They're not white, but what confuses people is the late 20th century plan to pad white America's stats by saying that everyone from North Africa & West Asia is white, and you'll get some perks in the U.S. if you check that. So brown people, as the bridge, have a choice when it comes to who they want to identify with, and I've never seen or heard either claim white.
Now of course a Scottish, Irish and German person like EM is without a shadow of a doubt white, but there was a time in this country when Italians, Irish nor Jews were considered white by the majority! LOL crazy world ain't it?