Rami Malek who is a Copt is incorrectly referred to as Arabian by the international press
On the 25th of February, Rami Malek won an Oscar for best actor. The international press hailed him as the first Arabian to ever win this trophy.
After getting the award for the best actor at the Oscar gala of 2019, the international press was full of articles exalting Rami Malek, the first actor with Arabian roots, to win such a prize.
He was “The first best actor with Arabian roots,” according to the Guardian.
“Rami Malek’s prize is a glory for the Arabians,” hailed the Arab News.
Other newspapers such as the Saudi Gazette, Gulf News, and the GQ, all published articles about the award with the same message: Rami Malek is a great Arabian actor.
But Malek has never been nor claimed to be Arabian. He was born in California, in the United States. His parents emigrated from Egypt, but they are not Arabians. They are Copts. More precisely, they are Orthodox Copts who brought up Malek in this faith.
Now Copts are not Arabs. They are the descendants of Egyptians from the time of the Pharaohs and the Arabs have been persecuting them since the 6th century.
They Orthodox Copts represent a significant minority in the country —15% to be precise. Ethnographically they have nothing to do with the Arabs. That is why journalists err when they label Malek as an Arabian artist because his award should not be cited as glory for the Arabs but rather as glory for Coptic Christians.
Soruce, Photo: Christianophobie
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