SOURCE: STEP FEED

BY: LEYAL KHALIFE

If you were invited to take part in a trivia night themed “How Well Do You Know Your Arabs?” – would you pass? Or would you fail miserably?

Well, it depends. First, do you know how many Arab countries there are? If yes, can you list all of them? If you can’t list them, could you at least identify the Arab countries if you were given a list of countries from around the world?

If I’m taking a wild guess (thanks to a recent viral incident,) I’m guessing maybe some Arabs would actually fail to do so. What is the incident I’m referring to?

Well, an Egyptian sports anchor recently – and unknowingly – embarrassed himself during an interview with a Mauritanian student.

P.S. Mauritania, a country in Northwest Africa, is an Arab country – which means its people speak Arabic.

Medhat Shalaby asked the student if he had learned the Arabic language in his home country, to which the response was “yes, of course.”

Shalaby continued (still no shame) with a follow-up question:

“Did you learn it a long time ago or recently?”

The student then told the anchor that he learned the language when he first started school … because, well, after all, Arabic is an official language in Mauritania. Still, unable to wrap his head around the fact that Mauritania is an Arab country, Shalaby proceeded to ask the student if Mauritania is an Arabic-speaking country.

Well, it’s Arab, and its official language is Arabic. The fact that French and other languages are widely spoken in the country doesn’t erase the fact that it’s a member of the Arab league … with Arabic as an official language.

Since it was initially shared by a Twitter user on June 24, the video has racked up over 300,000 views on the micro-blogging platform.

It’s led to the birth of many trolls who couldn’t help but mock the sports anchor for his incredibly embarrassing blunder. People even started an Arabic hashtag titled “Mauritania is an Arab country, Medhat.”