Arabs, Muslims shy away from going West

Saif Al Shaali, who was a United States resident since 2001, vows never to return to the US due to the shabby treatment that he, his wife and three children received at the Los Angeles airport in August. "I was treated like a criminal presumably because of the personal bias of the US immigration and security officials against Arabs and Muslims. Although two of my children are American citizens, I'd rather not go to a country which treats me as a terrorist because of my Middle Eastern descent," Al Shaali says, now in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Al Shaali, on a UAE University scholarship to pursue a doctorate in management information systems at Claremont University in California, was detained along with his family at the airport for more than 26 hours in one of several cases of apparent racial profiling that followed the arrest of terror suspects in London. Apologizing for the inconvenience and embarrassment, the US embassy in Abu Dhabi said Al Shaali's case did not relate to personal profiling. But there were several other incidents that are deterring UAE nationals from traveling to the West. Two days before the Al Shaali incident, an elderly UAE couple, Saida Hussain and Mahmoud Al Wathaifi, said they were "humiliated" in front of other visitors to the London Eye–a sort of giant ferris wheel with spectacular views of the cityscape–because a guard overheard them speaking in Arabic. Western governments insist that they are not using racial profiling and that they are only scrutinizing airline passengers and others more thoroughly due to heightened security. In reality, the series of incidents involving Islam and its followers since the Sep. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the US makes most people in the region believe that there is more to it than just security concerns. "There have been so many instances to make people believe that the West is deliberately slurring Islam–the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, which is illegal, is full of Muslims who are treated badly; the shocking Abu Ghraib prison abuse in Iraq; the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad published by a Danish newspaper, which is blasphemous; and the controversy over Dubai Ports World's plans to take over some American ports. Terrorism is often cited as being synonymous with our faith. That is ridiculous," Muhir Saleem, an information technology professional from Pakistan, told IPS. Says Prof. Ebtisam Al Kitbi of UAE University: "After 9/11, everything related to Muslims has been heightened to the point of exaggeration. Following a particular religion does not make us terrorists–other economic and social conditions contribute, but no one seems interested in understanding that." The renewed grouse acquired a political turn last month when President Bush described the Muslim suspects held in London on Aug. 10 for allegedly planning to blow up US-bound flights as "Islamic fascists." "It is the Americans who are fascists and all Muslims living in the US today are victims of harassment. The administration and the media also paint all Muslims as terrorists," said Khalifa Al Shaali, dean of the law faculty at the Ajman University of Science and Technology and father of Saif Al Shaali. "Bush's remarks are unhelpful and create more problems for a pan-Islamic organization like ours, which is trying to fight extremism among the youth," Dr. Saleh Al-Wohaibi, secretary-general of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, was quoted as saying by the Saudi-based Arab News on Aug. 20. There were novel protests too–a Kuwaiti contracting company, Al-Kharafi Group, issued a full-page advertisement on Aug. 23 in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune describing the fallout of the war in Lebanon. The message addressed Bush: "We think there is a misunderstanding in determining who deserves to be accused of being a fascist." Al Kitbi said in an IPS interview: "This is becoming a phobia and one wonders where this will all lead to. The color of our skin or our religion determines which line we have to stand in at US airports and then they examine all our belongings wearing gloves as if we have some kind of disease–our dark skin and nationalities seem to give the Westerners an excuse to subject us to all sorts of discrimination without giving any reason, and that is atrocious." According to Ahmed Salah, a Dubai-based analyst, "There is no harm in increasing security at airports–after all, if the threats to passenger airlines prove true, then even our people could get killed. But these checks must be across the board and every passenger must be subjected to the same scrutiny and that, too, politely. But discriminatory treatment that makes headlines seems to be the order of the day." "Don't humiliate us just because we are Muslims, or anyone else for that matter," Salah said. "The US government is letting political propaganda influence its thinking and that is turning into an obsession." Following such incidents, UAE students wishing to study in the US or Britain have been advised to leave their names and details with the UAE ministry of higher education and scientific research to facilitate timely intervention in case of any emergency. There are about 1,000 UAE students currently pursuing higher studies in the United States and more than 250 in Britain. Top Canadian universities are, however, benefiting from all this. In 2005, 600 youth from the UAE registered for undergraduate and masters courses in Canada, which was a seven percent rise over 2004. The biggest jump of 35 percent came in 2002-03, immediately after the 9/11 attacks. Cashing in on the trend of Persian Gulf youth not wanting to go abroad to study, Dubai started its "Knowledge Village" five years ago, and is expected to launch the "Academic City" soon, where foreign academic institutes are invited to open offshore campuses. A similar plan called "Education City" has been implemented in Qatar. "Of course, it is also a question of personal choice," Faysal Wagdani, a Saudi marketing manager with a leading bank in Dubai, said in an interview. "After 9/11, many Arabs have opted not to study in or travel to the US because of these reasons. The moment they see my passport and realize I am a Saudi, they give me a second look. I also have to register myself on my way in and out of the country so that they can cross-check my credentials on their database to ensure that I am not in the 'wanted' list. It can be humiliating."