lebanese category: Are we xenophobic?

Question

How do you really feel about anyone who is not from the same race/religion/country as us?

Do you look down on them? I remember we did that with the first armenian settlers, the palestinian refuges ( before the war) I mean look at the way we treat foreign labour in Lebanon and also how we fear that other countries are out to get us.
Is it a justified fear?

note: xenophobic:an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers.

Answer 1

Hallambra, thanks for not liking me... hahahahaha!!!
So you are not xenophobic??
I accept everybody, I really don’t care where somebody is from or what religion he has. Sometimes I don’t like certain individuals, because of certain behaviours... but I wouldn’t damn anybody because of his origins, race, colour, and religious beliefs...
But honestly, my family has a really xenophobic background. I tried to explain so many times to my parents the way I see the world and how I feel the things... but it doesn’t help.
Sometimes these discussions ended up with my father screaming at me and insulting me, or my mother saying that she won´t talks with me anymore - much awful behaviour like that.
The truth is, that we can’t choose who are our parents and our family members. I can chooses my friends, my partner and my personal background and select with whom I like to spend my time and with whom not... but family??? Impossible, no way.
Nowadays my parents look at each other with that certain expression on their faces and I know what they are thinking, but they don’t express themselves anymore, they just change the topic. For them, I am a lost person... in my opinion they are lost.
I grew up in Germany although my parents’ don’t like "the Germans", I think they still believe that they are all Nazis.
So anytime I brought German friends at home my father acted like a detective and always the sentence was the same: Not good for my daughter... no Germans. only the Jews are fine people.
Then he started to boycott my friendship with a Turkish girl, because she is a Muslim, and no way, he didn’t want these people around his house. Only the Jews are good people.
Anyway our friendship survived and lasts now 20 years. ´My father still changes the topic when I’m talking about my visits to Turkey.
He didn’t like the Korean people, because they are so strange and have strange habits. He just accepts Jewish people as friends for his only daughter.
He didn’t like the Eastern European people, because they are all communists and he didn’t like the Spanish for Franco, fascism and for the old history... I just should meet Jewish friends.
He didn’t like the black Americans, only the whites... the blacks are like Animals... God, how I hated my father!!
I had an German boy friend and he didn’t let me go out anymore, I had an Turkish boy friend and he called me names like "bit****", I went out with a black American guy when I was almost 18 and he slapped me up like a criminal.
With 18 all I could do is leave home and run as fast and so far away as I could... Life has taught me, that people, although it’s your own family, thinking that way are no people who I want to treat with in my life.
I got married to a Spanish man, my father said I was dead for him if I married this Spanish Catholic guy... no worries, daddy, you have been dead for me since many years. And do you know one thing? I didn’t ask for being born in a Jewish family. I didn’t even ask for being born at all.
Everybody shall be free to live his own life, making up his own mind.
Things haven’t changed very much till now, just upon the surface there does exist some relationship between my father and me. And just because my husband says, that children must accept their parents and avoid these confrontations.
I have suffered a lot for these stupid xenophobic reasons; all my childhood was a real mess and my teenager life a sheer nightmare.
Xenophobia is a one of the worst heritage, parents try to transmit to their children and children to their children and so on... that way we will destroy the world.
I doubt very much, that xenophobic persons are in peace with themselves. I think that these people with such a way of thinking and behaviour are not satisfied with themselves, they feel small and have some complex of inferiority.
I like my life just as it is and if anybody does not agree with me, well, I leave a door open for everybody to come in - but also to go out and disappear...

Answer 2

The 'category': "Lebanon" is open to all.

As is Lebanon itself (although - and rightly so at this point in history, possibly not to those who ever visited occupied Palestine - it's how those people do it at borders/both ways!)

Do not go to xenophobia.

We are all the same / local / earthlings / see my answers in cosmology and genetics: we all of us have a great deal more in common with the humble tree than we are different from it!

And anyway, HOW ON EARTH could Lebanon be xenophobic??? Lebanese love all peoples. They love atheist, they love all religion.

They are CIVILIZED

not xenophobic!

This is a dichotomy, and Lebanese are on the side of civilization.

So no question about it!

Answer 3

I'm glad you put the xenophobic explanation at the end cuz I was going for the dictionary...it's nice to learn a new word...I hope I can use it someday in a sentence...lol

I'm not xenophobic or at least I try not to be...religion, race or country of origin doesn't bother me.
I know what you mean about some Lebanese treating foreign labor here...it bothers me how some people could be xenophobic...and it's not justified.

Edit
Ghanouge I like how you think...you're genuine
Silky...you have exposed it so well...I agree with you totaly...it happens a lot in families how they team up against another clan of different religion or race or believe

Answer 4

Arite im single at the moment now but as a professional stud and a pimp, lemme help ya out man. Ok it actually depends on the lady itself here so if ya know em well that would make it alot easier. But since i have no clue about the lady, u just gotta treat em as the first date kinda stuff where u have to make alot of assumetions. As u said gifts, usually something like a sovieneer would do maybe something u got overseas or even sometime clothings aint a bad idea either.And matter of fact i like givin chocolates to ladies lol, and they seem to appreciate it.Oh yeah and flowers is cool too! Arite i really cant brainstorm too much lol as long as it is adorable and isnt offensive and not TOTAL JUNK, its cool Arite peace Tim punk

Answer 5

Interesting question ....As an Australian of mixed race descent & a migrant to this country as well , I am in no position to look down on anybody ! ha ,ha,ha.

