I posted a question on Facebook on a group there.

Here are some of the responses, I do have others but I have edited them to omit the names of some and also superfluous, off topic comments.

Here are the comments, they are not revised and appear just like they were left only edited for names and for topics if they were off topic. They appear in the order left and are left spelled the way that they appeared. I tried to remove as much of the arabic as possible if they left comments partially in Arabic and partially in English. This is also includes curse words and so beware, it isn't very vulgur, just used when it was felt by the writer necessary.

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That Lebanese girls are sluts.Usually Khaleejis think that...Untill i shout at them.

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White boy 1: "umm I want to introduce you to american food.... This is a pizza... it's really good food... and this is a soda.... it's really popular here... it's a drink.... try it.. it's called pepsi"

*me in shock*

White boy 2: "so tell us.... how did you get here? are there like camel transporters to europe and then you fly from there? was it the first time you saw a plane... and an airport? what do you think of the change?"

*me still in shock with jaw open*

White girl: "Oh come on guys... they're not that ignorant..... haven't you heard of globalization? I'm sure they're receiving that technology"

*me walks away*

lol.... my first AWFUL experience my freshman year... outside of my dorm !

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Lebanese=LESBIAN..

oh geez

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If an anerican girl dates a lebanese guy then he will cheat on her....wtf?? thats not true :P

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that all lebanese men are cheaters...and alot of white girls think that lebanese women are deprived from their rights.....hehehe..eh mbala

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Lebanese guys are tail chasin, egotistical self-centered, meterosexual dogs.

I challenged that completely last week tho, when I shaved my head n donated my hair for cancer - totally threw a bunch of ppl off :)

The tail chasin bit I am workin on tho :S

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Yeah I was completely serious about the last one.. I love how stupid some people are.

Or how about "Oh, so you're like.. a terrorist?"

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It must be the "showoff"

but I honestly dont think it is a stereotype... showoff is our daily hobby

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Lebanon is not like other STEREOTYPICAL arab-countries ...

For example...the stereotype that seems to bring lebanon down with it is that the middleast is infested with nothing but camels, desert sand...more sandd...and unfortunately the media makes the middleeast out to be the home of the world's most uneducated, uncivilized, women-degrading, terrorism-loving monsters ever to walk the face of the earth....

what's even more hilarious is that most americans/non-arabs are so shocked to see PICTURES of lebanon because they can't believe that any place in the middle east is even remotely d e v e l o p e d --excluding israel of course.

..I hope to god u put those 2 students in their places...that shit has happened to me a few times as well (not quite that extreme) as i'm sure it has to all of us...

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"so umm does your mom wear a hijab?"

I have to admit most stereotypes ive encountered were from the American white crowd and not so much Canadian. Maybe its the difference in population between the two countries but ignorance in the US is pathetic on a larger scale. They are very oblivious to their surroundings and the only time they get global cultural exposure is when they reach university. In Canada however, the "whities" are always interested and love to explore the different cultures which form their communities.

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i get the "we don;t understand terorist...talk to us in english plz..here in ameica we talk english"..

or "do u guys have TV-s in lebanon?? wat about cars??? or do u ride camels to school and work?"

and then there's the "so do u know any terrorists??like have u ever seen somebody getting killed infront of u?"

and of course "sand-nigger...towel-head..."..etc..

and then there's the old "y do u have a cross around ur neck? r u christian? i didn't know there were christian ppl over at that side" (as if they're the only christian ppl around the world:P

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ohhhhh I get that too!lol

all the time ...when I telll people I'm lebanese.... "Oh you're a lesbian?"

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omg yes that has happened to me eno not y r u wearing the cross but like oh really u're christian i didn't know there were any christians there loool... bass the rest of the stuff that u guys r all talking about idk honestly i haven't really had any of that happen... eno yeah most ppl don't know anything but they r kinda interested and they ask like what is it like there and stuff like that or like did u learn english before u came here... but i haven't gotten anything as mean as the things u guys have gotten lol

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woooowww...i never had it that bad...in ontario in general...lebanese ppl and their lesbian girls :P..and very famous for their night life and party hunger...probably cuz there is alot less rednecks than u.s

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I've encountered all these Stereotypes. People can't believe that i'm Lebanese because i'm soo 'white.' Plus, everyone assumes that my father is Muslim for some reason. Many Canadians and Americans to i assume don't realize that there are Christians in the middle east. I mean we make up about 40% of the population of Lebanon!

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yeaaaah that's another thing like oh that person doesn't look lebanese... bass like really like there isn't really a "lebanese look" hala2 eno ana kamen i've said oh they don't look lebanese bass eno ppl r surprised if like a lebanese person looks white or whatever...

