Americans have no cause to fear anything in the UAE

An open letter to Americans in the UAE

At a recently held dinner debate at which U.S. Congressman Paul Findley, an outspoken critic of American foreign policy in the Middle East 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. Findley is a prominent and successful author, with several best selling titles on Arabs and Islam to his name.

During the debate, an American academic living here in the United Arab Emirates spoke from the floor about fears for his safety he had had 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 posts 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 speaker's words, for as we know well, the UAE 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 care systems anywhere in the world and takes active steps to ensure the economic prosperity of the country. The government's 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. 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 origins, and cultural backgrounds. Arab people value the concept of hospitality very highly and the host/guest relationship is of great significance, as it obliges a host to protect his guest from harm and care for his wellbeing.

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 America 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 rise 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 others of his country had lived in our country for a number of years and still perceived us, our society and our religion as in some way 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 is a businessman and the Chairman of Al Habtoor Group.