Greetings in the Middle East can be divided into two categories: secular greetings of the Arab people and religious greetings of Jewish, Christian and Muslim origin.
To learn about and understand the greetings of this area, I interviewed my former religion professor who is a Muslim who was born in Pakistan and studied Judaism and Christianity.
Arab greetings are more informal than the religious greetings. An Arab would give another Arab a kiss of the cheek, a handshake or an embrace if they were of the same gender. When greeting at a distance, Arabs often put a hand in the hair and then place it on their heart.
In addition to Arab greetings, a member of a Middle Eastern country would also say the word Hebrew word "Shalom" when saying hello and good-bye. "Shalom" means "peace." On Friday, the day before the Jewish holy day, a Jew says "Shalom" twice.
Christian and Islamic greetings are similar but instead use the Arabic words that translate to "Peace" and "God be with you." Muslims also never shake hands with the other gender.
My professor described these greetings as less personal than those of the American people. Interestingly enough, in the Middle East, there is a similar definition of personal space.
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