It is unfair that racist attitudes go unchecked here in the Middle East. Arabs are technically mutts, harboring multiple ethnicities and blood lines within our genetic framework. I for one can attest to having Turkish, Slavic and Jewish lines in my family tree (tracing both the lineages of my parents- who happen to be Palestinian (dad) and Lebanese (mom)).
It isnt the locals alone who practice Racism, but those that come from Western Societies, who see Arabs as under par to their mental capabilities. I have witnessed some of the ugliest racist comments coming from British expats.
I find it inexcusable that intolerance exists in Qatar. For such a Salad bowl of ethnicities, I find it shocking that so many expats have not learnt the local language or adapted to any of the customs (whereas expats in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon etc tend to be far more sensitive to Eastern cultures.
Locals here have no interest in promoting their culture. Partly because I beleive that Gulf racism is internal and is based on fraternalism ( my kind vs your kind) whereas Western Racism is in external, assigning human value and worth to their ethnicity.
Ofcourse, towards migrant workers, some locals develop the latter notion. But this is because of the HUGE stratification between the two populations. Add to that the cultural differences and External Racism is unavoidable. In countries such as Bahrain/Oman, you will find locals within all class tiers.. and as such, racism isnt as common.
Until then,us, as Arabs have to learn to become self sufficient and less reliant on expatriot intervention, we need to get the dirty work done ourselves, clean our own homes, do our own laundry and spend less on the exorbitant things that even those in the West only dream of.
Coming back from the States was a shock. LOL. I learned how to plumb, to paint, to garden, to wire, to upholster, to do my own washing! You begin to lose these skills here (or dont need them at all), because everything is done for you at a fraction of the price... shame.
Don't let one man's dream become another's nightmare
I can see where Robo Is coming from.
It is unfair that racist attitudes go unchecked here in the Middle East. Arabs are technically mutts, harboring multiple ethnicities and blood lines within our genetic framework. I for one can attest to having Turkish, Slavic and Jewish lines in my family tree (tracing both the lineages of my parents- who happen to be Palestinian (dad) and Lebanese (mom)).
It isnt the locals alone who practice Racism, but those that come from Western Societies, who see Arabs as under par to their mental capabilities. I have witnessed some of the ugliest racist comments coming from British expats.
I find it inexcusable that intolerance exists in Qatar. For such a Salad bowl of ethnicities, I find it shocking that so many expats have not learnt the local language or adapted to any of the customs (whereas expats in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon etc tend to be far more sensitive to Eastern cultures.
Locals here have no interest in promoting their culture. Partly because I beleive that Gulf racism is internal and is based on fraternalism ( my kind vs your kind) whereas Western Racism is in external, assigning human value and worth to their ethnicity.
Ofcourse, towards migrant workers, some locals develop the latter notion. But this is because of the HUGE stratification between the two populations. Add to that the cultural differences and External Racism is unavoidable. In countries such as Bahrain/Oman, you will find locals within all class tiers.. and as such, racism isnt as common.
Until then,us, as Arabs have to learn to become self sufficient and less reliant on expatriot intervention, we need to get the dirty work done ourselves, clean our own homes, do our own laundry and spend less on the exorbitant things that even those in the West only dream of.
Coming back from the States was a shock. LOL. I learned how to plumb, to paint, to garden, to wire, to upholster, to do my own washing! You begin to lose these skills here (or dont need them at all), because everything is done for you at a fraction of the price... shame.
Don't let one man's dream become another's nightmare