DISCLAIMER: I know that there are some grammatical errors littered throughout this article, as well as some weirdly structured sentences. I’ll get to it later. I might also add a little more content, I just wanted to get this over with before losing interest and scrapping the entire thing.
Author’s Note
“Khaleeji” is a term used to describe Arabs from the Arabian Gulf region. The countries typically listed in this category are the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that a considerable chunk of nationalities from the rest of the Arab world also exist within the Khaleeji paradigm through marrying into it or working in the region for over 10-15 years. I believe that this factor, along with the undeniable wave of globalization and mere personal inclinations which are different from one person to the other contribute to this list, and that, by no means documents all possible types but merely the ones that I am aware of being conscious about.
This article is a comprehensive list of the types of individuals found specifically in the Khaleeji crowd in Twitter, dubbed “5aleeji” through the use of Roman characters posing as Arabic ones; case in point being the number five, which bears the resemblance to the letter “خ”, which in turn sounds like “kha’”. I must admit, this is probably the first time in a long time where I have been part of a locally Arab awareness and I have Twitter to thank for that. I have been spending a long time on Twitter; probably almost a year of actively posting through the medium and reading what people have to say. One thought that keeps resounding in my mind to me is that while some types are absolutely delightful, others are downright sickening, and of course, there is everything in between. When I say sickening, it is through a personal context that spares little indulgence for immaturity in the form of hedonism and general jackassery in regards to having no tolerance for what the modern day compilation of what a 5aleeji Arab is, and the general identity which it is solidified through. At least the school of thought in the average 5aleeji household is that to be an Arab is to be respectful. The reasons for being respectful may vary (see: worried about gossip, doing the gossiping, and I will go out on a limb and say common decency being a dictator amongst the rest) but being respectful and not only seeming that is a large factor in our culture.
I also take this opportunity to shed any doubt about my having minimal respect towards people who seem to labor under delusions that to be an Arab is inherently guilty of whatever that may be bugging them about their lives at any given moment, strive to embrace other cultures without showing a particle of reason or reflection, all while simultaneously having nothing positive to say about what it means to be an Arab. I try my best to avoid this sort after collecting enough information about them to satiate any curiosity that I may have had. At the same time I have also detected that these individuals do not seem to see themselves as Arabs to begin with, which is a whole other topic; why someone makes it a point to be as negative as possible might be their understanding of what intelligent looks like, which in turn makes me doubt just how they measure anything in life. …Then again, trolls are not difficult to detect either.
Moving on to the article…
(Continued)
