In my last article "Saudis are not racists," I focused on the content of the video spread by the well-known media figure Kamal Abdulqadir on his Twitter account. The video talks about the campaign launched against expatriate workers on social media websites and some newspapers. It received wide public attention from social media followers. I have received a large number of emails from many people who seem only to have read the title of the article but not the article itself. In their emails, they said that they disagreed with me and do not accept that Saudis are not racists. However, I totally agree with them that some Saudis are racists and some are not and I stressed this fact in my article when I talked about the content of Abdulqadir's video and the offensive cartoon that was published in an Arabic-language newspaper. I also said in the article that I asked the cartoonist to apologize and that he should be put on trial if he refused to do so, as he does not have the right to offend others. I was not the only one who criticized the cartoonist, as many have spoken out against him and the offensive cartoon while many, on the other hand, have liked the cartoon and called upon the cartoonist not to apologize. Various comments were made about the article on Saudi Gazette website indicating that readers rejected the idea that Saudis were not racists. I would like to state here that I completely agree with those who wrote these comments and I do not deny the fact that some Saudis do not only discriminate against expatriate workers but also against Saudis. Personally speaking, I have been discriminated against by Saudis and by many others in different countries during my work outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, I do not consider the people of the countries where I have worked and lived to be racists. I have heard more than once racist words against Arabs and the people of the Gulf. It seems that racism is an innate human nature. That is why Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Leave it (i.e., racism), it is rotten" to Abu Thar Al-Ghifari, one of his Companions, when the latter offended Bilal Bin Rebah, the first muezzin (prayer caller) chosen by the Prophet (pbuh). Al-Ghifari offended Rebah by describing him as "Son of the black woman." After Rebah complained to the Prophet (pbuh), the Prophet (pbuh) said to Al-Ghifari: "Do you offend him because his mother is black? You are an ignorant person." I have also received emails from expatriate workers who have problems with their sponsors and wanted me to help solve these problems. I would like to say that I sympathize with all of these emails but I cannot step in and help because these are personal problems. My advice to the aggrieved workers is to raise the issue with the pertinent labor office. I am sure that if they have enough patience, they will get their financial rights. I am sure of that because the newspapers have published stories of mega companies whose business was suspended by the Ministry of Labor because they had not paid employees their salaries. I would like to thank everyone who sent me an email and everyone who criticized or praised the article and everyone who misunderstood or understood the contents of the article. Specifically, I want to mention the comment made by Mr. Shabbir Thinga who criticized the article in an objective way and mentioned several facts with which I completely agree. However, I do not agree with him on what he said about racism in the Kingdom. He said racism crops up when a road accident takes place between a Saudi and a non-Saudi. According to him, Saudis always win in these situations. While this is true in some cases, it is not true in others. In fact, it is quite the opposite in other cases. Let me tell you this true story. A Saudi and an expatriate worker, who works for a municipality, were involved in a road accident. The Saudi was driving his car on the right side of a three-lane road while the expatriate worker was traveling in the middle lane. All of a sudden, the worker swerved to the right lane and hit the Saudi's car through no fault of the Saudi driver. The vehicle damage inspector decided that it was the Saudi's fault. The man objected to the decision through legal channels and waited for seven months for the final decision only to discover that the inspector refused to change his first decision. Strangely, neither the inspector nor the traffic officer on the scene asked the expatriate worker how the accident took place. I am sure that the Saudi man was treated unfairly. Mr. Thinga said there is no understanding between Saudis and expatriate workers, which is an unfortunate thing. I do not think Saudis should be blamed for this lack of understanding. It is the fault of both Saudis and non-Saudis. I do not know if Mr. Thinga can suggest a solution to this dilemma, which, in my opinion, should end. — Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
