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Why are majority of Arabs, Anti-america

Sahar

Well-Known Member
Regardless of how you interpreted the versus, tell me what am I supposed to do with those who fight me?!

And what do you think about "
[8:61] If they resort to peace, so shall you, and put your trust in GOD. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient. "
Einstien, in the context of this thread, I think the verse(s) he quoted can be applied very well on those who invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. :shrug: But it was a nice try on his part to change the topic to bash Islam and Muslims (his preferred hobby).
 

EiNsTeiN

Boo-h!
Einstien, in the context of this thread, I think the verse(s) he quoted can be applied very well on those who invaded Afghanistan and Iraq.
Yeah, and it seems very logical to be implemented in those cases.
I can't find any unreasonable hatred as he is trying to show.
 

sindbad5

Active Member
Because America represents the Western ideal, which is contrary to the idea of Sharia.
strange, because china flags don't get burnt, and china system is more opposite to "Sharia" than america system.

in fact hundredes of thousands of chinese simple salesmen and women knocking every door at arabs homes from largest cities to smallest village trying to sell goods without any harm from anybody.
 

sindbad5

Active Member
I'm not all that knowledgeable on the subject, but from what I've heard, I believe it is because the radicals strongly disagree with the American lifestyle
you'r right to some extent, if you went to Saudia Arebia you'll find StarBucks and KFC at every corner of the capital of islam radical state, when open TV you'll see a bunch of arabic TV channels that play american movies and video clips every day and night, you don't imagine how many arab women lestin to Opera and Tyra shows, so, it's not the american life style, it's something else.

i wouldn't say "radicals" but more accurately "extremists", and those have not such huge power to control the trends of people from nothing,

i mean, they don't come and say let's hate america because of america have adultary and gay marriage, no, but they say let's face america and let's say curses against america because she allow israel to kill our relatives in palestine, some people hear that because that's what's happening, got me?
 

TashaN

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I see lately Arabs burning pictures of Obama, american flags, why is this, why do arabs hate america, and what can america do to bring peace to the arabs instead of
starting wars on each other, and what can obama do.

I was also shocked by the way, for seeing a big banner in the back of a bus saying "OBAMA" here in Saudi Arabia, and i also noticed many people in my city--one of the smallest city in Saudi Arabia and the last place to guess you would find such a thing--to discuss how great Americans are for getting back to their senses although they were driven by their economic needs this time, and getting rid of Bush and his alike.

I wonder why?

Have not you wonder too about those Arabs who supported Obama?

Have not you wonder too about those Christian radicals in the US who hate Obama and who tried to use every possible opportunity to make him lose?

Why focusing on Arabs and leaving others? what was your drive to notice them and ignore others?

So you mentioned it, let me ask you, why do America hate Arabs? How do you like this question?

You will always find the people you are looking for, just keep ignoring those whom their presence matter the most.
 

gnomon

Well-Known Member
strange, because china flags don't get burnt, and china system is more opposite to "Sharia" than america system.

in fact hundredes of thousands of chinese simple salesmen and women knocking every door at arabs homes from largest cities to smallest village trying to sell goods without any harm from anybody.

There are hundreds of thousands of Chineses door-to-door salesman in the Middle East and North Africa?
 

NoahideHiker

Religious Headbanger
I see lately Arabs burning pictures of Obama, american flags, why is this, why do arabs hate america, and what can america do to bring peace to the arabs instead of
starting wars on each other, and what can obama do.

As an American I personally do not care what their attitudes are towards us. I just pray that one day we get off of petrol so we don't depend on that part of the world.
 

jamaesi

To Save A Lamb
I see lately Arabs burning pictures of Obama, american flags, why is this, why do arabs hate america, and what can america do to bring peace to the arabs instead of
starting wars on each other, and what can obama do.

The majourity of Arabs don't hate America. I would suggest you look at Arabs who don't hate America and who are just peacefully living their lives, but the news doesn't really care about them.

There's also a difference between being critical of American government and policies and "hating America".
 

Trey of Diamonds

Well-Known Member
For those of you who keep throwing around the word majority you may want to look up the meaning of it. I really doubt the majority of Arabs are anti-American. When you are looking at the TV and see all those protestors burning things and chanting slogans remember, there is an un-heard majority of folks who don't share the feelings of the very loud fanatics who love to be in the camera's eye.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
About the OP's questions:

As noted, it is an exaggeration to say that most Arabs hate the US.

Those that do are probably motivated mainly by an impression (accurate, IMNSHO) that the USA have been granting too much support for too long a time to Israel's often disgraceful military policies.

For the most part, however, Arabs have still a fairly tribal mentality - Islam itself reinforces such a perspective, in fact. It is difficult for them to trust a "foreign power".

