2/21 When you think about the Middle East, write down the first 3 words that come to mind. Where do we get these images of the Middle East? How accurate are they?

Find the lie… The wars being waged in the Middle East are about religion. Most Muslims are from the Middle East. The words “Arab” and “Muslim” are synonyms. Most people in the Middle East hate Americans. The Middle East is one big giant desert region.

Put the following words into one of the two categories U.S. Texas Islam Iraq hamburgers country music Osama bin Laden desert oil camels George Washington Middle East

Put the following words into one of the two categories good love murder Superman stealing freedom charity Hitler torture respect kindness evil

Put the following words into one of the two categories U.S. or good Texas murder Superman country music Osama bin Laden oil torture respect camels George Washington Islam love Iraq hamburgers stealing freedom kindness desert charity Hitler Middle East or evil

How easy was it for you to put all of those words in the correct categories? I’m guessing that it was fairly simple and did not take much time, correct?

Put the following words into one of the two categories U.S. or evil Hitler desert freedom hamburgers love George Washington respect oil country music murder Texas Superman Osama bin Laden torture camels Islam Iraq stealing kindness charity Middle East or good

Now, how easy was it? For most of you, this was probably much more difficult, correct?

Whether you mean to or not… We all have preconceptions about different topics. It is easy for us to associate good with the United States. But, when we try and associate good with the Middle East, we have to move beyond those split second, unconscious thoughts. We have to slow down and actually think.

ALADDIN LYRICS Arab American groups were offended by the original lyrics for the Disney movie “Aladdin.” Here are the original lyrics. Oh, I come from a land From a far away place Where the Camels roam Where they cut off your ear If they don’t like your face - It’s barbaric, but hey, its home.

The point of this lesson is to better understand how something many of us simply see as funny can hurt others, even though that is not our intention. Many movies, even those fun Disney movies “of your youth” can have cause unintended pain. Do we need to just “get over it.” Of course, if it happens to someone else. Imagine how a caveman would feel if some insurance companies used slogans in their commercials like “so easy even a caveman could do it.” Get the point.

Where the caravan camels roam Where it’s black and immense When the groups complained to Disney studios they were told to “get over it and have a sense of humor.” the Arab groups felt this was a double standard. When the movie was released on video, Disney had changed the lyrics to this: Oh, I come from a land From a faraway place Where the caravan camels roam Where it’s black and immense And the heat is intense - It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.

Aladdin Is this an accurate representation of the Middle East? What is accurate and what is not?