Best Middle Eastern Culture - Israel Ministry of Tourism

[RP 520]

• Israel: because they're not constantly trying to kill each other all the time, are westernized, and know a threat when they see one.
• Kurds: same as above, yet everyone ignores them and Turkey shits on them all the time. They really need to just take over Northern Iraq and declare it Kurdistan already since they've done a much better job at fighting for something than the Iraqi army ever did.

Runner ups:

• Jordanians: They've come a long way since the 1960's and are generally chill and accepting towards the world, they managed to survive the arab spring pretty unscathed. Their queen does a lot of charity work and raises awareness on many issues, plus she's super model tier to boot:

Notice the lack of a burqa, that's usually how you can tell a Middle Eastern country is sane.

 

[Abethedemon]

I'd say the Druze or the Samaritans, possibly.

 

[CWCchange]

kurds because they're christian

Hmm, no. Albeit pre-Mohammedan Yazdânism is still relevant in part of their culture, which they deserve credit for.

 

[Ntwadumela]

I'd say the Druze or the Samaritans, possibly.

I have some good Lebanese friends who happen to be Druze.
Shame they're considered heretics in most parts of the Middle East.

 

[Long Sun]

Hmm, no. Albeit pre-Mohammedan Yazdânism is still relevant in part of their culture, which they deserve credit for.

religion is less important to most Kurds then the cause of the Kurdish Nation as one line of Ey Reqib ("O Enemy!" the Kurdish National Anthem) "Kurdistan is our religion, our credo." Kurds are really the only group that don't put religion first and formost

 

[John Titor]

If we're talking about historically, then Ancient Egypt or Caanan.
If we're talking nowadays, Morocco is pretty cool, and Israel has a good amount of religious diversity. Bahrain is cool as well, great metal scene there, and not very radical.

Morocco tries. Although technically they are considered North African.

 

[Abethedemon]

Morocco tries. Although technically they are considered North African.

Yeah. I feel like North Africa is quite similar to the Middle East, although it is fairly different. I visited Morocco back in 2013 actually, very beautiful country, not just deserts.

 

[Cosmos]

Israel is 1/6th of 1% of the whole Middle-East. 2% of the Middle-Eastern population. In light of that:

- Highest ratio of university degrees per capita in the world
- More scientific papers produced than any other nation in the world
- Highest number of scientists and technicians per capita in the world
- Highest number of PhDs per capita in the world
- Highest number of engineers per capita in the world
- Highest number of physicians per capita in the world
- Highest number of workforce in tech per capita in the world
- Largest immigrant-absorbing nation per capita in the world
- More start-up companies per capita in the world
- Largest wholesale diamond center in the world
- More NASDAQ companies outside of US and Canada
- Second highest concentration of high-tech companies in the world after Silicon Valley
- Most of the shit used in your computers was developed there, same with cellphones
- Most museums per capita in the world
- Most orchestras per capita in the world
- Most books published in the world per capita in the world
- Most books read per capita in the world
- Most independent free Arabic press in the Middle-east
- Only country in the Middle-East where the Christian population has grown in the last 50 years
- Only country in the Middle-East where people of all religions are free to vote
- Only country in the Middle-East where women have full political rights

Even the rest of the Middle-East as a whole doesn't compare.

I literally cannot comprehend why so many diehard liberals support Palestine unconditionally and act like Israel is the Third Reich reborn. Israel is a massive success story; they managed to achieve all of this while surrounded by enemies on literally all sides. Can you even imagine how much better Israel would be if they were able to focus/spend money on on non-military matters instead?

Honestly, I feel like what holds most Middle Eastern countries back (aside from religious fundamentalism, sectarianism, and overall corruption ) is the gigantic victim complex they insist on holding onto. Everything is the West's fault. Everything is Israel's fault. Nothing is ever their fault and they refuse to help themselves, instead contenting themselves by blaming everyone else. It's undeniable that Western (not just American, Europeans have their hands dirty, too) intervention has played a role in the current state of the Middle East, but I just hate how people (both the aforementioned diehard liberals as well as many Middle Easterners) act like the ME was a peaceful, stable place before Western powers fucked everything up.

A big part of the victim-complex is Islam, or rather how many of its adherents interpret in. The self-victimization results from the fact that a lot of Muslim people think that Islam is perfect - the perfect religion, derived from the perfect god, delivered through the perfect man, and written down in the Quran, which is perfect in its every syllable. Because the religion is perfect, it follows that nothing that is wrong in Muslim societies is the fault of those societies. All problems are externally caused. So many people start believing that "Islam is the solution" and increase religious fundamentalism while decreasing secularism. They refuse to look inwards and consider that maybe, just maybe, they should tone down the Islamism just little bit and put more effort into non-religious education and efforts. Instead they just keep getting more and more fundamentalist and intolerant, which means many Middle Eastern countries are getting worse instead of better.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

kurds because they're christian

I thought that most of them were comparatively irreverent Sunnis.

 

[Enjoy your spaghetti]

UAE was cool, based on my very brief time in Abu Dhabi. I had a day and a half layover there and had a good time. Plus Etihad Airways coach is at least as good as any other business class.

I got to spend a month bouncing back and forth between Alexandria and Cairo in the summer of 2010. It was kind of interesting to be in Egypt around that pre-Arab Spring time because although there were still portraits of Hosni Mubarak everywhere, the air felt like something was about to go off soon.

 

[Ntwadumela]

I literally cannot comprehend why so many diehard liberals support Palestine unconditionally and act like Israel is the Third Reich reborn. Israel is a massive success story; they managed to achieve all of this while surrounded by enemies on literally all sides. Can you even imagine how much better Israel would be if they were able to focus/spend money on on non-military matters instead?

