(The question: “In the article “Stereotyping Saudis” (Dec. 12), the #Saudi author says that since 9/11 the world has had a negative view of Saudis, but that in 2006 this started to change as thousands of Saudis went abroad to study on the King Abdullah Scholarship program. The author ends by asking: “How does the world really see us? How do we see ourselves? Who are we?” How would you answer his questions? Does the world stereotype Saudis and if so, how? And how do you think that Saudis view themselves?” was posted on Facebook on Dec. 14.) Being an American living in the Middle East, and having Christian, Muslim, and even Jewish friends (as well as other religions), the simple fact is that most people are similar, they just want to live peacefully, raise their families, abhor violence, etc. The trouble with this is that it isn't profitable. “Leaders” use our differences to create strife between people who actually have more in common than differences in order to gain or maintain power. The media does the same, but for profit. My point is that if you take the time to read different sources, meet new people (real people, not just those you see on TV or the news), you may be surprised. I live in Saudi Arabia; if I believed the news I would imagine myself ending up in a grainy video and being beheaded within days! The reality is that I have a lot of good Saudi friends. I've traveled to the Eastern Province and been to Riyadh and I have never had a problem. I have met people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and several other Muslim nations and gotten along quite well with most of them. But if I live peacefully here like this for 20 years, there is simply no money in it for the media and no way for certain “leaders” to whip people into a frenzy, and thus, there is no gain for them. James McDaniel My friend is an academic lecturer in Bristol and Oxford. He always says his Saudi students are the brightest and with the high ethics and immaculate manners that he would like to see in British students. So that was my first thoughts about Saudi Arabia when I was still in the UK. I now live in Saudi Arabia and have had an opportunity for more observations. While it is not always a bright picture, it is still very far from Western media stereotypes. And the most upsetting thing has nothing to do with stereotypes, but rather with litter dropping! Ania Fedyn Szabo I have lived in Saudi Arabia for a decade, and I now work in Canada with many, many Saudi medical residents. No one thinks that Saudi people are bad. Saudi religious “scholars” and certain officials are saying one thing and doing another. But the same thing is true of our governments. People around the world need to divorce themselves from the idea that our governments do anything major in our interest, and start talking to one another. Our governments are not representing us well. David Moga The problem is not when Saudis are living in the West; the problem is when the people from the West come to live in Saudi Arabia. Because when Saudi people are living abroad, they are not living in a different way from the people there. Even Saudi women living in the West live like the people there. But when these same people come back to Saudi Arabia, everything changes again to the Saudi style. So the question is: When are the Saudi people real? When they are abroad or when they are in Saudi Arabia? Paolo Dale We found Riyadh a safe and hospitable place to work in the 1990s. It was safer than our own country and a good place to bring up our daughter. The locals we met, of varied standings, were generous and gentle mannered. We have many happy memories of that time. Susie Huxtable I have so many Saudi friends. They are nice people in my opinion. Unfortunately, there are good people and bad people everywhere. Carmela Orlando Galizia
