20 Ridiculous "Arab" Stock Photos
BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer
Stock photos can come in handy for people and businesses looking to avoid copyright lawsuits. Arab America sometimes looks for stock photos to include on our website, but we usually don’t find the right photo because our searches yield pretty weird results. Most search results show pictures of the Dubai skyline or a man in a thobe talking on a cell phone or majestic Arabian horses. Seriously, what’s with all the horses? Here are some of the more unusual results we have found after searching “Arab”, “Arabic”, and “Arab American”.
1. Eating baklawa with a fork
You don’t eat baklawa with a fork! Everyone knows that.
2. Confused Arab man holds a cell phone
Why would anyone ever need this photo for commercial use?
3. These Sanskrit jugs
When did Arabic and Sanskrit become the same language? We missed the memo.
4. The Taj Mahal – India’s finest palace
See note above about Sanskrit. Arabs aren’t Indian or from India. Learn your facts, stock photo website!
5. Sad baby while taking a picture of the Middle East?
What is happening here? Our theory is that someone tried to take a picture of the Middle East on a globe, but their crying baby began facetiming with them.
6. A Moroccan gas station
Not sure why this is a thing or how it’s relevant, but it’s one of the top search results.
7. High five, Israel!
We don’t want to give Israel any high fives.
8. The Serengeti
The Serengeti is located in Tanzania and is not at all Arab. We wish we had these cool animals roaming around, but we don’t.
9. This side-eye camel
Camels are the animals that Arabs are more accustomed to, and this picture needs to become a side-eye meme right now.
10. Mickey Mouse being a jerk
Is Mickey Mouse trolling this painting of young boys running to get help for an injured friend? That’s just rude, Mickey Mouse.
11. Bedouin Batwoman
This Gotham City bedouin seems to be the only one in the bedouin tag.
12. This genie lamp no one has seen since Disney’s Aladdin
I thought we got rid of the Disney stereotyping, but it doesn’t look like everyone was on board.
13. An Arab and his owl
Points for this website for not stereotyping. No, Arabs are not usually portrayed as confused owl handlers.
14. Nnnnnope. Not Arab.
These are Israeli soldiers in Hebron. There’s nothing Arab about this.
15. Nnnnnope. Not Arab.
The coloring and words look great. Too bad Afghanistan is not Arab.
16. This white girl’s Arabic tattoo
Every Arabic speaker has met one or two white girls who have asked them to spell out a tattoo in Arabic for them. So yeah… we know she’s not Arab.
17. This army guy standing over a map of the Middle East
What an interesting way to show American domination over Arab countries.
18. Weird looking peanuts? Nope. Tamarind!
There are so many stock photos of tamarind! Why? Some Arabs in the Gulf region eat tamarind, but it’s not like it’s hummus.
19. The Om symbol
Don’t know what om is? We’re not surprised because again, IT’S SANSKRIT.
20. This horse photo
Okay, we couldn’t go the whole list without including at least one horse photo, and this one is pretty funny so you’re welcome.
