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Arabia
Why Is There So Much Hate Inside Us?
2006-04-03
Abdullah Al-Mutairi • Al-Watan
In the shop next to my house, there is a home delivery service which is run by an Indian. He is a good man, hardworking and devoted to his job. I talk to him whenever he delivers something to my house and he talks to me about the time he spent working in Abu Dhabi and of his dream to live in London. Last week I asked him to deliver a newspaper to my house. When he delivered it to me, he asked me whether I wrote in it. I told him that I did and he asked me to write about why young Saudis hate foreign workers, particularly Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. He asked, “Why do they throw rocks at us when they see us in the street?” He said that in India they were taught to love others because that is the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI peace be upon him). I was moved by his words and promised him that I would write on the subject.
You could write a book on the subject. I'd suggest starting with the theme of tribalism evolving into a peculiarly Arabian form of racism born of xenophobia. I'd imagine the Indian was happier in Abu Dhabi, since the Gulf Arabs are more cosmopolitan than the sand Arabs, but still not ecstatic, since Soddy Arabia exports more than oil. The peculiar arrogance of the Arabs has come to be something of a cultural characteristic, with the fixation on everybody being a supervisor and the manual labor being done by the expats. Societies that are xenophobic generally aren't convinced of their own superiority, but are instead afraid that the foreigners' culture is actually superior to their own, which is why they need to keep it at arms' length — or conquer it.
I took his question to my students and started a discussion in class. The students agreed that they had harassed foreigners, particularly South Asians, in the street. One said that seeing a worker in the street was a perfect chance for them to beat him up and then run away. Some admitted searching for foreign workers to beat up, throw eggs at and generally abuse. I asked my students why they behaved in this way, what was the reason. Some said it was just fun, nothing more or less. Some said it was because those people were weak and unable to fight back. Some said that their favorite pastime was to catch cats, kill them and skin them. I was shocked and disturbed by all this violence and wondered what was causing it.
He's describing a society of sadists. I don't know how representative his students are, but in the civilized world they'd be regarded as socially retarded.
The classroom discussion ended but my questions would not go away. Is this violence only committed by children or can we see it at other levels in other forms? How do older people deal with foreign workers? Do the workers feel that we respect them? Sadly, the rude and sarcastic way we often refer to them sprang to my mind. Can such relationships be called humane? Are they based on equality? Are they in keeping with the tenets of Islam?
They're in keeping with the Arab conviction that they're a master race. Islam purports to accept everyone as equal who bonks his head five times a day, but in practice, as we've seen, it's enamored of violence, glorifies violence, and indulges its violent streak on whoever's available. If there aren't any infidels nearby, Shias will do. If only Sunnis are to be found, then the non-Arabs are convenient targets. If there aren't any non-Arabs around, then the Gulf Arabs are in trouble. And if there aren't any Gulf Arabs around, then it's tribe against tribe.
Do we adult Saudis who sponsor and employ foreigners fulfill the conditions of their contracts — which both we and they have signed? How many housemaids never get a day off? I remember a worker in the school where I work who was on the job every day and who had not been paid for six months. I remember another unpaid worker who asked humbly and politely for his dues and received nothing but curses and insults. It seems to me that our children’s violent behavior has its origins and roots in the behavior and attitudes of adults. My Indian friend’s question should have thus been directed toward all ages and not just at the young.
Actually, he took it in the right order. The adults he's describing are the children he described, only grown up. The attitudes are imbibed from the earliest age.
Are these things related to education? Can we blame this shameful behavior on a lack of education? The answer came all too quickly to my head. I remembered one of my colleagues, a teacher who belongs to a certain tribe. He believes that a student lacking a tribal name is a man with no roots and hence of no importance.
It's not just education, though the education they receive reflects the culture. Rather, the problem lies with the culture itself.
Then I remembered a preacher who visited the school after 9/11 and warned the students against dealing with non-Muslims. I also remember a sheikh in a mosque who would not allow a foreigner to pray next to him — simply because the man was not Saudi. It is not difficult to come up with examples of our relations with people in our country who belong to different religions and cultures. And I will not discuss our own relations with other Saudis. Many of us will not allow our daughters to marry someone just because he is from a certain place or because, for some reason, we look down on him.
It's that tribal thing I mentioned earlier. Within the tribe itself, there are clans and families...
Behind all these examples are beliefs and thoughts toward “others” which glorify us and our egos and degrade them and theirs. Such a situation is fertile ground for the idea of hate and infertile ground for the idea of love. Those brought up to love people will not throw rocks at them and curse them. Those brought up to love people will not degrade those who are different from them? Where is love in our lives?
Arab love itself is a different creature entirely from the Western concept. While romantic love does exist, there is a persistent religious and culturally-based denial of it.
Has it given way to hate?
Is it hatred, or is it the simple denial of the humanity of anyone not a member of the clan?
What answer can I give my Indian friend? Is he going to understand that it will take a long time to change this culture of hate? I do not think that it will be easy since so many of us do not want to and so many believe they are unique and the best in the world.
That's the misplaced arrogance I was talking about earlier.
I remember when I was in England last summer, arriving at the front door of the house where I was staying. I saw a little girl standing outside the house next to mine. I wondered if she would curse me or throw stones at me or whether she would just look away in disgust. Instead, she carried on watering the flowers in the small garden; then she looked up and waved at me, with a big smile on her face. Could that have happened here?
Posted by:john

