Given that Europeans (outside the UK) never have to officially pick a race on paperwork, probably many Arabs haven't given much thought to whether they are "white" and if not then what. You can't apply the American concept of whiteness all over the world. Their skin shades range over a large spectrum and is similar to other Mediterranean people's, like Greeks and southern Italians and Spaniards. Are tan skinned Sicilians white? Who cares, the concept doesn't work the same way in Europe as in the US.