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CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE A
Country Safe for Everybody 
At a
recently held dinner debate, at which the
former US Congressman Mr. Paul Findley, an
outspoken critic of American foreign
policy in the Middle East, who is now a
prominent and successful author, with
several best selling titles on Arabs and
Islam to his name, roundly criticised and
highlighted the skewed perceptions that
Americans have of Arab people and their
religion due to the bias of their major
media channels. During the debate, an
American Academic living in the United
Arab Emirates spoke from the floor about
the fears for his safety while working
here. He claimed
that other Americans living in the UAE
shared his fears. In fact, he related that
after the events of last September many
Americans had resigned their post in the
country and returned to America. I feel
his claims about his fellow countrymen may
have been a little exaggerated as none of
my many American friends here expressed
this fear.
However, I have to say that I was
profoundly disturbed by the speakers’
words, for, as we know well, that the
United Arab Emirates is one of the safest
countries in the world. It has a stable
government, a fair and open judicial
system that has a well motivated modern
police force and an excellent codified
legal system that gives all residents of
the UAE, not just national citizens, equal
rights under the law that will hear
complaints and disputes fairly. The
country has one of the best and most
accessible health systems anywhere in the
world and takes active steps to ensure the
economic prosperity of the country. The
government primary aim is to serve
society. All of this makes people feel
safe, secure in the knowledge that its
government will look out for and protect
its citizens thus ensuring that there is
little discontent within society
I believe that there is no other
country on earth whose penal system has as
its motto “ The human first and not the
place.” This in fact is an accurate
reflection of the ethical moral code that
underpins and unites our society. Our
morality is derived directly from our
religion Islam and we believe in the value
of human dignity and cherish peace and
justice.
Arab society in the Gulf region has a long
history of tolerance for others of
differing religions, ethnic origin and
cultural background. Arab People value the
concept of hospitality very highly, the
host/guest relationship is of great
significance, as it obliges a host to
protect his guest from harm and care for
his well being. This is a profound
responsibility imposed on him by tradition
and religion. This responsibility on the
host to care for his guest is unanimously
applied to all that visit or reside in our
country regardless of their country of
origin, race or creed. By extension this
principle applies to our whole society, it
has a clear responsibility to protect
everyone living here be they national
citizens, overseas residents or guests
such as tourists and visiting businessmen.
Our
underlying belief makes our society one
that respects and values family dignity
and the rule of law through justice. That
is why instances of murder, drug
trafficking, rape, and robbery are, in
comparison with many countries of the West
fairly uncommon, so much so in fact, that
a murder or robbery case will be front
page headlines in our newspapers. Whereas
in American crimes of murder, drug
trafficking, abuse, and rape are all too
commonplace, with many hundreds occurring
daily across the United States. There the
crime has to be particularly gruesome or
bizarre to earn itself headlines.
Another aspect of our society is its basic
humanity, its respect for each individual
and its role in protecting and nurturing
them and allowing them to make a valuable
contribution to our societies and their
cultural life. This is not the case in
America, where citizens have to fend for
themselves with very little or no support
from society itself. This ‘dog eat
dog’ attitude in American society has
given raise to a huge ‘underclass’
that has little and expects less. It
contributes to the high crime rates and
produces dysfunctional human beings that
are denied any possibility of becoming
useful members of their society
What
caused me the most despair was that the
speaker and other of his countrymen had
lived in our country for a number of years
and still perceived us, our society and
our religion in someway threatening to him
and by extensions all other members of his
society. In a country where it is still
safe to let children out alone and in most
regions your car unlocked because of the
peaceful and law abiding construct of our
society, what makes him feel we are such a
threat to him? Is it because we are truly
threatening, or is it that after five
decades of bias and vilification of Arabs,
Islam and Arabic culture by the West in
its media, literature and education
systems that he has come to fear us?
KHALAF
AL HABTOOR
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