Do you associate with people from the middle east?

[Reeve]

Sure. My cousin's husband is from Gaza City, Palestine. I ate dinner with him and his friend, Abdul from the West Bank, last Saturday night. I had a friend in college named Uzma, who was born in Saudi Arabia and grew up in Pakistan. She now lives in Karachi. She has never worn a hijab in her life, but she's a devout Muslim.

Also, though my boss is ethnically English, he was born and raised in Bahrain.

[endersblade]

Do I associate with people FROM the middle east? No, because they're all worthless fucking piles of shit. They invade our countries, try to make us change for them, abuse our society and disobey our laws, and expect to be treated better than we treat ourselves.

Do I associate with people IN the middle east? When I was stationed in Iraq, the locals were by far the most friendly people I had ever met, and I've been all over the globe. They invited us to dinners, parties, took pictures with us, even asked us to help them set up their satellite dishes and shit. I even had some deep philosophical debates with a handful of them around a hooka. And I don't even smoke. I would gladly accept these people into my home.

So I've come to the theory that all the GOOD people stayed in the mid-east, and all the shit stains left it. They're the ones that end up in the news.

[Thage]

People who specifically reside in the Middle East? Not often, because I don't speak, read, or write Arabic (or any of the other languages used in that region). People of Middle Eastern descent? Sure. My only metric for hanging out with someone is "don't be an asshole."

[Reeve]

Do I associate with people FROM the middle east? No, because they're all worthless fucking piles of shit. They invade our countries, try to make us change for them, abuse our society and disobey our laws, and expect to be treated better than we treat ourselves.

Do I associate with people IN the middle east? When I was stationed in Iraq, the locals were by far the most friendly people I had ever met, and I've been all over the globe. They invited us to dinners, parties, took pictures with us, even asked us to help them set up their satellite dishes and shit. I even had some deep philosophical debates with a handful of them around a hooka. And I don't even smoke. I would gladly accept these people into my home.

So I've come to the theory that all the GOOD people stayed in the mid-east, and all the shit stains left it. They're the ones that end up in the news.

Well your theory is full of shit. My cousin's husband is awesome.

[Omega10]

I work with Muslims, I work for Muslims, I do business with Muslims, and I have Muslims that are personal friends.

The ones I know are on the shy and quiet side, and are very serious and hard working. They are also very smart. Mostly, they are basically regular people that mostly want to be left to their own devices.

[ls-]

Well, half of my grandparents were Muslims

I know quite many Sufis, and they are chill af. Strict Sunni are okaaaay, but strict Shiites are pain in the ass.

[kail]

One of my friends I knew since highschool is from Lebanon. His family isn't Muslim.

[Deleted]

I grew up in a bigger town in Germany with a good number of Muslims (mostly people from Turkey, Lebanon and Afghanistan) around.
I can't exactly say, that I had many positive experiences with Muslims.
Now I have my own business and I had up until now a few business relations with Muslims. The conclusion I made regarding the business with Muslims is, that a very high % of them are plain untrustworthy (due to their constant need to sell themselves far over value).

Although I have still a close contact with a Muslim friend from Germany after even more than a decade from when I left Germany. My personal experiences regarding social and business interactions with Muslims are overwhelmingly negative.

In the country I live now, there are no Muslims around. And I don't feel any shame to say, that I hope it stays this way.

[Cairhiin]

Neither are Middle East (*).

Thank you for the enlightenment but the op asked for any Muslims or people from the middle east.

[shadowmouse]

I know (and associate with) quite a few people from the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Central Asia. Generally, nice folks. Some of my favorite local haunts are Xinjiang places, often run by Uighurs. Somewhere out there I even have a Saudi goddaughter.

[Super Kami Dende]

Not really. Known a few guys from there that were alright dudes, known quite a few which were absolute cunts. Pretty much like any place.

[thilicen]

We have lots of people from all over the world, including the middle east, come and work with us for a few weeks as external consultants. I've found that the ones from Pakistan to be among the most effective when they are here.

Also one of my favorite restaurants is middle-eastern, as well as one of the best stores for spices and other foods. So I know quite a few of them personally.

[Cizr]

My cousin got kids with muslim guy from Egypt. As usual he is total hypocrite forbiding his kids from eating pork but has no problems getting drunk. He also blames all muslim problems on USA and really hates jews. I guess he is pretty normal.

[Acidz]

I work with refugees, so yeah.

[XeroD]

No and never will.

[Cthulhu 2020]

I've lived in a few middle eastern countries.

Kuwaiti's are pretty cool, and fairly moderate.

Iraqi's are a mixed bag. Sunnis are a pain, while shia's are tolerable.

Qataris are pains as well.

Really comes down to whether they have money of not. The richer they are the more moderate typically.

I see a common theme here... poor uneducated people become religious fanatics far more easily no matter what country you're in.

Just go into some of the more rural parts of south Georgia with one of those "coexist" bumper stickers and see how long your car goes without getting trashed. Don't even have to travel overseas to meet some real religious fanatics.

[Deleted]

No I don't associate with people of faith. They're boring and weird.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Do I associate with people FROM the middle east? No, because they're all worthless fucking piles of shit. They invade our countries, try to make us change for them, abuse our society and disobey our laws, and expect to be treated better than we treat ourselves.

Do I associate with people IN the middle east? When I was stationed in Iraq, the locals were by far the most friendly people I had ever met, and I've been all over the globe. They invited us to dinners, parties, took pictures with us, even asked us to help them set up their satellite dishes and shit. I even had some deep philosophical debates with a handful of them around a hooka. And I don't even smoke. I would gladly accept these people into my home.

So I've come to the theory that all the GOOD people stayed in the mid-east, and all the shit stains left it. They're the ones that end up in the news.

What about the guys from the middle east who never make it onto the news, who work 60 hours a week, and who you never see or meet or seem to know about? Because while the news may shove the giant dicks in your face, it seems those giant dicks have obfuscated your view of the other 99.9999% from there.

[eschatological]

I've known many Middle Eastern and Northern African Muslims in my life. Most of them in law school, when I did a lot of work fighting against Bush's program of questioning every student visa of people from "certain countries," including places like Lebanon. About the most hardcore of them had a prayer rug set up in the South Asian Law Students Association office (we didn't have a M.E. students association), and would do their noon prayers up in the privacy of our offices if they had to be on campus for class at some point.


Plus, I've had a lot of family who've lived in UAE and Kuwait, where there are lots of Indians (which is what I am). I've even had Muslim roommates from the Middle East.

[Powerogue]

Not more than over the internet, unfortunately. I don't live in a particularly diverse part of the US. A shame, it sounds like a lot of people here have had good experiences, and I'm always up for learning about other people's cultures.

Just go into some of the more rural parts of south Georgia with one of those "coexist" bumper stickers and see how long your car goes without getting trashed. Don't even have to travel overseas to meet some real religious fanatics.

I like to think I don't live in one of those areas, but frankly I've never had the gall to test those boundaries.