From: bakken@cs.arizona.edu (Dave Bakken)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic
Subject: Re: SAUDI ARABIAN Software jobs
Keywords: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Palestinians, expatriate workers
Date: 30 Sep 92 22:33:51 GMT
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson

In article <lch7v9INNokl@spim.mti.sgi.com> anoosh@mips.com (Anoosh Hosseini) writes:
>In article <1992Sep29.092050.1328@ascii.co.jp> marbm-b@ascii.co.jp (Marcos Bachir Mubaied) writes:
>>
>>aaldoubo@copper.denver.colorado.edu <Tue Sep 29 13:24:17 1992> writes:
>>
>>>>3. Not of arabic or muslim origins.
>>>
>>>	That's 100% true - especially after the Gulf War - and
>>>	I have many people to support this.
>>>Anisa
>>
>>	Could some one explain the reason for that? What are they affraid of?
>>
>>Bashir Mubaied
>>
>
>Recently a candidate interviewed here who had studied in S.A., had a Masters from 
>a good U.S. university, graduating with a 4.0. He lost his job in S.A. because
>he was Palestinian. As you can tell he had no kind words for S.A. Maybe he is
>reading News somewhere.

Maybe the House of Saud remembers how the Palestinians repaid the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for its hospitality in 1970 (can anyone
think of a country that has extended more visas, accepted more
refugees, etc. than Jordan?). 

Or maybe they remember how many of the Palestinians in Kuwait
collaborated against Kuwaitis during the occupation (some even
helped ahead of time, especially Palestinians in the banking
community who tried to tranfer many $billions to Iraqi accounts
in the first hours after the invasion).  I think I understand how
the Palestinians felt---they had worked hard for decades yet were
second-class residents (though I myself don't agree with the
``squatters rights'' idea of citizenship).  (Yes, I know how many
Kuwaitis look down on non-Kuwaitis or even Kuwaitis from less-influential
families.  The social pecking order there bears a spooky resemblance to that
in _Brave New World_, with the Bangladeshis in their blue overalls at
the bottom of the order.)  And I think I understand how their Kuwaiti
employers felt that they were ungrateful, having paid them more than they
could have earned elsewhere.

But its an entirely other matter to be collaborating with those
raping and looting the country.  (Yes, I know that some Palestinians
opposed the Iraqis.)  And I think that the Kuwaitis are quite 
justified in being resentful at the fact that their homes were
often looted, their women raped, etc. while the Palestinian
sections of town went largely untouched (this was not a coincidence!).

So I think that the Saudis would be foolish *not* to try to filter
out employees that would have a relatively high probability of being
politically unreliable.  Here you have a country with a (relatively)
small population and enormous riches, in a very strategic location, 
and surrounded by populous, well-armed, and poorer neighbors.  (OK,
so Iraq would be pretty wealthy if they spent their oil money
on their economy or people rather than on a huge military.)  With
all these external threats, the *last* think Saudi Arabia needs is to 
do is add an internal security threat.  This is true whether the
country is ruled by the House of Saud or a Wahabbi theocracy
(as some think may happen within five or ten years)---the great
external threats will still be there.
--
Dave Bakken                               Internet: bakken@cs.arizona.edu
Dept. of Computer Science; U of Arizona   Voice:    +1 602 621 4098      
Tucson, AZ 85721; USA                     FAX:      +1 602 621 4246
The fact that you're paranoid doesn't prove they're *not* out to get you.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic