It was a Moment! A Very Joyful Moment when I set All Reservations aside – and I do have a very long list of those – simply because it felt good to have an Arab Win! It was a badly needed tonic for the entire region, and I was very happy when the announcement came that Saudi Arabia outdid Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar which had outdone itself with its Herculean Efforts in preparation for hosting this World Event, and, it was obvious that their planning had succeeded! However, reaction in the Western World, mainly England and the US, concentrated mainly on smug racist comments of how Qatar’s traditions bar public alcohol drinking; do not want overt displays of LGBTQ manifestations; their treatment of women; abuse of the Human Rights and Deaths of about 6500 migrant workers over the past 10 years – and that is undoubtedly deplorable – it has taken to build hotels, stadiums, roads, shopping malls, railways, roads and other infrastructure to ready their small country for hosting the most popular game in the entire world. The Opening Ceremony was beautiful! Of course, the Wealth and Opulence of Qatar and the Gulf Arab States is a blatant example of how The Color Of Money draws Important World Events; Corporations; the thousands upon thousands of ex-pat Americans, Brits, Europeans and other Nationalities reaping huge salaries and incomes while living a posh life; the con artists, criminals; and the unsavory characters preying upon the gullible; Political Figures who cast Ethics, Morality and Ideology aside as they seek to benefit from The Color Of Money and on it goes! However, the Western Media Coverage chose to overlook all of that while seeming to say to Qatar and the Gulf States:
Are You Getting Uppity . . . or, What?
In other less tactful, but inherently true words, they were wondering how and when those Desert Rag Heads, those Uncivilized Gulf Arabs had evolved enough to stage such an event??!! Huh?
In a stunning news conference the day before the World Cup was set to begin, the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, jabbing at the criticism, said:
“Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker.”
And later he said:
“For what Europeans have been doing in the last 3000 years around the world we should be apologizing for the next 3000 years before starting to give moral lessons.” Amen, to that!
There is no doubt that the message being sent by zooming in on the abuse of migrant workers; alcohol bans, LGBTQ discrimination etc. etc. is the hypocritical and bigoted Western World view of Arabs! They turn a blind eye to the discrimination against Immigrants, Minorities and the LGBTQ Communities in their own countries – where in Colorado Springs that same week Humans had undergone another traumatic and atrocious Mass Shooting that left 5 Dead People, 25 Injured and Mourners across the Community and beyond as their Inept Political Leaders were haggling over the Irrelevant – while pointing fingers at Qatar! No surprise since Racism still runs in their blood and they still see the World through their Colonist, Racist, Bigoted eyes. It was pretty Infuriating and Shameful!
I do not want to sound as if I am making excuses to justify Any Discrimination, or Abuse that takes Place Anywhere in the World! Not at all! However, there are enough examples of the utter irresponsible human behavior all over this Planet which we are all witnessing and living through without the need to assign blame to only one place, or people. There are abused, underpaid, trafficked and raped slave workers All Across The World, even in our democratic US and other Western Nations! We, living in the West cannot continue to hold our own idealistic yardstick as the Only Way for achieving Nirvana! Each Nation has to go at its own pace and follow its own culture, traditions, religion and everything else. We can Inspire, Suggest and Set An Example, but stop the moralizing, the judgements, the sweeping statements, especially during such a World Event! Stop raining on our Parade, especially that it seldom happens!!
The State of the World during these anxious days we are all living is in a terrible shape, and none of us knows exactly what goes on behind the closed doors amongst Political Leaders who choose to overlook one nation’s atrocities and not the other simply for political expediency, or other nefarious reasons! Again, an Abundance of Hypocrisy!
. . . In Ukraine the shattered Humans are preparing for a dire winter as World Leaders Will Not Put An End to this ill-advised war! Shame on them as they freak out over the Innocent Civilians and Destruction of Infrastructure by Putin while choosing to forget the estimated 20,000 to 40,000 Innocent Iraqi, Afghani and Other Civilians killed by US and Allied Drone Strikes, as well as the destruction those wars engendered! Hypocrisy Abounds!
. . . And all those hundreds and hundreds of people at COP27 talking, speechifying, debating and? Not much agreement, as usual, since Industrialized Western Nations are reluctant to admit their culpability in causing Climate Change that is, and will be, causing the most devastation to the Underdeveloped World and its People.
. . . In Jerusalem two bombs planted by Palestinians exploded killing two Humans. Very sad! However, and there again, the Racist, Biased, Willfully Blind Mainstream Media in the United States offered No Context Whatsoever to this horrid act by mentioning that over 130 Young Palestinian Humans have been needlessly Killed by Israeli Forces just this year and it is not over, let alone the demolished homes and olive groves and the long list of criminal Israeli behavior goes on and on!
. . . In Iran the killing continues as Humans express their desire for the Freedom to conduct their Lives in whatever way they choose, while their Political Leaders rule by a Twisted Version of Islam that serves their own Selfish, Authoritarian Purposes and Greed. Simply horrid! My heart and fears are with Iran’s football team as they refused to sing while the Iranian Anthem was playing at the World Cup. What will happen to them when they return to their country? Frightful!
And there is much, much more!
In summation, Saudi Arabia’s Win, gave us Arabs wherever we may be living a Moment of Joy and Pride! So, I say to those who are being overly generous with their criticism that it is Not a question of Arabs Getting Uppity, it is simply that Western Nations are, as they have always been, looking at the Whole World through their own Racist Uppity Lenses! Unfair, and Disgusting to say the least!
My Seventy Year Old Eyes 
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