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In Europe people are less ignorant and every now and then u actually meet people who know a little about our beautiful country, bas akid,,,people being chocked by pictures + going "oh u r christian, didnt know there were christians over there" is something we all experince I think. They also get toooo surprised when I tell them I go to leb every summer coz they seem to think u cant put ur foot there without being killed

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i think a big problem that amplifies stereotypes here is the fact a lot of second and third generation lebs that were born here and grew up here do not know anything about their mother country. All they know is what they learned from their parents and what they see in pictures. There is a little farm town called leamington which is around 4 hours west of toronto. They have a festival every summer for 3eed el saydi and they have a replica of Harissa but a smaller version. Anyways there is a huge lebanese christian community there and i talked to a lot of the older folks there. Most of them moved to Canada back in the 60's raised families here and never went back! I was really mad how these "dons" deprived their children from seeing the country they're ethnically tied to.

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after 9/11, a girl on my volleyball team had the nerve to ask me 'r u related 2 osama bin laden?' i was so shocked i cudnt even answer

(another teammate of mine was there when she asked and she freaked out and stuck up for me !)

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Me: Ya i spent the summer in lebanon it was sooo much fun

Mrs Paquette (hs history teacher): how was that living the summer in a third world country???

Me: clueless look on my face

i said some smart ass comment after i cant remember, lol

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no wait..after Saddam was captured...i was still in michigan...one of the ass. principles...she calls me out of class to go to her office..and she goes "so how do u feel about saddam being captured"...i was young..so i was like.."i'm from lebanon..i don;t really care"..and then she goes.."well ur from th eregion..wat do ur parents think about it?"...w ana am like.."am i in trouble or something?"...

it was funny..everybody was scared of me..i lived in a small "all-white" town in michigan...:P

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thats some funny shit. ppl who dont live on the coasts tend to be much more ignorant since everyone is "white american"

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after being asked all the stupid questions from ignorant white ppl i startedmaking jokes out of it...specialy when my euro friends r around...when a white boy asks me for a cigarette or even a pen...either me or my friends answer..no ITS HALAL u can't touch it :P...

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me: "Man i cant wait to go to lebanon this summer"

white boy: "WTF??? ur going to lebanon?? why the hell would u go there!!?!? ULL get kidnapped by terrorists/they will behead u/u cant drink/its all desert why do u wanna go there/"........isn't there war?"

me: "ki* okh*** habiltak bi 2a***" .....and then i give him an hour lecture of how amazing lebanon is and show them pics on the internet

white boy: "wow thats really nice...i wanna go"

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lol anyways yea i swear if anyone else asks me if im related to Osama bin laden im gonna reply 'yea hes my uncle' or sumthing loll (watch secret service hunt me down...:S)

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bravo ~that what we have to do--just show them they r compleeeteely brainwashed by the stupid media!

the ignorance in this country is amazing.

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welcome to US and A

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i alwaaayyysss have beirut nights radio open on my laptop...and ppl just randomly come and watch the slide show with me..thinkin its italy or greece or watever...they get shocked when they find out its lebanon and they alll want to go visit

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wtf. i just told someone i come from a catholic background and they were shocked. damn

stereotypes.

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I always like to ask these people how do they know what they say or in regards to my appearance (as I look "white American") how many Lebanese have they met. The maximum people that I have heard somebody say that they have met is three.

Hence, I am sorry to announce to everybody here. Those three people, THREE, out of a country of approx. 4 million with a diaspora of approx. 10 million are the sole representatives of Lebanon abroad.

Like most here I have received the questioning about my religions views, and faced countless assumptions that my father is Muslim and that I am, despite wearing a cross around my neck.

I would like to stress to everybody here that it is our duty to represent Lebanon and the Lebanese all over the world.

I have met this one guy here, from Lebanon, who started talking about Lebanon by telling me all the bad things there. I stopped him half way through his tirade to remind him that he is representing Lebanon. That, even with all the things going on in Lebanon, it is a pretty great country. Furthermore reminding him that it is up to each and every one of us to inform the masses. If he badmouths Lebanon, and he is from Lebanon, how does he hope to correct the misunderstandings that others have about Lebanon. How will others realize how great Lebanon is if all he can do is say bad things about it?

Well...it's just a theory.

I am proud of who I am. Nobody can take this pride from me. All I can hope is to share this pride with everybody around me.

I think that if we could get a trip to take the people here to Lebanon. Take the children of Lebanon currently abroad back to Lebanon over the summer it would be pretty cool. They have these trips for Jews to visit Israel, so why not have these trips for the Lebanese and Lebanese lovers ;) to go visit Lebanon. I think that this would be a great success and really cool. I know a lot of people who would come just to be able to see Lebanon and none of them are Lebanese (besides my sister).

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ofcourse, media plays a BIG role in this matter...

ya3ne, when all CNN shows is bearded men with bombs strapped around their body and say these ppl are lebnese, wat do u expect white ppl to beleive?

(no pilitics..)

bass enno there's the other "badna ne7rou2 dwelib...w nenzal 3al ter2at nsakkir downtown" thing...the scenes CNN loves to show ppl around the world...

hek eshya betkhalle el3alam kello ytalli3 seet ghalat 3an lebnen...w akid ya3ne..would u ever visit Iraq...am sure there are really nice places in Iraq..or Iran...bass the media shows us the bombed places , the "khiyam" w they never show the good modernized places...

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