In that they're not alone, either. One must understand that Reagan and the two G. Bush presidents were very harmful to the trust of the world in the USA. GWB, of couse, most of all, what with the creation of Guantanamo's prision and the childish-yet-destructive obsession with the Middle East.

Obama's inauguration is very good news in this regard. But the truth is that the world as a whole has a hard time trusting the US of A these days. Few people actively hate it, but perhaps fewer can overcome the mistrust of a country who invaded Iraq out of hubris - and misguided, immature hubris at that.
 

NoahideHiker

Religious Headbanger
You're kidding, right?

No. If someone doesn't care for America that's all well and good. They don't have to care for my country. They don't want us in their part of the world and, frankly, I don't want us in their part of the world. It may not be the most PC globalist way of thinking but there it is.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
No. If someone doesn't care for America that's all well and good. They don't have to care for my country. They don't want us in their part of the world and, frankly, I don't want us in their part of the world. It may not be the most PC globalist way of thinking but there it is.

Forget about non-PC; that is very naive thinking. At best.
 
Clearly, the people in the best position to shed light on the question, "Why do some Arabs hate America?" are Arabs. They know their own culture and politics best, so Americans ought to listen to them.

In fact, American intelligence experts and scholars have been listening to Arabs in general and extremists in particular. Their findings seem to agree with what Arab posters have already said:
[FONT=verdana,helvetica,arial]If reducing the threat of terror were a high priority for Washington or London, as it certainly should be, there would be ways to proceed...A serious counter-terror campaign would therefore begin by considering the grievances , and where appropriate, addressing them, as should be done with or without the threat of terror.
...
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,helvetica,arial]In the most extensive scholarly inquiry into the jihadi phenomenon, Fawaz Gerges concludes that after 9/11, "the dominant response to Al Qaeda in the Muslim world was very hostile," specifically among the jihadis, who regarded it as a dangerous extremist fringe. Instead of recognizing that opposition to Al Qaeda offered Washington "the most effective way to drive a nail into its coffin" by finding "intelligent means to nourish and support the internal forces that were opposed to militant ideologies like the bin Laden network," he writes, the Bush administration did exactly what bin Laden hoped it would do: resort to violence, particularly in the invasion of Iraq. [/FONT][FONT=verdana,helvetica,arial]Al-Azhar in Egypt, the oldest institution of religious higher learning in the Islamic world, issued a fatwa, which gained strong support, advising "all Muslims in the world to make jihad against invading American forces" in a war that Bush had declared against Islam. A leading religious figure at al-Azhar, who had been "one of the first Muslim scholars to condemn Al Qaeda [and was] often criticized by ultraconservative clerics as a pro-Western reformer, ruled that efforts to stop the American invasion [of Iraq] are a `binding Islamic duty'." Investigations by Israeli and Saudi intelligence, supported by US strategic studies institutes, conclude that foreign fighters in Iraq, some 5-10% of the insurgents, were mobilized by the invasion, and had no previous record of association with terrorist groups. The achievements of Bush administration planners in inspiring Islamic radicalism and terror, and joining Osama in creating a "clash of civilizations," are quite impressive.[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,helvetica,arial]The senior CIA analyst responsible for tracking Osama bin Laden from 1996, Michael Scheuer, writes that "bin Laden has been precise in telling America the reasons he is waging war on us. None of the reasons have anything to do with our freedom, liberty, and democracy, but have everything to do with U.S. policies and actions in the Muslim world." Osama's concern "is out to drastically alter U.S. and Western policies toward the Islamic world," Scheuer writes: "He is a practical warrior, not an apocalyptic terrorist in search of Armageddon." As Osama constantly repeats, "Al Qaeda supports no Islamic insurgency that seeks to conquer new lands." Preferring comforting illusions, Washington ignores "the ideological power, lethality, and growth potential of the threat personified by Osama bin Laden, as well as the impetus that threat has been given by the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Muslim Iraq, [which is] icing on the cake for al Qaeda." "U.S. forces and policies are completing the radicalization of the Islamic world, something Osama bin Laden has been trying to do with substantial but incomplete success since the early 1990s. As a result, [Scheuer adds,] it is fair to conclude that the United States of America remains bin Laden's only indispensable ally."

