yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy A M essage from the Au thor I wrote the first edition of Understanding Arabs in the 1980s to provide background and context for increasing cu ltural awareness bet ween Westerners and Arabs. Since then, the world has been bombarded with conflicting images of Arab culture, from planes flying into the World Trade Center, to Arabs cr ying in grief over the actions of their extremist counterparts; from the self-immolation of a t went y-seven-year-old Tuni- sian street vendor that launched the "Arab Spring," to the joyous faces of Tunisians voting in the October 2011 open election for the Constituent Assembly. The highs and lows of human nature apply to Arabs as they apply to all other cultures. Still, it is no wonder that Westerners (Ameri- cans and Europeans) don't know what to believe when it comes to Arabs. These contradictory images involve one of the most ancient, complex, and interesting cultures in the world. Arabs are the people in some eighteen countries who speak the Arabic language. The term Arab does not mean that they have the same ethnic (Arabian) origin. Rather, Arab is a cultural and political term, and Arabs are not all alike--they speak different dialects of the language and there are regional differences in customs and appearance. Contrary to the widespread belief, not all Arabs are Muslim. Muslims make up 95 percent of Arabs, while 5 percent are Christians, mainly in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. A few thousand Jews live in Arab countries, principally in Morocco, and also in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria. Muslims are spread throughout the world, and only 20 percent of them are Arabs (see the Preface). The Arabs have always been in the news because of the strategic location of the region, linking Europe, Africa, and Asia. Oil resources xi