Why are we hated in the Arab World?

Adidajs

Adidajs

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I recently read an article on yahoo about the american who was recently beheaded, Paul Johnson, and they quoted a Saudi as saying that "All saudis hate americans" and the al-queda were heroes. I don't want this to become a flamefest, but this begs a question, why do arabs hate us so much (i.e. Britain, esp US)? If anyone from an arab country could help enlighten me. Are we hated that much by the common arab?

My belief is that it stems from our foreign policy, the israel situation, our hollywood and "free" society, but i would like further insight. Why is it that arabs feel they must band together against everyone else? Why when something happens to an arab it's like a personal insult to their religion? Why is it that so many fundamentalist violent movements come from Muslim countries? I have talked to a Palestinian over the Pal-Israel conflict, and this girl couldn't give me a satisfactory reason why so many palestinians resort to violence against the common israeli. She kept telling me that Israeli soldiers have killed children, but i can tell you they didn't TARGET them. Palestinians INTENTIONALLY target civilians in their suicide attacks. Why do arabs believe that murdering others in cold blood is even remotely religious and they'll even be REWARDED for killing others?

My grandparents and parents grew up in a society fearing the communist threat, but i live in an age where I fear some violent militant cell will seek to kill thousands of innocent civilians whose goal is the act itself, not some political cause.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THE HATRED? and don't tell me, just leave out of foreign policy.

LIke i said before, I hope this topic is addressed intelligently, and if my questions are misrepresentations/misinterpretations PLEASE answer and correct me.
 
we can't stop the hatred. If we leave their country, they will enter ours to kill us. We are not them, and thus we are the enemy.

Look up the sixth piller of islam. Some muslims simply choose to ignore the sixth pillar, and thats fine I suppose, but the sixth pillar of islam is Jihad, or struggle. Simply put, it means kill all non-muslims Or infidels, or non-believers. So long as people follow the sixth piller of islam, they are going to want to kill us, and so long as the Islamic faith exist, there are going to be people following the sixth pillar of islam.

so how do we stop the hatred?
you don't.
 
I think the whole of islam is against the whole western world, as it is basically against everything in their 'teachings'

Gambling, Drinking, Pornography, Drug use, Prostitution, Corruption, Etc. Etc. are all so common in the western world we all turn a blind eye to them, take them for granted.

To Islamic people, we are all living lives of sin, we are all complete wrong-doers and are upsetting Allah. We deserve to be wiped from the face of the planet and sent to Allah for our punishment. Or something.

Well, there is a lot of truth in what they say. Killing innocent people is not the solution. And i'm not just talking about Hussain / Bin Laden here, Bush ordered the killing (directly and indirectly) of more people than hussein and bin laden combined.

I think we should just do away with religion and live happily ever after.
 
This is how it happened IMO according to what information I have.

It may of started as foreign policy, that got some individuals in the Arab world to hate the US (religios leaders, political leaders, etc) then that spilled over into the general populace, then it simply became a positive feed-back loop where the more people hated the US and Israel it caused others to hate it even more. Then of course oil in the middle east as well as bad choices in foreign policy meant that the US had to stay in the middle east, arabs see the US there and hate them even more. Now its at the point where nothing the US will do can help reverse this hatred, any bad decisions made in foreign policy now will only enrage them even more, any good decisions will simply not register because many arabs are at the point where they won't believe the US is capable of doing anything good.
 
The Mullinator said:
This is how it happened IMO according to what information I have.

It may of started as foreign policy, that got some individuals in the Arab world to hate the US (religios leaders, political leaders, etc) then that spilled over into the general populace, then it simply became a positive feed-back loop where the more people hated the US and Israel it caused others to hate it even more. Then of course oil in the middle east as well as bad choices in foreign policy meant that the US had to stay in the middle east, arabs see the US there and hate them even more. Now its at the point where nothing the US will do can help reverse this hatred, any bad decisions made in foreign policy now will only enrage them even more, any good decisions will simply not register because many arabs are at the point where they won't believe the US is capable of doing anything good.
Click to expand...

it's not the US they hate, if you haven't noticed. It's the entire world. And THAT goes all the way back to Abraham, AKA, 2500+ years ago. Very religious culture with long memories. It's a long held grudge.
 