The grievances are very real. A Pentagon advisory Panel concluded a year ago that "Muslims do not `hate our freedom,' but rather they hate our policies," adding that "when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy." The conclusions go back many years. In 1958, President Eisenhower puzzled about "the campaign of hatred against us" in the Arab world, "not by the governments but by the people," who are "on Nasser's side," supporting independent secular nationalism. The reasons for the "campaign of hatred" were outlined by the National Security Council: "In the eyes of the majority of Arabs the United States appears to be opposed to the realization of the goals of Arab nationalism. They believe that the United States is seeking to protect its interest in Near East oil by supporting the status quo and opposing political or economic progress." Furthermore, the perception is understandable: "our economic and cultural interests in the area have led not unnaturally to close U.S. relations with elements in the Arab world whose primary interest lies in the maintenance of relations with the West and the status quo in their countries," blocking democracy and development.

Much the same was found by the Wall Street Journal when it surveyed the opinions of "moneyed Muslims" immediately after 9/11: bankers, professionals, businessmen, committed to official "Western values" and embedded in the neoliberal globalization project. They too were dismayed by Washington's support for harsh authoritarian states and the barriers it erects against development and democracy by "propping up oppressive regimes." They had new grievances, however, beyond those reported by the NSC in 1958: Washington's sanctions regime in Iraq and support for Israel's military occupation and takeover of the territories. There was no survey of the great mass of poor and suffering people, but it is likely that their sentiments are more intense, coupled with bitter resentment of the Western-oriented elites and corrupt and brutal rulers backed by Western power who ensure that the enormous wealth of the region flows to the West, apart from enriching themselves. The Iraq invasion only intensified these feelings further, much as anticipated.

There are ways to deal constructively with the threat of terror, though not those preferred by "bin Laden's indispensable ally," or those who try to avoid the real world by striking heroic poses about Islamo-fascism, or who simply claim that no proposals are made when there are quite straightforward proposals that they do not like. The constructive ways have to begin with an honest look in the mirror, never an easy task, always a necessary one.
[/FONT]

-Noam Chomsky, The re-declared War on Terror
There are of course extremists like Bin Laden whose fascist ideology opposes democracy, tolerance, and ultimately, peace. But there is an extremely absurd feeling among many Americans that most Arabs are like Bin Laden....in fact I think Bush called Al-Jazeera a "terrorist" organization. :rolleyes: I have met a lot of American-Arabs....especially students...none of them hate America, they just do not share the fantasy that the world's mightiest superpower always acts in the benevolent interest of others.
 

NoahideHiker

Religious Headbanger
Forget about non-PC; that is very naive thinking. At best.

What exactly is it you want to hear from me?

Is it so bad for me to want us to keep out of the business of other countries and expect likewise from them? Is it that horrible that I would prefer that American money stays in America than going to another country? Just as you want nothing but the best for your own country I wish the best for mine.

Don't like America? Don't come here. Don't like our way of life? Keep living yours.
 

darkendless

Guardian of Asgaard
What exactly is it you want to hear from me?

Is it so bad for me to want us to keep out of the business of other countries and expect likewise from them? Is it that horrible that I would prefer that American money stays in America than going to another country? Just as you want nothing but the best for your own country I wish the best for mine.

Don't like America? Don't come here. Don't like our way of life? Keep living yours.

This is a general comment not totally directed at Muslims, but i have heard them discuss it:

Why do they come to our western countries and start complaining? Why is it that we have to change to adopt their way of thinking within our own countries?

If the arab countries hate us so be it. To be honest i dont think we should care too much. As long as they stay where they are and we stay where we are who cares right? They only get annoyed when the west tries to help them.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
What exactly is it you want to hear from me?

That you understand a Nation's frontiers are unavoidably artificial, for instance, and that isolationist policies are a no-win proposition, I guess.

I mean, it's so frigging obvious, really.

Is it so bad for me to want us to keep out of the business of other countries and expect likewise from them? Is it that horrible that I would prefer that American money stays in America than going to another country?

Well, yes, it is horrible in a way.

For one thing, it is not really possible.

While the desire to keep the challenges and troubles of one's community separate from those of others is certainly understandable in a first look, that is also a self-limiting proposition that, frankly, doesn't quite make sense at all; the world is simply much too interconnected. As the two World Wars showed us all, there is no benefit at all in pretending that what other countries do or fail to do is not of our concern - or, conversely, that one's own country owes absolutely no satisfaction at all to others.

Such an isolationist mentality was what made the Great Empires possible. They all fell apiece in World War I, and we really ought to know better by now after paying so high a price.

Just as you want nothing but the best for your own country I wish the best for mine.

Heck, I don't think so at all. Truth be told, I don't even have much respect for the concept of a country; it has always been artificial, and is arguably all-out undesirable at this point of History.

Don't like America? Don't come here. Don't like our way of life? Keep living yours.

As others have noted, the America Way of Life is hardly disliked. It's the USA foreign policies that make many people pause. There are important economical and ecological issues too. Neither of those can be legitimally excused by appealing to national sovereignity, due to their very natures.
 
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