Arab Identity

I feel a little awkward speaking about Arab identity. What does Arab mean? And what does it mean to be of Arab decent? I likely don't even known all of the countries and nationalities or other identifications "Arab" symbolizes. I guess the word Arab is derived from Arabic. Wikipedia was of little help to me in this case of research, as it said, "The definition of Arab is defined independently of religious identity. " If I'm not mistaken I think that Arabic is the language that the Qur'an was written in. However this definition still threw me for a loop, because I always associated the word "Arab," with the word "Islam." For this blog we will just take the Genealogical definition of an Arab person, someone who can trace his ancestry back to the tribes of Arabia, the original habitants of the Arabian Peninsula. In looking at this picture now we can see two very different interpretations of these supposedly "Arab" people. However I see one immediate answer that will help describe many differences in these two pictures. I have seen neither movie, so lets assume that in both pictures we are looking at "normal" Arabs. Lets say they are just middle of the road in every aspect of life. Lawrence of Arabia was released in 1962. At this point in time, I believe that the major middle eastern countries had not begun taking advantages of their oil resources available in their nations. This oil was/is the biggest money maker that middle east has going for them. When middle eastern countries began nationalizing their oil fields, taking control of production away from the Americans and British, they began to sell at more of their own discretion, which meant much larger profits for middle eastern oil companies, and a definite change in lifestyle for many investors and high class people in the middle east. I don't know enough about the middle east to talk about class economics, but I would assume with oil, comes great wealth, at least to the upper class that controls the production and distribution. As we look at the second picture, from 1981, the middle east at that time was in a period of oil dominance, as US oil production within the homeland peaked in 1970. The upper class in Saudi Arabia was likely basking in the glory of being the biggest source of raw natural energy in the world. This I hope can help describe the economic context out of which these photos emerge. Returning to the ideas of political and cultural contexts, there is not much that I can truly say about the differences in these pictures. I feel as if I have been too brainwashed in our post 9/11 world with constant associations of terrorism, middle east, and Islam to really describe to you the political and cultural contexts of true Arab representation in our media, today, or at anytime. I would love to continue researching this, and I hope to far into the future, as it is of much relevance today in our ever changing political and economic landscape.