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I often think of the late Zaha Hadid's quote:
"حوربت عالميا لأني عربية، وحوربت عربيا لأني امرأة"
"I was resisted globally for being an Arab, & resisted by Arabs for being a woman."
She added that Arabs privileged White people over her - a real, lived experience for us all.
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"حوربت عالميا لأني عربية، وحوربت عربيا لأني امرأة"
"I was resisted globally for being an Arab, & resisted by Arabs for being a woman."
She added that Arabs privileged White people over her - a real, lived experience for us all.
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I'd add that Arabs have a real tendency to discriminate against Iraqis, & for various reasons, namely our denominations (many Arabs are notoriously sectarian), our ethnicities (notoriously racist, too), & our cultural differences.
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For this reason, Iraqis don't get as much support as other Arab-majority nations do. Our stories are drawn up to serve political, sectarian, & racist agendas.
Our voices are unheard, no matter how loud we get.
When we stand up for ourselves, we're perceived as aggressive.
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Our voices are unheard, no matter how loud we get.
When we stand up for ourselves, we're perceived as aggressive.
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Many Arabs privilege certain dialects over others, esp those w/ notable EN & FR influence. "Heavier" dialects are treated differently. Many don't make an effort to learn or understand Arabic dialects that have native & other influences
Colonialism's long, cultural legacy
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Colonialism's long, cultural legacy
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This is why many Arabs w/ "heavier" dialects are forced to switch to Egyptian or Levantine to be understood. Either that, switch to formal Arabic, or translate. Otherwise, no effort is made to understand them. Our dialects sound too "aggressive" (yes, I've heard that 1sthand)
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So when Iraqis tell our stories, we're allegedly not "easy" to empathize with. Other Arabs have a hard time acknowledging & realizing the real impact of repeated genocide when Iraqis are th victims.
Many still defend Saddam, but criticize Assad b/c it's ok to kill Iraqis.
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Many still defend Saddam, but criticize Assad b/c it's ok to kill Iraqis.
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When we speak with "heavier" accents, darker complexions, different experiences w/ colonialism, war, & genocide, we're barely heard.
Our stories are not "sexy" enough.
When we step up our stories, & insist on being heard, we're "aggressive".
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Our stories are not "sexy" enough.
When we step up our stories, & insist on being heard, we're "aggressive".
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Back to the 1st tweet of this thread:
To be an Iraqi woman in a White privileging world, especially among Arabs, is a difficult experience of intersectional persecution. I won't go into a minoritized Iraqi's experience. It's FAR worse
Zaha Hadid spoke Iraqi Arabic w/ Arabs
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To be an Iraqi woman in a White privileging world, especially among Arabs, is a difficult experience of intersectional persecution. I won't go into a minoritized Iraqi's experience. It's FAR worse
Zaha Hadid spoke Iraqi Arabic w/ Arabs
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