Arabs and guns.
December 31st, 2006I don’t get it. Call me culturally ignorant.
Why do I always see photographs of Arabs celebrating or protesting or mourning, always with guns present or being shot into the air?
Anti-Saddam Iraqis celebrating his death. (NYTimes)
Pro-Saddam Iraqis protesting his death. (NYTimes)
If it’s a cultural thing, I don’t get it, and I’d love for someone to explain. I understand the criticisms available, that isn’t what I’d like to hear. I want to know why.
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It’s a sign of victory and strength. It’s a culture thing too. Ever seen the traditional Saudi dance? It’s with swords. One of the symbols of Oman is a dagger, and it’s the same in Bahrain too. It’s mostly due to how our leaders promote these things. Saddam hardly appeared in public without a gun in hand, and daggers became a part of a King or Sheikh’s clothing.
Thanks.
Now I have an excuse to celebrate New Year with guns.
Ha.
I hope they realize that what goes up must come down… hope they don’t shoot too many bullets into the sky. Ultimate ROFL.
Okay, I’ll be honest, it’s not just an Arab thing. Lots of Africans and South Asians do this also.
And if Jina had a gun he’d never pose without it either, mwahaha.
Mexicans like to shoot in the air and Jina is correct. I will never forget one New Year’s when a lady was carrying her baby in her arms. A bullet from a reveler went up, came down and hit the baby in the head while mom was walking down the street with infant cuddled in her arms.
I have always wondered how often people get hurt because this guys are firing AK-47’s which shoot a whole lot of rounds…and they come down with almost as much velocity as they go up.
This is New Years and yup..the Mexicans and Cracker’s should be blasting away…makes it even more exciting after about 15 beers and numerous shots of tequila. Shot up…down…sideways…very masculine…oh…Arab or not…how often do you seen women doing this?
Ah…sweet testosterone.
One more thought…maybe I should do a piece on this idea:
Girls grow up to be women…boys grow up to be….boys.
Women love guns too, you know. Ever seen Arash’s pictures of women with guns in Iran? Or the marches of women in Iraq when the country was at war throughout the 80’s?
& boys play with toys..
I always thought that this wild shooting for pleasure & feasting came from USA – thinking of the former Wild West, Mexicans & all that gun shooting there –
that these bullets come back from the sky, dangerious as before, is probably rarely known & I thought firecrackers on new years eve here were a dangerious thing – (well I live in a tame world) …
As to shooting in the air: I remember there was once here in a small local radio station a sequence of report of a young German who was driving with byke across the whole world (like once Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne’s ‘Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours.’) – he gave about daily reports to that radio station. –
I remember one very funny report when he was in Afghanistan – he met in a desert region there an Afghanian man, sitting on a fire place & was invited to spend the night there. So they were sitting together on the fire, they couldn’t really talk with each other, because the Afghan didn’t understand German nor English & the German didn’t understand Afghanish – the Afghan offered him tea & so they shared the tea – the Afghan took out a rifle & shoot in the air & offered the rifle to his German guest – the young German also shoot in the air & how he later reported – that gave him a really ‘male’ feeling – yeah sitting there in the wild desert with a really origin Afghan sharing tea, silence & shooting together in the air – that’s really male. – I remember when I heard him telling this I had to really lough out loudly – but on the other hand: – sitting together with a wild Afghan in the desert on a fire shooting rifles in the air & drinking tea together – what else does a man need?
Heimo-
“what else does a man need?”
A guitar and a shot of tequila.
you’re so right – that sounds much finer to me
Just another Tequila Sunrise..
It has nothing to do with gender. It’s all about culture. Culture is what tells men to be “men” and women to be “women” and bla bla bla…
Jina-
Nope..its all about testosterone…men and women and wired different.
I understand that too but if you raise a boy in a feminine environment, he actually does become more feminine. Maybe it’s both, actually it is. I just realized that… 25%-75% nature and 25%-75% nurture. That’s what a psychology text said.
Eliesheva
I believe I have a different answer here ….
I will talk about Jordanian traditions here ( Iraqis are very similar too)
Well, almost 100-130 years ago , whenever tribes (some are Bedouins) wanted to celebrate or announce something they would shoot some fires in the air only to inform others about something (e.g. wedding) as it was easier and better than sending messengers to other tribes.
That habit evolved until it’s seen now a mix of power, strength and victory.
I love the Mexican way….
Ayyyy..yay yay yay yay yay…ARRIBA!!!
Bam bam bam bam
Dudes are cool…”badge..badge…I don’t need no stink’in badge”….
Nothing like it…and I bet you don’t have lowriders in Jordan or Baharain…you are culturally backwards.
Jina-
Nature vs. nuture…you have hit one of the oldest and complex arguements in the field of psychology…very complex subject…
But to me the easiest test about the how differently men and women are hard-wired has to do with porno and babies…
Watch the way women respond to babies…watch the way men respond to babies.
Watch how women respond to porno…watch how men respond to porno.
I have traveled some…and this type of phenomena is absolutely consistent…
Culture plays a role…but not like testosterone does.
I’ve got to say, guns or no guns, the two guys on the top picture look damn good. Look at those grins–how can you resist?
HI Elisheva,
i’ve often wondered about this strange phenomenon myself. The obvious reason that comes to mind is that guns are weapons that make men feel masculine and strong (the fact that they are phallic in shape might have something to do with it – i think they are an extension of the male genital for some men). However, there is a cultural heritage attached to this seemingly violent display. Guns are often shot in the air at weddings in celebration, usually either by the groom or the grooms family as a show of strength and virility. A mating call if you will; an exhibition of sexual prowess. Gun shots are also fired in the air during funerals by close friends or family members often in a ritualistic dance to convey sympathy and respect for the deceased but also as a message to his/her family that reads ‘you are not alone, we are here to support you and give you strength’. Furthermore, guns are used to commemorate victory, much in the same ways that firework displays are used. Recently in Iraq they have even been used after triumphant football games to the extent where clouds of white smoke can be seen to completely cover the blue skies.
Having understood the cultural significance of these acts they don’t seem as threatening and at worst they appear primitive. Perhaps the bloody past of the arab peoples and no less violent present has been responsible for the AK 47 as the instrument of choice for festive occasions. Or even that due to almost uninterrupted warfare in countries like Palestine and Iraq, guns are sadly too close to hand. This is a tragedy not merely for those whose existence is never too far away from the sounds of fire arms but also for the way that arabs can be perceived globally; as gun toting, balaclava clad terrorists whose only way of communicating is with a rifle.