persian Gulf men usually wear their national dress that is called
"thobe" but can be also called "Dishdasha" (Kuwait) or "Kandoura" (UAE). "Thobes" differ slightly
from state to state within the Gulf, but the basic ones are white. This is the traditional attire that
Arabs wear in formal occasions.
Headdress The male headdress is also known as Keffiyeh. Headdress pattern might be an indicator
of which tribe, clan, or family the wearer comes from. However, this is not always the case. While in
one village, a tribe or clan might have a unique headdress, in the next town over an unrelated tribe
or clan might wear the same headdress.
A wedding carriage in Jisr az-Zarqa, Israel

 Checkered headdresses relate to type and government and participation in the Hajj, or a
pilgrimage to Mecca.
 Red and white checkered headdress – Generally of Jordanian origin. Wearer has made Hajj and
comes from a country with a Monarch.
 Black and white checkered headdress – The pattern is historically of Palestinian origin.
 Black and grey represent Presidential rule and completion of the Hajj.
Guthra (headdress) in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf The male headdress in the Gulf states
is called Guthra and it is different in each country (size and shape). It is usually worn with a black
cord called "agal" that keeps the guthra on the wearer's head.

 The Qatari guthra is heavily starched and it is known for its "cobra" shape.
 The Saudi guthra is a square shaped cotton fabric. The traditional is white but the white and red
(shemagh) is also very common in Saudi Arabia.
 The Emirati guthra is usually white and can be used as a wrapped turban or traditionally with the
black agal.
Women
Adherence to traditional dress varies across Arab societies. Saudi Arabia is more traditional,
while Egypt is less so. Traditional Arab dress features the full length body cover (abaya, jilbāb,
or chador) and veil (hijab). Women are only required to wear abayas in Saudi Arabia. In most
countries, like Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Egypt, the veil is not prevalent.