After spending 10 days in visiting three Middle East countries — Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, I want to share my experience (including pictures and videos), as it is not what people in the US would expect.
First, I will note that I planned this trip before the US war of choice on Iran commenced on 28 February. While in each country, I rented cars drove all over the place. I used public transportation. Used Uber. Took a public bus from one country to another, and then back (UAE to Oman, and back via bus). I ate local street food and ate at some five star restaurants – which was kind of a mistake because I had a cold for two weeks and couldn’t taste anything.
I visited common tourist destinations, and walked alone in local communities where tourists don’t typically go, including Sha’am, the northernmost costal town in the UAE by the Strait of Hormuz.
I never felt unsafe. Ever.
The worst thing that happened to me was I got ripped off by a cab driver upon entering one country.
The locals generally ignored me. I know some people think that a white American is going to get chased down the street by a mob of angry Arabs. Or that I’m going to be kidnapped. It wasn’t like that at all. The locals wear American clothing, listen to American music, eat American food. And once they find out where I’m from, they want to talk about different issues. Politics. Israel. Music. Different things and places in the US.
With the exception of when I was driving alone, everywhere I went I talked with locals and people were friendly, including the taxi driver who ripped me off. When people would ask where I’m from and I would say the US, they’d give me a thumbs up and say “US good, Donald Trump bad.”
When I would probe a little bit about what they don’t like, they would say he is a child or lies, but especially his “stupid war” in Iran is hurting the local tourism industry, and that impedes their ability to earn money to take care of their family. It’s true tourism was down. (See videos below for examples).
Even though I was frequently on the road with Lamborghinis next to me (in the UAE), the traffic laws are very strict there and people generally drive slower and less recklessly than what we all often see here.
When I was sitting in a public space just watching people I would frequently see people leave their handbags or cell phones out on a table and go to the bathroom. Nobody would steal it. It’s kind of uncommon in the Arab gulf countries. Maybe it’s culture. Maybe it’s religion.
Nightlife is much busier in the Middle East because it’s very hot during the day so a lot of social activities get moved to the night. Walking alone in local communities in the middle of the night never felt unsafe. There’s no public drunkenness or guys looking for a fight.
And there were no bombs going off or missiles landing around me.
Having said all that, of course, I still prefer living in the US. I mention these things not to say that it is better there. It is just not what people here would think is going on there.
For people on FB who have said it was ‘brave to go there’ or ‘stupid to go there’ you’re both wrong. It’s not brave or stupid. It’s paying attention to what’s really going on and that is that Westerners are not being targeted by the locals. It’s understanding that the locals recognize that white people walking around might be tourists or workers who are Russian or German or Dutch or Canadian, and yes sometimes American. Generally speaking, they don’t know, they don’t care, and they don’t judge based on the color of skin.
Of course there are examples in the past when Al-Qaeda or ISIS have targeted white people, but they are not representative of the majority of people any more than white supremacists or members of the KKK represent the majority of Americans. Those terror groups are just as ignorant as the contemporary white supremacists or past KKK lynching we have or had here in the US.
This is not my first experience with the Middle East. I lived and worked in Saudi Arabia in 2003, took a legislative trip through the GRALTA Foundation in 2017 to Israel and Palestine, and have been to Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, and now Oman, UAE, and Qatar. I am eyeing Lebanon and Syria later this year or next. This is consistent with past work and education: I worked for the Institute of Defense and Disarmament Studies while in grad school, and have a Master’s in International Relations from the London School of Economics. I also wrote, “The Aftermath of Intention,” a 500 page book on US foreign policy in the Middle East from the fall of the Ottoman Empire up until the war of choice with Iraq in 2003.
Paul Heroux is the sheriff of Bristol County, was mayor of Attleboro, and was a state representative who served on the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. Paul has a master’s in criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s in public administration from Harvard.
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