Barasti bar scraps concert after Twitter outrage

Posted by: kaybee Monday, 12 April 2010 1:58 PM[UAE]

I agree, on hindsight, perhaps a bit excessive in terms of blanket criticism. I am sure there are many who don?t discriminate. I was angered by the previous comments. Having said that, Muslims do face overt and covert discrimination and paranoia in Europe as well as in the US. I?d recommend the Bollywood movie My Name is Khan. It?s set in the US and the tagline is ?My name is Khan...and I am not a terrorist.? Under the Bollywood larger-than-life-mush, there are points of views that will make most decent people question some social assumptions, at the very least. You?ll find it with English subtitles, and even an English version I think. Regarding what?s happening in France...and whether it?s new or old...my point is, new or old, it is as paranoid as some of the reactions towards western culture here. Neither is justified and to resort to ?they started it? or ?they do it, so why shouldn?t we? is not quite the thing for countries hoping to lead by example. I mean, honestly, what?s wrong with displaying your religion if you?re harming no one? Why should you hide it like a dirty little secret? Why should Sikh men not be allowed to wear turbans and Muslim women be banned from wearing scarves in certain places when, most of them, quietly go about with their lives, trying to make a better life for their kids? @DXBEXPAT...Why should the Swiss ban the construction of minarets in mosques...it?s a minaret, not a nuclear missile! Isn?t that over the top? What message are such countries sending out to the minorities? As for mosques flourishing. Yes, there are LAWS which prohibit open discrimination...but that doesn?t stop covert distrust and discrimination. It?s not about laws...it?s about mindsets...which is why SOME Brits revert to racial prejudices once they get here and find there are no laws to hold them back. Not just racism...sexism and every other sort of ?ism...and not just the Brits, of course. But in my experience ? working across 3 countries and 2 continents in 10 years ? I have faced the most discrimination from SOME Brits in Dubai. People less qualified and less materially prosperous than me start by turning their noses up because of my colour...and shut up when they find out the diamonds I am wearing probably cost more than their car. But that is another discussion, so we?ll let that be for now :-) Coming back to laws that guarantee freedom and equality...but attitudes that take that very freedom and level playing field away... Yes, it is important to integrate in to the culture of the place you live, but it?s not an either-or situation. You shouldn?t be forced to choose one or the other. It?s possible for most Muslims to be true to both, in their own way, and not be a threat to society. My anger was targeted towards xenophobic comments that insist there should be a crackdown on immigrants and cry about their ?loss of identity? and ?they need to be like us or leave our land?. I mean...the way the world is today, blending cultures and races is a reality...everywhere. It?s a bit rich if an expat, of all people ? an outsider happily living on someone else?s land ? turns around and says get other people off my land...get everyone who threatens ?my identity? out! The identity of identity has changed...they?ve got to deal with it, instead of blaming ?outsiders? for taking away their jobs, when the ?insiders? haven?t even bothered to go to college. People should be weeding out illiteracy, school dropouts, teenage hooligans that haunt street corners, freeloaders who get pregnant repeatedly to get state benefits, junkies, rowdy football mobs, bankers and brokers whose dismissal terms get them more money than what the people they cheated make in a lifetime...kicking productive and legal immigrants is the least of the issues...so why alienate them further. Second generation immigrants start off by belonging in the country of birth, not of origin...until they are repeatedly made to feel like they don?t belong, that they are different, that they can?t be ?one of us?. What, exactly what, is wrong with being different?! Of course, this has nothing to do with the original debate about Barasti...but that?s what discussions are all about...evolution. I wish people figured that out too.

Posted by: DXBEXPAT Monday, 12 April 2010 2:10 AM[UAE]

I agree with JohnA. What you say is quite presumptous and kind of OTT to generalise; reason being that it is mostly relative & subjective to context itself. And just to clarify, none of the 'liberal democracies' have anything against having mosques, that have not only existed but flourished over decades; you should check on that if any doubt.

Posted by: JohnA Sunday, 11 April 2010 8:40 PM[UAE]

@kaybee I agreed with you up to this, "westerners here get much more freedom that Muslims get in the west." Do you honestly believe this or did you just go too far? In most Western countries your freedoms are guaranteed by decades and decades of law and supreme court rulings which guarantee your freedoms. Frances issues have been in the making for a very long time, this is nothing new if you look at the history of France over the past two to three decades. The problems of Europe are in the way they treat their immigrants, why does the US not have these problems? Not to say that US immigrants dont face their own problems but are distinctly different from those of the US.

Posted by: kaybee Sunday, 11 April 2010 4:55 PM[UAE]

@GD... ?I also despair with Britain and the country it has become...our loss of identitiy as a Christian country, I wish Britain had the same hard line and rules with expats and immigrants as Dubai does.? Are you for real? So Brits can live and work anywhere in the world, but they turn up their nose at immigrants in their own country? Brits plundered other countries for centuries, and now they have a problem if other people come to their precious country? If you check your govt data, it?s these immigrants who work the hardest, study the most, and contribute the most to your economy. They don?t live off state sponsorship. The richest person in your precious country is an immigrant...beat that if you can! Pay that much in taxes to support your disintegrating economy. And then ask them to leave ?your country? alone! Do you have any idea how xenophobic and racist that makes you sound? The sad thing is ? you are not alone. Dubai seems to be filled with closest racists who revel in the opportunity to voice opinions they?d never dare express back home. As a Brit expat you actually have it really easy here compared to those from the subcontinent. What hard line, dude? No sex on the beach? And as for Britain being a Christian country...your history is obviously as blinkered as your personal views. Stonehenge wasn?t put up by followers of Christ. So get off your religious, racist, moral high ground. Loss of identity, indeed! That coming from the people responsible for the RAJ! I guess the tables have turned and you?re not too happy about it. @CyrilOlages... ?What is very annoying to citizens of liberal democracies such as the Uk or France is...Wearing full face covering or a full burqa is contrary to local culture in Europe, but these immigrants/visitors have no intention of following local culture until they are forced by new laws. These laws would not be necessary if people had respect for local culture in the first place.? So you?re going to teach them democracy by banning them from practicing their beliefs? ?Citizens of liberal democracies?? Closed-minded hypocrites and paranoid racists is more like it. For all your whining, westerners here get much more freedom that Muslims get in the west. You get to do your stuff as long as you don?t rub their face in it. I can?t say the same for western countries that ban the burqa and even mosques. How does that help the cause of democracy? It?s just selective democracy then. A farce! You, my friend, then lose all right to your moral high-ground too...just like GD. I am not even Muslim or Arab...but it disgusts me to read comments like these from supposedly educated people from ?civilised, liberal democracies?.

Posted by: Saeid Thursday, 1 April 2010 10:23 PM[UAE]

I have been listening to the MUZAK that's being played on most of the English language Radio Stations that I normally listen to. And frankly I have been enjoying it. But I was shocked today when I scanned for other stations and on an Arabic station there was a very cheery Arabic music on.