A297, is your research on the sixth pillar credible, i've studied the fundementals all my life, i have never encountered that assumption of jihad
 
well, just even a cursury search on it...
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Sixth_pillar_of_Islam
http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/s/si/sixth_pillar_of_islam.html
http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/S/Sixth-pillar-of-Islam.htm


most of those say almost exactly the same thing, actually, most sites seem to. Basically though, you get the idea that the sixth pillar IS Jihad, so, research Jihad:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=jihad


there is actually a good book that explains this entire struggle going back to it's source, the birth of the islamic tribes with Abrahams sons...
ah, here it is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_7/002-7454141-0038423?v=glance&s=books
 
Eh, it sucks to be half-Arabian looking, my dad is from Georgia, mom from Russia. People now always look at me like I am going to blow myself up or something. Lame
 
I don't believe for a second that Arabs hate us. I also believe that the vast majority of all Muslims are good, peaceful people who don't believe that 'murdering others in cold blood' is justified by any means.

What we see on the news is very misleading. Christ, if I believed what i've seen on the TV, as opposed to my real life experiences (which include the acquaintance of many decent Muslims) , i'd be scared to go outside.These are just normal people, with the same concerns and needs that we have, who want to get on with their lives. There's never a 'bad guy' in these types of situtations.

As for the attacks on Israeli civilians - that's just the extremely unfortunate response of a few people who feel they have no other choice (being woefully out gunned) Of course I don't condone this behaviour, neither do I condone the bulldozing of innocent peoples homes and the killing of Palestinian civillians (intentional or not)

It wasn't long ago when a group of British reporters, who were making a documentary of life in the Gaza strip, were fired upon by Israeli soliders. They were out in the open, completely alone and visible, holding white flags, with helmets and vests which clearly marked them as being members of the press. One was killed. If this can happen, is it really suprising when we hear of Palestinian civilians being shot?

This documentary showed a young Palestinain women who had lost several members of her family (all children). Some of them were killed on the way to school. Sadly, this isn't that uncommon. Imagine living with that type of fear and we should at least be able to understand why a few people choose to react in the ways they do.
 
A2597 said:
then you sir, are clueless...
Click to expand...

Actually, he is somewhat right. I mean, half of Europe hates Americans too, but they don’t shoot you guys down on a sight. Why? Because they have a good life. Middle East, on another hand, it pushed to the limit, and many fight because of that. As easy as that, Russia had the same problem with Chechnya for years now, but those guys fought for “independence”.
 
Why is that A2597?

I know muslims who don't hate us, some of them are my mates. My father works in the oil industry and has many Arab friends who have come round and spent time with my family.

If you believe that it's anything other than the vast minority of muslims who believe that they should 'kill all non-muslims Or infidels, or non-believers' then it is you who is clueless.
 
They are just jealous of freedom, and by the way the crisis in middle east is horible, Israel just steall the palestinians land and for some the reason the Israelit allways want more, more and more. Could you explain why hasent the international community done anything? If it was me I would have allready told them to calm down.
 
I have Muslim friends myself, though none from the middle east.

The vast majority over in the middle east however, want to see everyone else on the planet dead. it was your first sentance I was refering to in my post, I guess I should have quoted it. (Where you said you didn't believe for a second that Arabs hated us) They do.
 
a2597.. you're worldhistory.com link about the "sixth pillar" of islam points out that most muslims believe in only five pillars, and consider the concept of a sixth pillar to be heresy.

anyway, obviously it's a complex issue. but as some have noted, the israel situation is probably right at the top of the list for most militant muslims in the middle east. the excesses of american culture are probably the last thing that your average palestinian fighter is concerned about when the american war machines (via israel) are battering at his door. but, i'm sure each fighter has their own reason.

in response to the original question, here are a few web resources:

a pro-arab writer
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=42492&d=4&m=4&y=2004

imo, this is a pretty even look at the state of affairs
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/mcconnell8.html

another considered assesment (quite long though)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0927/p1s1-wogi.html

fairly anti-arab view
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/985424/posts

and of course, it's always good to conclude with some chomsky
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/06/1031115935105.html?oneclick=true
 
Muslim guys I know from the middle east totally despise America. They think America ****s around with the whole region far too much.

As they say, reap what you sew mother****ers. Americas past AND CURRENT foreign policies were bound to bite them back in the ass some day. Unfortunately we have to live through this shit.
 
Adidajs said:
I recently read an article on yahoo about the american who was recently beheaded, Paul Johnson, and they quoted a Saudi as saying that "All saudis hate americans" and the al-queda were heroes. I don't want this to become a flamefest, but this begs a question, why do arabs hate us so much (i.e. Britain, esp US)? If anyone from an arab country could help enlighten me. Are we hated that much by the common arab?
Click to expand...

Foreign policy. I think it goes all the way back to the days of imperialism, but I'm not sure.

My belief is that it stems from our foreign policy, the israel situation, our hollywood and "free" society, but i would like further insight.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call the US a free society compared to Europe, but that's not the reason for terrorism. If freedom was the reason, Scandinavia would be up to it's ears in terrorism...

