Why do you think the Middle East hates Jews and Westerners?

Question

I believe the middle east hates these two groups for very different reasons, but I am curious about what other people think.

Answer 1

To fully answer this one must turn back the pages of history to WW1 and the hatred the Arabs had for the Jews even back then. After the Turks were defeated by the Allies in WW1 the British took control of the what is now Syria, Israel and Lebanon Britain was asked by the U.N to divide the land in a 50-50 split between the Jews and Arabs. However the Arabs got a 78% cut of the land and before the rest could be given away WW2 started. Seeing Hitler's Anti-Semitism the Arabs sided with him in an attempt to get 100% of the land. As history records Hitler failed and when the world heard that 6 million Jews were killed Britian came under pressure and was forced to split present Isreal into what it pretty much looks like about now. A mostly Isreali but strong Arab state. This angered the Arabs and since the U.S has sided with Isreal the Arabs have a strong hate for the U.S. Many want you to believe that Isreal has always had this 'strong Arab culture' but the truth is that Isreal had almost no population until the Jew went ther, the Jew refined Isreal built it, made it a stronghold for civilization in 50 years while the Ottoman Turks had Isreal for almost 600 years and couldn't do a blasted thing with it.

Answer 2

Obviously since the Jewish State is a new thing, 1940's, and the US is barely 200 years old and the conflict there has been going on since before Christ, then like most, new things tend to scare some and when both the nations I mentioned have nukes, well, I can see where they are coming from. Someone else mentioned seeing warships etc and I have to agree with that. They have been fighting there forever and to impose Western or Jewish answers to questions they have no business answering, may also have a little something to do with it. Not saying this is how I feel about the area but you asked what I thought. Seems to me there is enough room on this planet for all, the problem is too many want the same things so they fight over them, usually under the guise of God or Allah or Buddha... What a crock... This is the 21st century , we have the resources to make this world a better place but helping someone at gunpoint because you can is not the answer either. Wish I knew what was but when you base your actions on a faceless entity, well then there are no answers in the Middle East or elsewhere. Hate is never good, history has taught us all that but I guess as a race, we are slow learners...

Answer 3

The Middle East includes Jews, and is not uniformly hostile to westerners.

You're probably thinking of Arabs, or perhaps Muslims in general.


There are, of course, many factors, from details of the cultures involved, to historical events, to religious dogma.

The historical events of the 20th century - even if they are not the only cause - are certainly one of the clearest causes, and the one most likely to be cited by the people actually doing the hating.

To keep it brief, after WWI, the Ottoman Empire crumbled, and the great powers of Europe (a phrase that sounds funny today), divided up the middle east among themselves, instead of honoring promises made to thier erstwhile Arab allies. This betrayal was compounded when, after WWII, the Arabs, having more or less achieved independence for the various arbitrary states that resulted, were confronted with the fiat acompli of a newly-declared independent Israel.

You might think that one tiny Jewish state emerging from the post-Ottoman mass of Eupropean 'Mandates' wouldn't be such a big deal, but, that one state did contain the city of Jerusalem, and, it was /Jewish/.

Answer 4

You have to understand the population that you are referring to. The Islamic world (particularly in the Middle East and Iran) prior to the mid 20th century was largely isolated from Western contact. There were quite a few American Christian missionaries who did a good deal of charity work in the region prior to that but as recently as the early 20th century, there were Iranians who believed that items such as rocking chairs were contraptions used by Christians to convert them from Islam. The reason for this is that following the zenith of the Islamic intellectual movement the Islamic religious leaders, tribal leaders, feudal landlords and political leaders relegated their people to ignorance. By the early 20th century less than 15% of all Muslims in the region were literate and/or had even the most limited knowledge of the outside world. With transportation and communications being in the relative Dark Ages, most had lived their entire lives without ever leaving their villages and hovels. Their leaders benefited from this system because they could establish lucrative relationships with foreign powers and rely on the ignorance of their serfs for a steady pool of labour. When problems arose, they relied on the ignorant serfs for protection.

The Bolshevik Revolution changed this. The Commitern used the growing trend of literacy, nationalism and liberalism in the region to promote Communism. Their “nationalism” was aimed at turning the peoples of this region against the West which had assisted in their social progress thus far, albeit for purely selfish reasons. With the exception of Christian missionaries, the West promoted Westernisation of the region so as to solidify its economic and political power therein. The Soviets had the same reasons but also wanted to promote Communism.

The formation of the State of Israel was catalyst for the creation of a militant Islamist movement in the region totally hostile to the West. Islam which had already been convinced of a Western desire to dominate them to no end, saw the Western support for Israel as the best evidence of it. The Soviets used this to their advantage and nearly became consumed with its propaganda offensive against “Zionism.” This is not to say that radical Islamists did not exist before this. But they did not have the popular following that they have today. There is much more to this but these are the basic roots of the problem.

Answer 5

regrettably, that's not basically youthful babies being taught this. And that's been occurring for it sluggish. particular variations of Islam are very illiberal--having ulterior reasons. Salman Rushdie reported it terrific, " Fundamentalism isn't approximately faith, that's approximately capacity."

Answer 6

Would you like to wake up every morning and see foreign troops displaying a show of force in your country. Or foreign ships patroling the waters? I wouldn't.

Answer 7

I believe that they hate both groups for the same reason,plain and simple they are not muslim so they are considered the enemy.

Answer 8

Intollerance and ignorance with a bit of hatred mixed in for good measure.

Answer 9

A Jew with a cowboy hat is dead meat

Answer 10

i'd say it's related to free thinking and economic prosperity.