1. Religion and Ethnicity
What is the difference?

2. Ethnic Group
A group of people who share cultural ideas and beliefs that have been part of their community for generations.
The characteristics they may have in common include a language, a religion, a shared history, types of food, and a set of traditional stories, beliefs, or celebrations.

3. Religious Group
Shares a belief system in a god or gods, with a specific set of rituals and literature. People from different ethnic groups may share the same religion, though they may be from very different cultures.

4. Southwest Asia/Middle East
Home to many ethnic groups who share similar religions:
Arabs
Persian
Kurds
Jews

5. Arabs
Believe they are descendants of Abraham in the Bible, through his son Ishmael
Majority of the people who live in SW Asia/Middle East
Speak Arabic as their first language
Most practice the religion of Islam and call themselves Muslims
Also millions who are Christian or Jewish
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, and Yemen - all considered Arab countries

6. Persians Live in the modern country of Iran (called Persia before WWI)
Descended from a different ethnic group than Arabs and Jews
Ancestors were Indo-Europeans from Central Europe and Southern Russia
Speak Farsi, language that uses Arabic alphabet, but is a different language than Arabic
Practice Islam, most are Shia

7. Kurds
Live in the mountain region that spans Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey
Speak a language called Kurdish
Do not have their own homeland or government
A minority group ruled by the countries where they live
Hope to have a homeland of their own someday

8. Jews
The Jews are a unique ethnic group. A person is considered Jewish ethnically if their mother was a Jew.
Judaism is also a religion. A person can either be born Jewish or a person can become Jewish by converting to Judaism through a formal process.
Judaism is more like a nationality than like other religions, and being Jewish is like a citizenship.
The original name for the people we now call Jews was Hebrews. The word "Hebrew" was first used in the Torah to describe Abraham. Another name used for the people is Children of Israel or Israelites, which refers to the fact that the people are descendants of Jacob, who was also called Israel.
Jews are mostly concentrated in Israel and speak the language of Hebrew.
Not all Jewish people practice the religion of Judaism, but once a person has converted to Judaism, he is not referred to by any special term; he is as much a Jew as anyone born Jewish.