Why is it that arabs feel they must band together against everyone else? Why when something happens to an arab it's like a personal insult to their religion? Why is it that so many fundamentalist violent movements come from Muslim countries? I have talked to a Palestinian over the Pal-Israel conflict, and this girl couldn't give me a satisfactory reason why so many palestinians resort to violence against the common israeli. She kept telling me that Israeli soldiers have killed children, but i can tell you they didn't TARGET them. Palestinians INTENTIONALLY target civilians in their suicide attacks. Why do arabs believe that murdering others in cold blood is even remotely religious and they'll even be REWARDED for killing others?
Click to expand...

Muslims in the middle-east seem to be psychotic, misogynistic fanatics for the most part. Reason has nothing to do with it.
 
Naft said:
we arent arab
Click to expand...
That's nonsense. Utter and complete nonsense.
One of the main reasons the US is so disliked by the Arab world is the foreign policy applied there and the continued support of Israel.
And the idea that all Muslims are terrorists and extremists is innaccurate and racist - it's been exaggerated by the media. That's not to say that the US isn't hated there, but what so many of the replies here have said just unsettled me so much that I've said my piece and I'm pretty much out.
I've had Muslim friends all my life and to be quite frank a lot of this is ignorant, unfounded and offensive.

Oh and I'd just like to point out that in ALL organised religions, non-believers are looked down on or forcibly converted where possible so hoop-de-f*cking-doo for the idea that Islam is solely and completely condescending. If you're going to criticise something look at the bloody equivalents first, will you?

Mr-Fusion: The sanest response. America's foreign policy has been so shady and so short-sighted it beggars belief. You play with matches...
 
el Chi said:
That's nonsense. Utter and complete nonsense.
One of the main reasons the US is so disliked by the Arab world is the foreign policy applied there and the continued support of Israel.
And the idea that all Muslims are terrorists and extremists is innaccurate and racist - it's been exaggerated by the media. That's not to say that the US isn't hated there, but what so many of the replies here have said just unsettled me so much that I've said my piece and I'm pretty much out.
I've had Muslim friends all my life and to be quite frank a lot of this is ignorant, unfounded and offensive.
Click to expand...


I've had lots of muslim and middle eastern friends in my days.

The thing is, only the extremists are interesting enough to be a news item in todays terms. Extremists are representing cultures, religions, you name it.
 
Islam is a religion of peace! of fluffy pink bunnies and fruity ass candy and magic wonderful rainbows!!
 
el Chi said:
I've had Muslim friends all my life and to be quite frank a lot of this is ignorant, unfounded and offensive.
Click to expand...

Clearly you've never read about the middle-east. I think it was Pakistan where a girl was gangraped because her brother did something stupid (and insignificant). In other places, women are beaten, burned, raped and stoned because they exit the house without permission and so on.
 
CrazyHarij said:
The thing is, only the extremists are interesting enough to be a news item in todays terms. Extremists are representing cultures, religions, you name it.
Click to expand...
Exactly. People don't want to know about other cultures in-depth. A cardboard cut-out is good enough. As long as there aren't too many long words and lots of shiny pictures.
It's this ignorance that's helped America's foreign policy be so bad in the past. So huzzah for that.
 
Cybernoid said:
Clearly you've never read about the middle-east. I think it was Pakistan where a girl was gangraped because her brother did something stupid (and insignificant). In other places, women are beaten, burned, raped and stoned because they exit the house without permission and so on.
Click to expand...

Could you tell us a little about extreme cases in the US and the rest of the western world?
 
Cybernoid said:
Clearly you've never read about the middle-east. I think it was Pakistan where a girl was gangraped because her brother did something stupid (and insignificant). In other places, women are beaten, burned, raped and stoned because they exit the house without permission and so on.
Click to expand...
I have read about the Middle East and of course those stories are appalling but you get tit-for-tat murders in the West too, in gang warfare for example. A lot of what we get is dumbed-down and is intended to be shocking. Perhaps there they get the reverse. As I've never lived there or watched al-Jazeera (nor any other Arab media), I wouldn't like to guess.
 
el Chi said:
I have read about the Middle East and of course those stories are appalling but you get tit-for-tat murders in the West too, in gang warfare for example. A lot of what we get is dumbed-down and is intended to be shocking. Perhaps there they get the reverse. As I've never lived there or watched al-Jazeera (nor any other Arab media), I wouldn't like to guess.
Click to expand...

The oppression in the middle-east is their way of life (I wonder if there's a single country in there that is different?), it's not illegal or anything.
 
