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Arabs and Americans I couldn’t write a page about “Living in Qatar” without describing how Arabs here feel about Americans and what my personal interactions with Arabs here have been like. A few weeks before I moved to Qatar, in the spring of 2013, I had some roofing work done on my house in Portland and I mentioned to the roofer that I was moving to the Middle East. He was stunned, then he said, “Don’t they hate Americans over there? Heck, if you say the wrong thing, they’ll chop your arms off.” I had to suppress a laugh, having worked in the U.A.E. a few years earlier and never having seen an American with their arms chopped off.
It’s true that there’s no “free speech” here. If you speak out publicly against the Emir, you may get into trouble, but that doesn’t bother me because I don’t usually talk about politics with people I don’t know or make political speeches on a street corner. The English-language newspapers based in Qatar do occasionally criticize the government’s handling of certain topics, including how they haven’t done enough to curb the exploitation of low-wage construction workers imported from India and other countries (that criticism is totally justified, in my opinion). Furthermore, Qatar is the home of Al Jazeera news, considered by many people around the world to be a fair and impartial news source. But as for Arabs “hating” us Americans, that's ridiculous.
During the 18 months that I’ve been here, I haven’t had one bad experience with anyone because of my nationality. I’m not saying that anti-American sentiment doesn’t exist here, because there are some Arabs here who have negative feelings about Westerners, and Americans in particular (just as there are Americans who feel the same way about Arabs). But I personally haven’t experienced that animosity. If anything, I’ve experienced just the opposite and the overriding feeling among Arabs towards Americans is much more curiosity than hatred. When I’ve told Arabs or Muslims (they’re not the same thing, by the way) here that I’m American, their reaction is usually neutral or positive. I’ve met a lot more Arabs (and Pakistanis and Indians, etc.) who’ve told me that they hope to visit America someday than have said anything bad about America – a number that is exactly zero.
I admit that many Arabs here are, in general, more “intense” or serious than many Americans, and that intensity takes some getting used to. But it’s a cultural thing and doesn’t mean that they’re unfriendly or hateful. It’s like the cultural difference between Germans (who have a reputation for being serious, private and even “cold”) and Italians (who are often outgoing, animated and exuberant).
Some Americans resent all Arabs partly because of the horrible terrorist events on September 11, 2001. Because some people in the world now equate “Arab” with “terrorist,” I think some of the Arabs I’ve dealt with here feel ashamed, embarrassed or contrite about those terrible events. That perhaps explains why I, being an American, haven’t faced any resentment here – just the opposite, in fact.
In fact, Qatar is probably the safest place I've ever lived. It's much safer than anyplace I've ever been in the U.S., given America's crazy obsession with guns and assault rifles. When my friends in America ask me, "Weren't you afraid to move to the Middle East?" I always reply, "Not as afraid as I am when I come back here to the U.S."
I was devastated by the events of 9/11, as I described in one of my website's earliest entries, when I was in Bismarck, North Dakota. But regarding how Americans feel about Arabs given the events of 9/11, I think Americans should direct their resentment or hatred towards those groups responsible, not towards all Arabs. For some Americans, it’s just easier to hate all Arabs rather than do the work of sifting out who (and what) is responsible for terrorist activity from those people (and issues) that aren’t. The fact is, many more Americans have died over the past 20 years from domestic terrorism, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, than from foreign terrorism.
This is a touchy subject but I’m just describing what my personal experience has been here in Qatar. I haven’t had one negative encounter, due to my nationality, during the time that I’ve been here: no hatred directed towards me, no crime and no verbal assaults. I wish I could say the same thing about my experiences back in America but I can’t. If you disagree with me, you should come over here sometime and see for yourself.
Above left: The Central Planning Office had a "dhow cruise" last month. We all sailed out into Doha Bay on a dhow like this. Above right: The dhow dropped anchor near an island and we ate a great buffet dinner.
Above left: My CPO friends, Nafez and Mubeen on the dhow cruise. Above center: Sunset over Doha. Above right: Helen from the UK joined us. Everyone had a great time.
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