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By Paul J. Balles* 13 January 2004 A racist bigot like Robert Kilroy-Silk hardly deserves comment for the bilge he poured out about Arabs recently. However, too many readers of the Sunday Express or viewers of the BBC don't know any better. In a column headed "We owe Arabs nothing", Kilroy-Silk accused Arabs of having "murdered more than 3000 civilians on 11 September and then danced in the hot, dusty streets to celebrate the murders". No one has yet established that even the Arabs named in connection with 9/11 were responsible for those deaths. Even if a group of fanatical al-Qaeda members were responsible for that catastrophe, only a racist bigot would accuse all Arabs of complicity. Compare that with a bit of history: in the small Arab village of Deir Yaseen on 9 April 1948, two hundred and fifty-four villagers - old men, women and children - were butchered by Zionist terror squads while the young men were working in the fields. Pregnant women had their unborn children killed in their bellies. Most of the bodies were thrown down a well. Within days, nearly half a million Palestinians had fled their country. Has anyone been brazen enough to write, after the fashion of Kilroy-Silk, that this was the work of all Jews? If they had, they'd have been severely castigated for anti-Semitism. The leader of that massacre, Menachim Begin, later became Israel's prime minister. The "dancing in the streets" has been proven to be a fake report and a hoax, since the tape was recorded prior to the time of 9/11. Yet, a nauseating bigot like Kilroy-Silk doesn't even bother to research the facts before carrying on like a raving lunatic bent on attacking Arabs. Kilroy-Silk also wrote: "Apart from oil - which was discovered, is produced and is paid for by the west - what do they contribute? Can you think of anything? Anything really useful? Anything really valuable? Something we really need, could not do without? No, nor can I." The sickening thing about both the original comment and the reports that carry its insults is that most Western readers simply don't know enough about Arabs to respond; and when they're asked questions about what the Arabs contribute that the West needs, they haven't got a clue. Thus, a writer as racist as any anti-Semite gets away with crass bigotry. What the West doesn't know, and hasn't bothered to find out, about Arabs is an ancient contribution to modern civilization. It's something that's so imbued in the culture that even Arabs tend to take it for granted until they travel to the West. Then they miss it. This long-enduring contribution of Arab civilization has also been unmatched in its importance by any beneficence ever offered by Western culture to humanity. It's a humanitarian quality instilled into Arabs from childhood. It's a quality unknown in the West except for the rare situation where family and close friends entertain each other. Most Westerners haven't got time for it. They're too busy satisfying greed or lust. It's described by a word that most Westerners today would deprecate: HOSPITALITY. Westerners have scoffed at a suggestion that hospitality fills a vitally important social need since it doesn't produce immediate wealth or satisfaction. However, at the risk of inviting derision from civilized Western barbarians like Kilroy-Silk, let me share some of the simple yet unrivalled experiences I've enjoyed during 35 years in the Arab world. Shortly after arriving in Kuwait, I decided to explore the desert in my new car. In the middle of nowhere, it seemed, I got stuck in soft sand. As I was trying to figure a way out of my sand trap, a Bedouin appeared on the horizon. This austere Bedouin, who spoke no English, knew how to get my car out of the sand by pulling up bits of dry shrub, packing it under my wheels and then signalling when I should start the car and drive forward. He wouldn't even let me help him pack the dry shrub under the wheels! He then motioned for me to follow him over a rise that had hidden his tent and sheep from my view from the car. When we got to his tent, we sat on his carpet as he shared dates and goat milk with the visitor he'd helped free from the sand. When I first arrived in Kuwait, I was given an apartment that had a refrigerator that someone had hospitably stocked with enough dates, cheese, olives and milk for the tea in the cupboard to assure my temporary survival. At the time I had only US currency and the banks were closed. I knocked on a neighbour's door, introduced myself and asked if he might be able to change some of my dollars for dinars. He invited me in, gave me tea and biscuits and the equivalent of 160 dollars in cash. He told me not to worry about it and wouldn't accept any of my US dollars. He was Egyptian. When I went to the small shop across from the flats to buy something to cook for dinner, the Palestinian shop owner didn't have change for the large bills given to me by my neighbour and insisted I take the food and pay when I could. All of these incidents involved Arabs being hospitable to a complete stranger! That kind of generous treatment didn't let up when I moved to Bahrain 21 years ago. It's been a part of my life and the hospitality I've savoured from Jordanians, Palestinians, Saudi Arabians, Egyptians, Omanis, Yemenis, Iraqis, Qataris, Emirates, Syrians, Moroccans, Tunisians and Libyans as well as from my hosts in Kuwait and Bahrain. A few weeks ago, the radiator in my car forced me to stop. Within minutes, two young Bahrainis pulled up beside me and offered to help. They drove off and returned a few minutes later with a canister of water for my overheated radiator. While I was waiting for them to return, two other cars stopped and offered me a lift. I could write an entire book about the Arab hospitality that I've personally enjoyed over 35 years. The only unfortunate thing I've observed while living in Arabia has been the growing influence of the West on the Arabs. Westerners taking advantage of Arab hospitality have occasionally forced the Arabs to be less hospitable. People like Kilroy-Silk have made a few unfortunate inroads into the thinking of some Arabs who would now sacrifice the most humanistic quality a culture can have. For what? For recognition by the West of materialistic gains and the malicious bigotry of a racist abomination. Not only should the BBC fire this pariah to the Arab world, they should dedicate a programme to exploring what Arabs have really given to mankind. According to the Guardian, "BBC guidelines introduced in the wake of the Hutton inquiry say that freelance writing by staff 'should not bring the BBC into disrepute or undermine the integrity or impartiality of BBC programmes or presenters'". Kilroy-Silk has done just that. It's time for the West to learn about Arab hospitality. If they did, they wouldn't ask moronic, churlish, rhetorical, racist questions like those of Kilroy-Silk. If they could practice a bit of Arab hospitality, the West would undoubtedly fight fewer wars, suffer less crime and enjoy more security. *Paul Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for 35 years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com. Copyright © Redress Information & Analysis. All rights reserved. |
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