I think it is only normal to be proud of our origins...... to favour our own culture , language , food & customs .For me , connecting with my Lebanese heritage for the first time only a year ago was a life changing experience & I came away feeling like I was a complete person for the first time in my life.
I now identify more with the Lebanese part of my heritage than the British , even though I was born in the UK !
All this aside , none of us should in any way feel superior to others ....we are all flesh & blood , here only by the grace of God to serve HIS purposes while we are here !
We should embrace people of other ethnic backgrounds , accepting that each has something unique to offer .

Answer 6

You bet we are!! we just have this complex and the need to prove that we are superior to all.

Aussie, even when we migrate we are. I lived in a country with a huge Lebanese community and the favourite topic in the "salons" was to laugh at Canadians and what they did and how they did it, this is a country where we are guests and that we went to live in by choice.

Internally, we are racist, sexist, sectist and tribal and have not learnt or inherited a shred of tolerance towards foreigners or strangers.

Answer 7

Lol thank you for xenophobic translation i was just looking for it :P

and nope im not xenophobic, as a matter of fact i have no hate for any palestianins, syrians, irainians, etc...

They came to lebanon for some reasons to work and live there, the same way as i am in doha doing.

Im a foreigner here, working, earning my salary and treated well and thats how it should be in lebanon.

Even if our government has any other problems with the other government WE as Lebanese citizens should welcome our foreigners and leave our politicians to work as they want, in the end they got their chairs to do a job and not for us to follow this or that person. what we have in our personal life is enough and we dont need any politician to show us the way of right and wrong

what we are doing is WRONG the hate for hezbullah or aoun or jaajaa or berri or hariri or anyoneelse is WRONG.

I was raised to love the same human being as i am and not to hate his nationality/ race or color

Answer 8

I don't even think or believe that Lebanese has any fear of foreigners or strangers. The truth is exactly the opposite. I believe that Lebanese are the most open society to strangers. Lebanese knows how to welcome foreigners and many other countries should learn from them.

I liked the answer of Silky and I didn't find anything against Jews in it. May be I have to read it again.

Moneymaker: I never said I liked Jews or hated them, but I'm always against Zionism and against trouble makers like you. I will keep warn everybody of any trouble makers and follow them wherever they are regardless of thumbs down or deleted questions or answers.

Answer 9

Webby...very good question.

My opinion is different from the one of lebanese living in Lebanon. As you all know, I'm lebanese bcoz my dad was lebanese, but I have been raised out of Lebanon, and have lived all my life out of Lebanon. So.....I cant say if lebanese pple living in Lebanon are xenophobic ones. But I can say which my feelings about that are. I'm not xenophobic..I dont hate any race (I dont like jews, but is not bcoz I'm lebanese, they arent liked by almost no one around the world) I dont hate the jews.....I dont hate iranians, neither syrians, nor hezbollah......as persons. I cant hate persons, bcoz as Ghanouge said, we all are human beings. But.........(there is always a but)....I hate the ideology they want to oblige another Countries or States accept. And if they cant get it in a peaceful way, they try to do it by force. That is something I shall never accept..from no one.
Lebanese pple is the last pple that have to be xenophobic, bcoz we are all around the world, and all the countries opened their "doors" to us. Most of our families abroad had run away from Lebanon for the same reasons that armenians and palestinians went inside Lebanon too. Wars, kidnapping,violations, invaders.
I'm here now, bcoz many years ago, this little country gave us hospitality and we have been treated always as belonging here. so..how can we be xenophobics?. May be lebanese inside Lebanon are, but I havent even realized about that.

EDIT... Excellent exposition Silky..
You made me remember something now... last time I was in lebanon, I was at the national Museum and when I finished there I went to the street to take a taxi..I was standed and make signals to one, but the person by my side said inmediatelly........."no..dont stop that.. dont you see that is muslim???" That kind of things cant enter inside my head !!! so ..may be you are right Silky.
Thank you

EDIT 2:
Itay..
Thank you for your honestity.. I have given u thumb up for that. may be I'm wrong about the xenophobic definition...but I dont think so..
I said that I dont like jews....and that is true. i'm honest, but I dont hate them at all......I even recognize that inside jews are smart ones and silly ones..good and bad..xenophobics and not xenophobics.I dont like also some of the persons that live in my neighbordhood..is that to be xenophobic??
About jews...I'm sorry because I know that you are jew, and I dont pretend offend you, but I was saying a fact. I'm against any kind of domination: social, politic, economic , moral, etc, and I think that things among Israel and its neighbords arent well done. I know that we'll never agree about that point,I'm against the occupation of another countries' territories, but I think that we still can debate about that as educated persons.
Finally.....I'm sorry bcoz you had higher expectations about me...but I'm also human, and as a human , I'm not perfect.
Thank you again for your honestity.

Answer 10

Hallambra, you say that you're not xenophobic but then go on to say that you don't like Jews. If that's not xenophobic, then it definitely counts as bigotted and small-minded. It would be like me saying that I don't like all Sunni Muslims, never mind the fact that each one is a human being who should be considered on his own merits, irregardless of their religious affiliations. As a Lebanese person, I would think that you would be especially attuned to this point. I am dissapointed in you and had higher expectations of you.