Al-Watan The parents of a young Dagestan man opposed his marriage to a Russian girl despite their deep love and affection for each other. One day the young man received a letter from the girl in Avar, one of the prominent languages in Dagestan. The youth and his parents read the letter and they could not believe their eyes after noting its content. The parents immediately allowed their son to marry that girl. They were holding that extraordinary letter when their son brought the lovely bride to their home. I have read this story more than 10 times and whenever I come out of a mosque after prayer this story comes to my mind with all its details. I used to imagine and relive the minute details of that story. Rasul Gamzatov has mentioned this story in his book "My Dagestan." It reflects the patriotism of Dagestanis and their special affection for their mother tongue Avar. The parents of that young man agreed to their son's love marriage after they learned that the bride had learned the Dagestani language in honor of her would be groom. It also reflects their patriotism. Everyone harbors special love toward their country, which cannot be discarded easily. However, there may be occasional outbursts with people expressing their anger because of certain rules and regulations and because of certain obnoxious situations. Nobody can claim perfection in their patriotism and they should not question patriotism of others toward their country. People want their country to make progress without putting restrictions on their thoughts and religious believes. In Cannes city, where I sit to write this article, I felt the French racism toward Arabs for the first time recently after a gap of several years. Racism has come back ferociously with a frightening tone. You have to be cautious while dealing with the French and in the explicit use of words. Things have gone from bad to worse and it's much bigger than what I have tried to explain in this article. You are likely to face racist behavior from the French anywhere you go. I have experienced this when I visited an Italian restaurant where I could observe the gloomy face of waiters. You may not get proper care and will feel that you are just like a ghost. The situation will make you angry and then you will hear an Arab voice from the other corner advising that: "You should be patient. This is their country. This situation was caused by the action of some Arab community members. The minds of French are full of hatred and vengeance. My advice is that you should not express any disapproval for their antagonistic attitude." I looked at that Arab man and thanked him for his advice. We should know that waiter and his compatriots were showing their patriotism. It's their right and we should not blame them. It's an expression of anger toward the terrorist bombings carried out by the Daesh (so-called IS) terror group and its followers. I have encountered such racist behavior not only from that French waiter. Once I faced the same reaction from a French female driver who shouted at me. Should we blame the French for their hatred or fear toward Arabs? Are we happy with this picture of Arabs that we are booby-trapped bodies? Most French people believe that we kill innocent people and destroy peace-loving countries, contrary to the Spanish and Germans who know that most of these crimes are politically motivated as some countries wanted to capture Arab oil wealth and divide the Middle East. This is not my idea. A German woman, who works in a saloon, explained to me the political events in a simple way. She called the French arrogant and stupid. I cannot judge the degree of French intelligence. But I agree with that German woman with regard to French arrogance, which is well-known. It seems that after the latest terrorist attacks in France, people out there think that the Arabs being proponents of terrorism do not deserve any love and friendship. These developments are quite painful and frightening and it reminds us about the post 9/11 era that changed the world map. The change covered not only the Middle East but the whole world. If the Dagestani parents are proud of their mother tongue, Avar, what do you think about the French, who are projected by Hollywood films and cartoons as people who turn their nose up on anything and everything? It's quite natural that the French would show their anger toward Arabs because of the Daesh attacks.
