Arabs most at home in the UAE due to similarities with Emiratis

Dubai: Arabs are most at home in the UAE due to linguistic, cultural and religious similarities with Emiratis, noted Dr Afaf Batainah, a professor at Zayed University who is a Briton of Arab origin.

She did mention an important difference, saying Emiratis’ loyalty and solidarity with the UAE leadership is rather unique compared to the situation in many Arab states.

Dr Batainah underscored that within the Arab community here there are many streams of attitudes towards the UAE and towards each other. This is down to the fact there are so many Arabs from different countries residing here.

There are those who see themselves are having an evolving culture, having spent a good part of their lives in the West before moving to the Emirates. Another segment sees itself as traditional and yet open to other cultures. A third, much smaller cross-section, is more conservative, “protecting” itself from outside influence, she said.

On a personal note, Dr Batainah expressed some concern on English dominating the official Arabic, but conceded that English was the “business language” here.

She added that being so diverse, the “UAE model” was hard to pin down or define and it was ever in a state of flux. “The cultural aspects of each community differ from each other [and] our perceptions of each other should be based on that… What is different from other cosmopolitan and global cities is we all coexist without conflict and in peace with one another.”