What are some Arab values?

Answer 1

AnswerMost Arabs are either Muslims or Christians, and prior to 1948, many Jews in the Middle East also regarded themselves as Arabs, not yet having rejected their ethnic background in favour of a religious appelation. We can therefore expect that their values are those taught by the three great Abrahamic religions.

We can see from the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa that Arab people value democracy and freedom, although they have had the misfortune of being governed, for the most part, by dictators since colonial times. Nominally, Arab values in respect to sexual conduct are quite high, but anecdotal evidence from Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East demonstrate that women are in much greater danger of sexual assault in Arab countries than in the West. This could be because Arab men actually do not value women very highly or it could mean that the wearing of non-revealing clothing is counter-productive in this respect. It is generally assumed that Arab people are tolerant and that Islam teaches non-violence against Christians, but regular attacks on churches and minority religions demonstrate that this is not a deeply held value. Finally, it is probably only a tiny minority of Arabs who would consider taking part in violent jihad.

Answer 2

There are several values that exist among Arabs: loyalty to God, honesty in business, hospitality, and strong family ties.

Whether or not Arabs truly value democracy is debatable. Most Arabs that advocate for democracy due so either on the grounds that the current regime does not represent their particular views or due to economic pressues that they feel that the current regime does not address, but that Western democracies seem to address. Most Arabs that champion democracy cannot be heard to say "and I look forward to the debates with the loyal opposition" because in their view there should be no opposition to their views.