This blog is not mine, I'm re-blogging it in its entirety, verbatim, unfortunately with no name of author to acknowledge, as I got it from a friend as an e-mail. unsigned, Here are the major excerpts of his blog.
Over the past few days, I watched Americans, old and young protest against their president's travel ban . It was a sight to behold, those people who were taught all their lives to fear Arabs, Muslims and to have all kinds of negative connotations with them, were standing up for human decency .
The protests haven't been exclusive to the U.S. , London and other European cities have had their own share. Culminating in a fiery discussion between British PMs about Trump and his policies.
Not a single Arab country had anything to say about the ban, they couldn't even muster the guts to stand up with their own. I guess that whole "Arabism" theme is only nice when used from Arab Idol and voice podiums. What some countries did was the exact opposite, Kuwait fortified travel bans against 5 Muslim countries, including Syria. The top Emirati diplomat came out in support of the the travel ban, and these moves are not without context.
The two Arab countries that have taken the most refugees are Jordan and Lebanon, with 1 million and 1.5 millions officially registered refugees respectively. Gulf countries, all of which are not affected by Trump's ban despite them being the biggest exporters of Islamic terrorism have taken in a total of zero refugees.
As a side note, that is also the exact same number of Americans that have been killed by terrorist attacks from the countries Trump has banned. While the number is 3000+ from the Gulf countries that he has not banned and who haven't taken any refugees.
In fact , Gulf countries have made their visas requirements for other Arabs so disgusting, that no one dares speak up against it. I personally have no intention to ever work or live there , so I suppose I can speak up. The Kingdom of S.A. has increased its visa prices to 1200$ for Lebanese nationals in an attempt to curb the number of Lebanese coming in for work. And as a political retaliation at the country not giving it the blowjobs it always needs.
The U.A.E. has made it near impossible to obtain work visas for it as well, and depending on the Emirate you're applying to work in, you could be rejected entirely despite having proper paper-work, moreover the UAE has made it near impossible for Syrians whose families are in the country to get visas to visit . Case in point ; A Syrian friend of mine, who was born and raised there, couldn't go see her family since moving to Lebanon for university studies. But was able to get a 2 years U.S visa (prior to the ban).
The UAE's situation doesn't stop there. They've been systematically targeting people for deportation based on their religious affiliation. If the Lebanese State has any decency, they'd publish the list of Shiite nationals who were deported just for being Shiites. As mentioned above, Kuwait has enforced a visa ban on 5 Muslim countries, including Syria, but this isn't new for Kuwait , in fact, the country is known for its derision of foreigners coming in, whoever they are, except if they are Westerners of course.
Do Lebanese dare to speak up against the rules the Emirati gov. humiliated them with ?? or Saudi visas?? or any Arab visa?? Do we even stand up for minorities in Arab countries?? When was the last time we had protests for some parts of our societies that were oppressed ?? When did Muslims have mass protests for the persecuted Christian in some Arab countries?? When did we have mass protests for women's rights ?? LGBT rights?? KSA has Muslim only roads, as it is in Israel for Jews, just saying. (last comparison with Israel is mine).
Yes , Trump's ban is all kind of messed up, but then again, aren't we all kinds of messed up too ?? Let's take a hard look in the mirror at how we treat each other before panicking about how others are treating us, because the fact of the matter is ; We treat other Arabs worse than Trump could ever do .
So thanks to the Americans protesting for us, you're greater than even I thought you were .
Again I reiterate my thanks to the unknown to me author, and my apologies for re-blogging his piece without his explicit permission, and thanks to all my readers for their time and help.
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