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I'm staying in Kuwait and notice there is a different rivalry( looking down upon) betweem other Arab nationalities particularly Egyptian. I know that people in the Gulf/Middle East have the same religion but slightly different dialects. But has anyone know what sort of rivalries there between Arab Middle Eastern countries - do all countries have their prejudices vs their neighbors - i.e. Jordan/Iraq, Yemen/Saudi, etc?
I'm staying in Kuwait and notice there is a different rivalry( looking down upon) betweem other Arab nationalities particularly Egyptian. I know that people in the Gulf/Middle East have the same religion but slightly different dialects. But has anyone know what sort of rivalries there between Arab Middle Eastern countries - do all countries have their prejudices vs their neighbors - i.e. Jordan/Iraq, Yemen/Saudi, etc?
The short answer is yes.
I don't know why but I was highly amused listening to all the stereotypes about each other - Kuwaiti vs Saudi vs Emirati vs Yemmeni vs Jordanian vs Iranian vs Egyptian, etc. The Stereotype extend to surrounding countries outside Arabia too. My son told me that in school they did impressions of the different groups - like borrowing another student's IPhone and holding two and say things like - look I am an Emirati ..
There is a massive Gulf Arab vs Levantine Arab vs North African Arab rivalry/prejudice. Gulf Arabs look down on Levantine/North African Arabs for being poor while North Africans and Levantine Arabs think Gulf Arabs are vulgar and lack culture and are illiterate religious fanatics. A lot of Levantine Arabs and North African Arabs also think Gulf Arabs are Western sellouts and despise the way Gulf Arabs treat migrant Levantine Arab workers.
I'm staying in Kuwait and notice there is a different rivalry( looking down upon) betweem other Arab nationalities particularly Egyptian. I know that people in the Gulf/Middle East have the same religion but slightly different dialects. But has anyone know what sort of rivalries there between Arab Middle Eastern countries - do all countries have their prejudices vs their neighbors - i.e. Jordan/Iraq, Yemen/Saudi, etc?
Are you joking? "Rivalries" is putting it nicely. The entire region is embroiled in a proxy war engaged on several fronts and complex levels. It's NOT the same religion, is Sunni vs. Shia and the various sects, both extreme and moderate, in between.
Thus you had the civil war in Syria, Yemen, Libya (still going on), the prior Iraq insurgency, etc. Basically you have Iran/Syria on one side and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Jordan on the other. Then you have other players like UAE and Qatar simply changing sides as it suits them. There are Saudi and Quatar soldiers in Libya currently trying to kill each other.
Of course it's even more complex than that, as you have tribal influences and terrorists group that have no country allegiance, you've got Israel which every Arab country wants to kill (probably the only thing they have in common), you've got international influences, etc. You need an encyclopedic playbook just to keep track of all the rivalries.
Are you joking? "Rivalries" is putting it nicely. The entire region is embroiled in a proxy war engaged on several fronts and complex levels. It's NOT the same religion, is Sunni vs. Shia and the various sects, both extreme and moderate, in between.
Thus you had the civil war in Syria, Yemen, Libya (still going on), the prior Iraq insurgency, etc. Basically you have Iran/Syria on one side and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Jordan on the other. Then you have other players like UAE and Qatar simply changing sides as it suits them. There are Saudi and Quatar soldiers in Libya currently trying to kill each other.
Of course it's even more complex than that, as you have tribal influences and terrorists group that have no country allegiance, you've got Israel which every Arab country wants to kill (probably the only thing they have in common), you've got international influences, etc. You need an encyclopedic playbook just to keep track of all the rivalries.
Actually Saudi Arabia, Barahan and UAE sees Iran as a greater threat than Israel. At this very stage those countries are involved in the war in Yemen, to counter the Iranian backed and armed Shia fighters.
As an Israeli, we don't have any prejudices. We're on the receiving end of plenty though. Since I live in the states, I have Lebanese, Emirati, Saudi, Syrian, Moroccan, Iraqi, etc friends. There are plenty of rivalries among those groups. Arabs are anything but a homogeneous group.
I am trying to follow the issue with Qatar and the other Gulf states. I know there is an embargo of Qatar and flights out of Doha might not be permitted to fly over certain countries.
I am trying to follow the issue with Qatar and the other Gulf states. I know there is an embargo of Qatar and flights out of Doha might not be permitted to fly over certain countries.
Basically Saudi vs Qatar, with Saudi influencing other ME
Qatar:
Has Al-jazerra which is critical of SA and other ME countries.
Has gas which is slowly replacing coal in power generation and hence more valuable. Therefore recently nouveau rich Qatar has become bossy and started throwing its weight around.
Most importantly, Qatar has become closer to Iran ( who Saudis hate) because they need a working relationship. Qatar and Iran share the natural gas fields in the sea and do not want that interrupted by war.
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