Abstract
Arabs trace their ancestry and traditions to the nomadic desert tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. They share a common language, Arabic. Most are united by Islam, the world’s largest religion that originated in seventh-century Arabia. Despite these common bonds, great diversity exists among Arabs related to religious preference and other variant characteristics of culture discussed in Chap. 1. Many Arab Americans disappear in national studies because they are counted as white in census data. The September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terrorist attack on the US has increased the number and intensity of negative comments about Arabs. Health-care providers need to understand that few Arab Americans support terrorist attacks and that it is inappropriate to pigeonhole people by their cultural background.
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Purnell, L.D., Fenkl, E.A. (2019). People of Arab Heritage. In: Handbook for Culturally Competent Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21946-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21946-8_8
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