Cybernoid said:
The oppression in the middle-east is their way of life (I wonder if there's a single country in there that is different?), it's not illegal or anything.
Click to expand...
Yes many of the countries are very strict due to the religious basis of their laws. But it's not quite as much as the media often portrays it. Sure the Taliban were disgusting but then they're not representative. And let's not forget who helped them to power.
My point is that I've been shocked by some of the ignorance shown in many of the responses. It's quite disheartening.
 
No, I haven't but that doesn't mean one can't get a relatively objective view.
I went to an international college so I did get to meet people from the Middle East. I live in a very Muslim area of London, so I've mingled more than a little with the "Arab world" (and yes Muslims everywhere count). I'm not saying I'm completely right, I'm not ignoring that many countries in the Middle East are oppressive and have terrible human rights records (although many Western countries also are on Amnesty's blacklist) I'm just saying that the simplicity people found in providing "them vs. us" answers without allowing for the possibility that it might be slightly more complex than that was sad. Some of them were borderline racist.
 
el Chi said:
I'm just saying that the simplicity people found in providing "them vs. us" answers without allowing for the possibility that it might be slightly more complex than that was sad. Some of them were borderline racist.
Click to expand...

Is that last sentence in referance to A2597 comments? Or was i the only one who felt a little offended by some of the things he said?
 
el Chi said:
I'm just saying that the simplicity people found in providing "them vs. us" answers without allowing for the possibility that it might be slightly more complex than that was sad.
Click to expand...
I believe the "we're not arab" statement was very close to the truth, he isn't saying that ALL Arabs hate us because we're not arab, but in general the ones who hate Americans enough to suicide bomb or attack America largely have irrational reasons for doing so.
Some of them were borderline racist.
Click to expand...
People need to grow a thicker skin, if you're offended by something so small as him making generalizations then you're in a little trouble going on the internet. I just hope you don't shoot yourself when you hear someone call you "Gay" for using an AWP in CS Source. Some times people say stupid things, if you have such a thin skin as to be offended by them, then you need to fix some problems with yourself instead of other people, it's the only way you'll get over it.
 
So Chi what do you think of that Captain Hook guy who was spreading pro-Jihad propaganda in London?
 
Only a minority of musilms and arabs want to kill us.

If all of them did belive me london and many other places in england would be blown to smithereens.

From word IQ that A2597 graciously pointed at and seemed to think that all muslims abided to theese rules.

A few Muslims, mainly some Kharijite groups in ancient times and the founder of Islamic Jihad recently, have taught that Jihad, or personal struggle, should be considered the sixth pillar of Islam. In this context, Jihad is viewed as external war against those perceived to be enemies of Islam. Among certain Ismaili groups, the term "sixth pillar of Islam" can also refer to "Allegiance to the Imam" or "Hajj", depending on the group.

In the early days of Islam, the Kharijite sect are said to have claimed that jihad was the sixth pillar of Islam([1] (http://www.salaam.co.uk/knowledge/schleifer_2.php); see also takfir.) However, the surviving Kharijites (that is, the Ibadhis) of the present day reject this doctrine.

The Egyptian founder of Islamic Jihad, Abd al-Salam Farag (1952-1982), published a pamphlet in the wake of Anwar Sadat's assassination called "The Neglected Duty", attempting to argue that Jihad was the sixth pillar of Islam but that corrupt ulema had hidden the fact. This conspiracy theory has very little support outside Islamic Jihad and a few other similar terrorist groups. Jihad is viewed as a requirement by some, but very few have classified it as a pillar, and the scholars have unanimously condemned the idea. Were it a pillar, then every Muslim, man and woman, would be obligated to take part, which has historically never been the case.
 
i just want to say that i agree with everything el Chi has said.
 
We had our cruzades against them, it's not like Christians never did the same thing to Islam...they're just fighting back.

The West destroyed their Empire in 1919, took their lands to found Israel in 1948 and supported all of its' resistance against the fair expulsion war by Egypt, Jordan, etc....

The West also consumes all their resources, making only the "pro-West" arabs rich, and installing "pro-West" Gov.'s all over the Middle East, Gov.'s that order laws agaisnt their beliefs....

In 1979-89, the Soviet Union tried to invade Afghanistan, and the U.S. helped the mujahedin to fight them back. They took massive amounts of Western weapons because of that, that they later used agaisnt them in the U.S. invasion.

In 1991, after giving hopes to the Iraqui rebellion, the U.S. Armed Forces retreat from Iraq and sign a peace treaty with Saddam Hussein, and the rebellion is quickly eliminated by Saddam's regime...today we see the love they are giving back for that....

We've simply stabbed them in the back too many times.
 
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