#26  I recall throwing "whiner" at Cock-Sucker #1. Where is the tantrum boy faggot?

How many people who matter actually read these threads? No more than 2 dozen glances. You actually give a fuck about getting the boot out of here. If you want to join something big, try death. That forum is full of good for fertilizer pigs like you.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs   2006-04-03 23:10  

#25  Do you carry a big Maglite, Bubba? Or are you handicapped like Robert Crawford? Why don't you run a similar lame website for dirt-for-brains ill-breds like yourself.

If you want to jump off a bridge, I'll give you cab fare to get there you walking slum.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs   2006-04-03 22:52  

#24  FrankG:
Who do we blame for your gutter language? Were your parents back-woods pigs like you? Why don't you stick to the SciFi forums like other security guards? Give everyone her a heart-attack by actually posting an article. It will show us that you can read, Bubba.
For the intelligent, see this post on yet another trial of an abandoner of Islam. Time to put Islam and the WOT cock-roach class who dhimmi up to Muslims, on trial:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/4/4/courts/13856498&sec=courts

How many open-minded, WOT-abaters will actually read this? Will .com end his adult tantrum and come back here under his own name, to puke up Hanritty's daily comments?
Posted by: Listen to Dogs   2006-04-03 22:31  

#23  The problem is: Wahabism. They have supremacist attitudes to both disbelievers and Muslims. Blacks are universally referred to as "slaves" ("abds") in the Saud terrorist entity. In 1998, the US Congress reported Saud financing of over 80% of US mosques. Sauds pay; local jihadis play.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs   2006-04-03 02:32  

#22  Mods? Deodorizer needed in the sinktrap....yikes!
Posted by: Frank G   2006-04-03 23:55  

#21  no redeeming qualities?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-04-03 23:52  

#20  Check out the SinkTrap.

Mods, since this is a home IP at Shaw Cable, you should notify their abuse email.

24.80.36.113 = [ S010600e0299c7c59.vc.shawcable.net ]
OrgName: Shaw Communications Inc.
OrgID: SHAWC
Address: Suite 800
Address: 630 - 3rd Ave. SW
City: Calgary
StateProv: AB
PostalCode: T2P-4L4
Country: CA
ReferralServer: rwhois: //rs1so.cg.shawcable.net: 4321
NetRange: 24.80.0.0 - 24.87.255.255
CIDR: 24.80.0.0/13
NetName: SHAW-COMM
NetHandle: NET-24-80-0-0-1
Parent: NET-24-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS7.NO.CG.SHAWCABLE.NET
NameServer: NS8.SO.CG.SHAWCABLE.NET
Comment: ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE
RegDate: 2001-07-12
Updated: 2006-02-08
OrgAbuseHandle: SHAWA-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: SHAW ABUSE
OrgAbusePhone: 1-403-750-7420
OrgAbuseEmail: internet.abuse@sjrb.ca
OrgTechHandle: ZS178-ARIN
OrgTechName: Shaw High-Speed Internet
OrgTechPhone: 1-403-750-7428
OrgTechEmail: ipadmin@sjrb.ca
Posted by: Glosing Hupesh7946   2006-04-03 23:46  

#19  Listen to Dogs likes to point out that other people aren't following the rules he intuited, ex-lib. Mostly he fights with .com... or those he thinks is .com being anonymous. *shrug* I guess he went too far when he attacked Frank G. for no apparent reason.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-04-03 23:44  

#18  Listen to Dogs, Frank is actually a certified engineer. Braindead he isn't. What's your degree, sirrah?
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-04-03 23:41  

#17  What's LTDs all about? He sounds kind of mental. Haven't been here for awhile. Thanks.
Posted by: ex-lib   2006-04-03 23:34  

#16  I thought comment #1 was clever and funny. Am I missing something?
Posted by: ex-lib   2006-04-03 23:32  

#15  is this the same thin-skinned whiner from yesterday?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-04-03 22:58  

#14  :-) meow loser
Posted by: Frank G   2006-04-03 22:36  

#13  lame ass culture inherits incredible oil wealth by geographical acident and that makes them the master race, huh? 7th Century bass ackward inbred idjits. I think they refuse to look in the mirror cuz it'll scare the bejesus outta them how little they actually have going for them. Wait'll the oil's gone, Gomer
Posted by: Frank G   2006-04-03 20:10  

#12  Between the statue thing in Egypt and this piece and a couple of other outspoken muslims on the same topic (see MEMRI for these - too many to link), I'm thinking some muslims have figured out Step 1. Bravo - keep thinking guys and maybe Step 1 will lead to Step 2. The beginning of rational thought?
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412   2006-04-03 19:56  

#11  If you feed it, it will grow.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2006-04-03 18:54  

#10  hmm... I posted this article to a UK based forum and now the forum has no content.

If I was conspiricy minded I would think it touched a raw nerve.

I am not so I think they just had a database crash.

Posted by: 3dc   2006-04-03 13:38  

#9  I'm impressed that a Saudi wrote this and that Arab News printed it. It generally limits the scope of the problem to foreign muslims but the picture is bigger than that and I think most readers will make the connection to non-Muslims (the bit at the end about the little girl helps there) without being affronted too badly that they simply ignore.

I applaud the attempt at lest, for all the good it'll do. I think the violent members of the herd still require significant culling before Arabia stops seething and reforms.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2006-04-03 13:36  

#8  I happen to like cats, I catch anyone skinning a cat and he won't live another 5 minutes.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-04-03 13:30  

#7  Hey Joseph - You Okay?
NO CAPS > A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.S. = NoSymbols OWG==NewMedication???

Posted by: Admiral Allan Ackbar   2006-04-03 12:18  

#6  (1) Since that is in fact stealing anyone wondering why those Saudis are not amputated?

Because the Saudi law against slavery is, at best, an empty gesture meant to appears the rest of the world.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2006-04-03 11:01  

#5  Shoud have read

Those people who skin cats, throw stones at strangers (even Muslims), rape their housemaids and don't pay their dues to their servants (1) are those people who according to the haddiths are the best of Muslims (and of men of course).

(1) Since that is in fact stealing anyone wondering why those Saudis are not amputated?
Posted by: JFM   2006-04-03 10:43  

#4  I should import some Saudi teens to kill and skin the ferrule cats around my place. Just a summer job, but they may want to get out of the desert.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-04-03 09:32  

#3  Those people who skin cats, throw stones at strangers, rape their housemaids and don't pay their dues to their servants (1) who according to the haddiths are the best of Muslims (and of men of course).

(1) Since that is in fact stealing anyone wondering why those Saudis are not amputated?
Posted by: JFM   2006-04-03 09:24  

#2  While not to argue it never happens, I personally have never observed any of this alleged sort of widespread behaviors or attitudes in America or England.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-04-03 02:39  

#1  Probably persistent acid reflux in combination with non-muslims breathing and stuff.
Posted by: Phosh Uneath3161   2006-04-03 02:06  

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