The other day I was giving a presentation about the Arab world, and I showed my audiences some images of different Arab countries, but then one of them exclaimed, “But where are the camels!” She was really surprised to see how modern Arab cities are. I think that a lot of people in the West are still influenced by stereotypical images of an old, nomad, rough and underdeveloped Arab world. A great deal of development has taken place and is still taking place in the Arab world. Arab societies are being modernized and globalization has affected what people eat, wear, sing, dance, etc. It is amazing how modern and sometimes also westernized are many Arab youths! This does not mean that traditional values are no longer there, but there is a great deal of diversity in the Arab world now, and I think that we need to improve awareness on both ends of the things we have in common.
Comments:
usman:
AOA! i think wht that lady asked, was about tradition as we know camel is the king of desert,so nothing to be offensive.But its the fact that arab world is mostly known in the west because of oil n so wealth,and they have developed n r developing but not so much as that should have.Moreover its worrying that most of the youth getting westernized because both dont have any common values.Its the duty of parents,elders n the governments to preserve n grow the precious arab culture without caring for wht others especially the west say or think.
Aziza:
Camels are indeed a symbol of traditions and also of stereotypes. I think that a lot of communication is needed to find out the numerous things that both cultures have in common and that can bring them closer together. Although awareness of the Arab culture is increasing, more awareness is needed to facilitate communication and understanding.
Arab youths fascination of western culture may be due to the influences of globalization of media, food, etc. They listen to Western music, watch Western cinema, eat at famous global fast food chains, and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as they do not lose touch with their core values, and fortunately the great majority do not!
Salam, Aziza
usman:
🙂 as he says,’To curb the disease,root out its cause’,otherwise the disease will be going on to spread till the end.So everything has its sart n to change its course we have to tackle it at the initial point.’core values’ are far away……..wasalaam