Do the people of the Middle East hate the Americans?

Answer 1

Answer 1

Yes they do. Their jealousy fuels their anger.

Answer 2

Obviously, not all Middle Easterners hate Americans, but there is a significant subset who do. And contrary to President George W. Bush's announcement "They hate us for our freedom", this is certainly NOT the reason for Anti-American sentiment.

Any person who has been to any Middle Eastern country aside from Israel and Cyprus can tell you exactly why Americans are disliked in the Middle East. Our foreign policy is very problematic in a lot of places. These acts cause resentment. There are some places in the world that would stop hating the USA if the policy were reversed and there are others for whom the damage is already done and the USA would be unable to recover. Most Middle Eastern countries fall in the latter category. Major grievances against the USA include:

Support for Certain Countries: There are two parts to this. Firstly, the United States helps to prop of states that other countries vehemently oppose. Some such countries include: Israel, Taiwan, South Korea, East Timor, Turkey, Georgia, etc. Arab hatred of Israel, Chinese hatred of Taiwan, North Korean hatred of South Korea, Armenian hatred of Turkey, and Russian hatred of Georgia, lead to the citizens of those countries disliking American policy. Of course, this is not to say that the American action is illegitimate or incorrect, but the USA has chosen a side and naturally the opposition will feel anger.

Secondly, the United States has supported numerous brutal dictators in various countries, especially in Latin America, like Pinochet (Chile), Noriega (Panama), Batista (Cuba), the Samozas (Nicaragua). About Samoza, FDR famously said, "Somoza may be a son of a b****, but he's our son of a b****." However, the citizens of those countries were less than pleased that mass-murderers were in power over them with the guarantee of US protection, effectively preventing the viability of any resistance. In the Middle East, the United States supported Hosni Mubarak and Mohammed Morsi, two individuals who have consistently attacked and demonized the citizens of Egypt. The USA also supported the Christian Falangists in Lebanon, the Turkish government in Ankara, gives aid to Saudi Arabia, and provides military protection for Kuwait.

CIA Activities and Coups d'État: The United States did not just protect governments that were sadistic to their own citizens. In several instances, they helped install them as well. In the case of Pinochet in Chile (in 1974) and the Shah of Iran (in 1953), the CIA actively caused revolts in the country, toppling legitimate governments to put violent dictators in power (Allende in Chile and Mossadegh in Iran). The idea that the USA can replace leaders around the world with impunity is very angering to many individuals.

Cold War Activities: During the Cold War, the United States engaged in numerous proxy wars with the Soviets with many third-world countries as the battlegrounds. Angola was in civil war from 1975-1992 because of the US-Soviet proxy war. The Arab-Israeli Conflict was similarly based as was the Korean War, the Velvet Revolution in Hungary, the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and of course the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan War of 1979-1989. These proxy wars resulted in millions of dead civilians around the world.

Military Bases All Over the World: The United States maintains military bases in over 100 different countries. If this is not a projection of military might, there is nothing that would be.

Unilateralism: The United States consistently avoids working within the bounds of the international community. The USA typically only negotiates with other countries when it suits them. They are more than willing to "go it alone" when everyone disagrees with them. The clearest example of this was the Invasion of Iraq. When US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the cause to go to war to the United Nations, the other nations refused to go along with the United States. Therefore, instead of backing down and clarifying their research, the Americans invaded Iraq. Callously disregarding someone else's view will certainly anger them.

Aloofness: Many American citizens know almost nothing about other countries and have no desire to learn. They believe that their culture and way of life are so clearly superior to everyone else's that everyone should just aspire to be American. This sentiment is not well-received abroad.

People in the Middle East cannot hate all Americans since many Americans are from the Middle East and share the same religions of the Middle East.

Answer 2

Most people do not hate Arabs, but there is a certainly a minority of Westerners who do. Arab hatred is much rarer in non-Western cultures (mostly because non-Westerners do not often have long-term interactions with Arabs). This answer discusses exclusively these negative opinions:

1) Islamic Terrorism: Americans remember well what happened on 9-11, when Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda Terrorist Organization intentionally attacked and murdered over 3,000 American citizens. While Al-Qaeda was based in Afghanistan, bin Laden was himself a Saudi as were 15 of the 19 pilots. Rather than express regret for the loss of life and condemnation of the attacks, a sizable minority of Middle Eastern clerics remained neutral or claimed this as "a victory against the West". Additionally, surveys have shown that many Muslims (including Arabs) believe that 9-11 was a Western inside-job and do not take credit for the failures in their society that lead to this type of terrorism. As a result, Westerners are afraid of subsequent attacks from Arab individuals. In the European context, the Madrid Train Bombing on 3-11, the London Train Bombings on 7-7, the murder of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands, and numerous smaller terrorist attacks were also perpetrated by Arab Islamic Terrorists in European countries. This makes the Europeans fearful about further and more common attacks.

2) Arab Anti-American Protests: Nowhere in the world is more famous for US and European flag-burning than the Arab World. The US is often condemned for its actions in the Middle East and its symbols and ideals mocked and cajoled. For those with a sense of patriotism and pride, these acts engender rage towards those who perform them. Since this is more common in the Arab World than elsewhere, more animosity is directed towards Arabs. It is worth noting that such protests may be entirely meritorious due to US policies in the Middle East, but since most Americans are unfamiliar with their policies there, they only see this negative reaction. In the European context, events such as the Jyllands-Posten Cartoon scandal led to Danish embassies being attacked and people dying over a moderately insulting cartoon (some of which was even fabricated by Danish Imams who were angry that more Danish Muslims were not enraged). Europeans have fought numerous wars to protect their freedoms of religion and speech, which Arabs seem to little regard for.

3) Arab Anti-Israeli Sentiment: Many Americans fervently support the State of Israel as an expression of their Christian or Jewish faith. The Arab antagonism towards the State of Israel alienates them and infuriates them. They have no opposition to the Arab States existing, so why should the Arab States have any opposition to the Jewish State existing? Similarly, in Europe, this is also morphing into general Anti-Semitism. Jews are now fleeing the Swedish city of Malmö because of Arab riots there. In France, Ilan Halimi was brutally tortured and killed by Muslims for the "crime" of being a Jew in Frane.

4) Rampant Human Rights Abuses: The Arab World is known numerous human rights abuses, such as torture for prisoners, attacks and unequal legislation against women, the execution of homosexuals, violence towards religious minorities, and other similar offenses. Instead of taking responsibility for these crimes, many Arabs prefer to claim that there are no problems and continue to engage in these activities. Westerners, especially Europeans, often see themselves as the defenders of justice and righteousness and see the Arabs falling far too short in this regard.

5) Failure to Culturally Adjust: Especially in Europe, Arabs have failed to properly integrate into the European population, bringing their customs and traditions with them. There is the expectation in the USA and Europe that you come to the country and become a normal citizen of that country. You can be a citizen with some divergent culture, but it should not be your expectation that society will change to accommodate you. Americans and Europeans see the Arabs in Europe as not making those kind of concessions and expecting Europeans to incorporate Shari'a Law into proper governance. Not wanting this type of climate, they oppose Arabs.

6) Misconceptions about Islam: A lot of Westerners know very little about Islam and have heard conflicting information from different sources. Rather than be open to people of different faiths, these people would rather close themselves off and stick to historical enmities.