your story is so true
I face the same situation here in Australia!

wow !!! this is a very interesting article !!
It not only applies to arab immigrants , but i guess to all nationalities , like indians for egs in america are called indian not american and when they come to india , they are called NRI's - non resident indians , no privileges they have to pay the same as any foreign student in their universities .
For me personally im of a persian decent in bahrain , in bahrain they treat us very nicely but we are considered persians by them and by iranians they consider us as arab !! lol same i was like now what should i consider myself arab or persian ??
Nice article once again as i can relate myself to it , good job :)

I agree thats a very catchy topic,im an everyday viewer of this site,yet i dont comment but i enjoy most topics..but as i read thru dis article i said 2 myself i gotta share my experience as i hapen 2 be jus like those of u who emigrate it an emigrant, im lebanese,living in south africa,ive been here 4 da past 6 yearz at a young age we moved 2 wat we i cud cal da end of da world,i mean if u take a l0ok at da map s.a is rite at da bottom,whch means its totaly difrnt 2 wat its like back in my h0me leban0n, i had 2 settel in a c0mpelet difrnt envir0nment, at tyms id even spk arabic n then realise 'wake up ure nt spkn 2 ppl of ur own kind' therz so many lebs around bt they like born here nd their parents hav bn here 4 ages! lol i often jus speak abt us arabs 2 my 4rnds, nd it makes me so proud 2 b an arab,i mean compared 2 them im rich with culture,n they even enjoy learnin sum arabic words, lol wel im getin off da topic... Bt wat im tryna say is if u proud of u r u can carry dat al0ng wid u even if u r in pluto!!peoples critisism doesnt bother,coz i hav my arabic pride held on my shoulders, wen i say im an arab i make sure i say loud! i love dat fact, i do get judged a lot by being an arab but dat gives me a reason 2 tel those who judge dat b4 u judge go get a background of whom we realy r,lol i gues i wrote a l0ng essay but weneva dis kinda topic pops out i get excited nd jus join in da c0nversati0n! destiny may hav made me a foreigner at a foreign country ,bt my nationality n my arabic r0ots r my pride!enuf said... Take care all u fellow arab sisterz n brotherz !

This is a really good topic, and i face this situation every day of my life. I am jordanian but i live in canada. I have been living here for 7 years, so basically ive adopted a lot of the culture here, and that was the problem. I started loosing my arabic, and my culture slowly, so whenever i go back in the summer i seriously feel like a foreigner, which i hate, and even here i feel somewhat left out, but reality is...i am unique. I like being unique and having i guess "the best of both worlds". I still have my arab side to me, but i am also very aware of the good things in canada that i adopted. So yea...thats basically my life story.

the point is, never be extreme, dont try to live one side, take both sides and put them together, creating a good mix of both worlds.

omg i relate to this too......like my parents r both egyptian but the moved to the united states and had me!!.....like most of my egyptian friends that are here talk fluently like me but like all get so affected by there way of culture...like for us its no dances,no prom, no going out like alone..no nothing...we always have that feeling inside us thats saying i wish i lived in egypt cause we all visit every summer!! like we say to ourselvves if we lived in egypt we would have more freedom like our parents would trust us more...but ive learned to live with it ..sometimes i wish i can go to college in egypt.....like i dream of it but i know my parents will never let me....but i say to myself everyday that im not the only one going thru this many other people are too.....so i just say that after high school noone is going to see me so its college that is going to make all the diffrence like then i can acutally tel people im muslim because i am makin the mistake of not tellin them now

ohh and one more thing all u have to say to urselff to answer this question is be true to urslef be who u want to be.....if u really want to be an egyptian be it like me i watch all the movies and listen to all the music i like it wayy more thennn english....thats wat i chose to be and thats wat im gonna be till i die:D I am not goin to ruin my life and marry and american christian wen i have a whole great egyptian life ahead of me....just think to urself that wen ur at school in america u know about a whole nother culture and launguage then anyone around you..you have a double life and that is something to be very proud of!!!

i love this topic tons....my dad has been out of egypt for 30 years and my mom for 17...i was born in america and i've lived my whole life here. i cant say i feel like a foreigner in the states but at the same time i dont feel 100 percent in my place...and when im in egypt i feel more of a foreigner than in america i almost feel like a tourist. i love egypt tons and i always tell everyone that i am anegyptian raised in america. I listen to a ton of arabic music and i watch arabic tv. im extremely up to date with everything in the middle east. But i feel that when i walk the street of egypt im always asked "enty mesh men masr enty akeed agnabia..mommy men masr wala america". its pretty ridiculous but its probably because i have a slight accent since english is my first language and also from my attitude and clothing. In the airport i have to fill out a foriegner aplication because of my american passport. I have learned to take the best of both cultures and live with it. I even feel like i dont know my own family. I feel like i have to be cautious with what i say. My dad has completely assimilated with the west but my moms mind is still in egypt. I feel like arabs have more of a life and more freedom. However, in america its always tax and work. In egypt people are in the street until 6 in the morining while in the states im usually home by 1 at the latest. I dont know what to do anymore...and when people ask me if i like egypt or america more i truly cant answer because each has its own pros and cons. I want to go to college in a high american college such as princeton, georgetown, nyu, duke, colombia, etc. but at the same time i want to do a year at the american university of cairo so i can get in touch with my roots but still have america with me....what do you guys think?? I am really confused, i could rant about this topic unitl the morning. In the end of the day I would raise the egyptian flag over the american one anyday..but in the end i cant ignore the other half of me...im arab american whether i like it or not.

Awesome Topic! I definately can relate to this.

Both my parents are Iraqi, they went to university in america then moved to saudi arabia to work. So I was born and raised until I was 12 in saudi arabia, then moved to america. In saudi arabia I went to a primarily english speaking school, I learned arabic but I have an accent when I speak it now, sadly. im working on fixing that. :) I watch loads of arabic t.v. and listen to arabic music. I love it! Here in america I feel like a foreigner. I live were there are absolutely NO arabs. Its safe to say that I can not relate to anyone. It was so hard growing up in america but even harder with no arabs around.

I tell people that I am 100% Iraqi. I mean I live in america and I am a citizen but Iraq runs in my blood. Everyone I know in the middle east considers me an american but I am an Iraqi and always will be.

I am not fond of the american culture. they worst thing about it is there is no social life like in the middle east. I love the fact that arab culture is SO social, there is always something to do or someone to see. And all the normal things that americans do I wasn't allowed to participate in. No sleepovers, prom, going out at night, sometimes going out period. All my friends thought i was weird because i couldnt do any of their normal stuff. I can understand why my parents felt that way now that I'm older. When I was younger I would always wish that I lived in the middle east with people like me. I resented my parents for a long time for taking me out of the arab culture and throwing me in the american one. I really would like to go back to in the middle east to live when I am finished with school.

I really do think that we are stuck in the middle. But I geuss it comes down to how you preceive yourself.