Not adding much to the conversation here, but can I just say that I personally really appreciate all these posts about her heritage because I must admit, I am very uneducated when it comes to the whole persian/arab/iranian and everything else you guys said here so it's good for everyone who might not have roots there or is simply not educated on the subject to make a difference in the future. After Black Lives Matter movement we definitely have to get educated and understand and celebrate these differences so I am very thankful to all of you
I'm glad you're interested. As for this conversation relating to Amelia - she is NOT Arab. She is of Mizrahi Jewish heritage from Persia and Iraq. She had family that moved to India but they immigrated from the Middle East. I don't care how much she lies. She's not "an arab girl." Jews are a people of the diaspora. Meaning, we were forced to move around, mostly due to prejudice. Some stayed in the middle east, these are Mizrahi and some other sects. Other's moved to Northern and Eastern Europe (also including Northern France and Northern Germany etc...) - these are Ashkenazi Jews. Those who were in Constantinople and then moved to Spain and "moorish" countries are Sephardic Jews. There are Jews in Africa, notably Ethiopia. Evidently, when studied, Jewish people from Italy are also a separate sect. It is fascinating. Jewish people can be white, brown, Black... Each sect has their own spin on Jewish customs. Reading the cookbooks by Judith Nathan is a fun way to learn about the different cultures of Jews as she writes about the different foods from each region. For example, I've never had the rice that Amelia loves so much. My family is Ashkenazi and the traditional food we have is closer to Eastern European foods: chicken soup, bagels, chopped liver, noodle kugel, brisket, rugelach (wonderful rolled up cookies), challah etc... Anyway, this is all very rudimentary and it's definitely a subject for deeper study. I'm not doing it justice.
Why does she lie? Some people have suggested it's for business reasons. She says she's "an arab" girl or from India to curry favor with a client base. Maybe. I think it is two-fold. A big reason is anti-semitism, which is on the rise. It has always been and unfortunately has been getting worse. And alas, it comes from many sides. People to the right of the political spectrum bring up old tropes of Jewish people and conspiracy theories. On the left, people conflate Jewish people with Israel. And blame Jews for things the Israeli government does. I have no doubt that if Amelia showed Jewish customs and talked about being Jewish (along with all of her friends and boyfriends), she'd get comments on her posts, whether it's a non-sequitur of "free Palestine" (not debating the political situation, but I see this even when there's just a post about a Jewish person) or the old hate standby of "Illuminati." So I get she wants to avoid all of that.
And a more deeply personal reason, if I were to play armchair psychologist, is that Amelia has always compared herself to the aristocratic people she went to school with and/or rubbed up against socially. She's not the granddaughter of an Earl like her friend Philippa (and when he dies, she'll be Lady Philippa). You never see Amelia at Philippa's shooting parties where the guests are the son of Baron Astor of Hever (Charles Astor and his wife Princess Eliane of Belgium) or the Marquis of Blandford, or the grandson of Baron Tollemache (David). Nor is Amelia part of the Jewish aristocracy. Her father works for Lord Rothschild, Amelia and Hannah are not hanging with that crowd either. Britain is a Christian society. And European features have been the most celebrated for a long time. I'm sure Amelia wished her nose was smaller, her skin lighter...it's sad but I understand it. I wish she would come to peace with her looks. And peace with being Jewish publicly. When she's pimping products for Christmas presents, why can't she also pimp products for Chanukah?
Who knows, maybe there's a group of young Sephardic or Mizrahi girls who would love to see an influencer who looks like them and proudly proclaim their heritage instead of lying.