Honestly, I feel like what holds most Middle Eastern countries back (aside from religious fundamentalism, sectarianism, and overall corruption ) is the gigantic victim complex they insist on holding onto. Everything is the West's fault. Everything is Israel's fault. Nothing is ever their fault and they refuse to help themselves, instead contenting themselves by blaming everyone else. It's undeniable that Western (not just American, Europeans have their hands dirty, too) intervention has played a role in the current state of the Middle East, but I just hate how people (both the aforementioned diehard liberals as well as many Middle Easterners) act like the ME was a peaceful, stable place before Western powers fucked everything up.

A big part of the victim-complex is Islam, or rather how many of its adherents interpret in. The self-victimization results from the fact that a lot of Muslim people think that Islam is perfect - the perfect religion, derived from the perfect god, delivered through the perfect man, and written down in the Quran, which is perfect in its every syllable. Because the religion is perfect, it follows that nothing that is wrong in Muslim societies is the fault of those societies. All problems are externally caused. So many people start believing that "Islam is the solution" and increase religious fundamentalism while decreasing secularism. They refuse to look inwards and consider that maybe, just maybe, they should tone down the Islamism just little bit and put more effort into non-religious education and efforts. Instead they just keep getting more and more fundamentalist and intolerant, which means many Middle Eastern countries are getting worse instead of better.

This, and the fact that certain people will believe whatever shit the mutawas will make up even if it has no basis in Islam or logic, just because they're in a position to make Islamic Laws, and they often bend them to their own selfish interests as well.
Remember, the Saudi Arabian Grand Mufti has banned Pokemon.

 

[autisticdragonkin]

Remember, the Saudi Arabian Grand Mufti has banned Pokemon.

How is that to anyone's selfish interests (unless there is a conspiracy by the producers of digimon)

 

[Ntwadumela]

How is that to anyone's selfish interests (unless there is a conspiracy by the producers of digimon)

That's just one reason they issue certain fatwas. The other is that they have hilarious and absurd justifications to issue certain fatwas to modern things that have NOTHING to do with Islam. They also claim because it was made by Non-Muslims it's automatically Anti-Islamic and therefore they want such things to not take hold in their country.
The Grand Mufti has accused the Pokemon games and cards of promoting Zionism and gambling.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/20/saudi-arabia-pokemon-go-ban

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/20/saudi-arabia-renews-fatwa-for-pokmon-go/

 

[Abethedemon]

If we're talking about ancient cultures, I would also nominate ancient Persia.
They were quite progressive for their time, women had a lot of status and they allowed their subjects to practice their own religions.

 

[melty]

Israel is 1/6th of 1% of the whole Middle-East. 2% of the Middle-Eastern population. In light of that:

- Highest ratio of university degrees per capita in the world
- More scientific papers produced than any other nation in the world
- Highest number of scientists and technicians per capita in the world
- Highest number of PhDs per capita in the world
- Highest number of engineers per capita in the world
- Highest number of physicians per capita in the world
- Highest number of workforce in tech per capita in the world
- Largest immigrant-absorbing nation per capita in the world
- More start-up companies per capita in the world
- Largest wholesale diamond center in the world
- More NASDAQ companies outside of US and Canada
- Second highest concentration of high-tech companies in the world after Silicon Valley
- Most of the shit used in your computers was developed there, same with cellphones
- Most museums per capita in the world
- Most orchestras per capita in the world
- Most books published in the world per capita in the world
- Most books read per capita in the world
- Most independent free Arabic press in the Middle-east
- Only country in the Middle-East where the Christian population has grown in the last 50 years
- Only country in the Middle-East where people of all religions are free to vote
- Only country in the Middle-East where women have full political rights



Even the rest of the Middle-East as a whole doesn't compare.

Yeah, it's pretty telling that Israel as a country has only existed for a brief moment compared to the rest of the middle east yet fucking owns them in every meaningful way.

 

[AnOminous]

Yeah, it's pretty telling that Israel as a country has only existed for a brief moment compared to the rest of the middle east yet fucking owns them in every meaningful way.

To be fair they had a lot of foreign assistance mostly from the United States, but that really doesn't account for it.

You could pour that much money into nearly any other Middle Eastern country and still have a complete shithole and all your money gone. E.g. Iraq.

 

[Terrorist]

Gotta say pre-Ayatollah Iranians (who were the most modern in the region, produced a wealth of scientific, cultural and artistic advances the Arab cultures copied, and even now possess the scientific acumen to build nuclear weapons independent of the west), and the Turks (badass empire-builders and the only middle-eastern people to make secularism/religious pluralism work). I would include Israel (only ME state I would want to live in, and leagues ahead of everyone else), but they've only been there for 68 years and their culture is more transplanted European-Jewish than middle eastern Jewish. Kinda like comparing the USA with native american cultures imho, same geography but different roots.

 

[TheRedRanger]

If we go by culture, that is to say everyday shit, I might say Iran. Seriously.
OK, the government is fucked, no argument from me, but how much of a shit do most Iranians give about Islamism? Not much.
OK, they aren't allowed to drink, but in the middle east, people don't really consider that much of a deal. They just get on with their business and just politely humour the Ayatollah for the most part.

Remember, Iran produced The Perfumed Garden, one of the most famous erotic novels in the world. And they have a saying; There are two books in every household, and only one ever gets read.

 

[AnOminous]

OK, they aren't allowed to drink, but in the middle east, people don't really consider that much of a deal.

Also they drink anyway if they feel like it.

 

[TheRedRanger]

Also they drink anyway if they feel like it.

Oh yeah, I worked with an Iranian guy once, and I was amazed that he was the first one to suggest going out to get shitfaced.