Response to Douglas Urbanek

Submitted by Kevin M (United States), Jun 3, 2007 at 08:46

Dear Doug:

Why aren't they cleaning their own house? I'll tell you why.

Because, in their eyes, they don't have a problem.

When I was living in Saudi Arabia, I repeatedly noticed a phenomenon that manifested itself in numerous ways. For example, whenever I drove to the compound supermarket during its busiest hours, I would see Saudis parking their cars behind other cars, blocking them in. It did not matter whose car was blocked. Just as long as Abdullah got to park his car, he didn't care whom he inconvenienced. It's not my problem; therefore, it isn't a problem.

Or when Arab children played soccer in the residence parking lots, I would routinely watch adult Saudis, Pakistanis, Egyptians, etc., stroll by as the children accidentally kicked the soccer balls into cars, sometimes denting them or scratching the paint. The adults just strolled by...unless it was their car getting the treatment. If it's not my problem, it isn't a problem.

Once I watched a young Saudi teen exit a supermarket in Dammam and swallow the last of a bottle of soda. He then threw it to the ground, smashing it into shards of glass spread all over the supermarket exit. A few heads turned to see the cause of the noise, but nobody even paused to glare at the uncivil display of thoughtlessness. It simply isn't their problem.

Although these examples may seem facile to some readers, four years living among Arabs taught me many things, and one of them was that Arabs don't give a second thought to the suffering of others, not even other Arabs/Muslims. Oh, they make a big noise about Palestine, but they don't care at all. How else do you explain the billion-dollar indoor artificial ski resort in the Emirates? How does a Muslim country whine about the poverty of the Palestinians and then spend over a billion dollars making an indoor ski resort so that a paltry few of its residents can slalom down the slopes without flying to Switzerland?! What do you think a billion dollars could do for Palestinians?

How many Bosnian refugees did Arab countries provide refuge for? Zero? Saudi took NONE.

They...do...not...care!

Do you think Arab countries sent troops along with the UN during the Bosnian crisis? Think again. Not my problem, habibi!

When it comes to bombing Jews or supporting Islamist killers, many of them whip out their wallets. But a civil or humanitarian cause?...

Listen to the coyotes howl!

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