Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, is given a tour of Xavier University.

Since September 11, 2001, people of the Islamic faith, as well as arabs in general, have had a bad rap. Like with any group where one or two bad eggs reside, the whole group suffers. Good Catholic priests have had to endure being seen as child molesters, because of the sins of their colleagues. Comedian Robin Williams made a joke about how arabs are treated on aeroplanes these days:

“Ladies and gentleman, we are now about to conduct some random bag checks…I’ll just read out some names: Osama Bin Seen, Hassan Bin Hit…”

Arab muslims, as well as muslims in general are seen as the new enemy, and that means all of them.

So, it was nice to see a story recently which breaks right through these barriers and stereotypes, and has allowed us to see that countries in the Middle East are run by normal, everyday people who want to live in peace. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, an oil rich emirate in the Middle East, has donated $100 Million to New Orleans to help rebuild schools, hospitals and homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

“We saw what happened to Orleans,” the emir said in the interview. “We were watching on television. We are part of this society. It is good for everyone to help out. I really felt sorry for the people.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/us/nationalspecial/30emir.html

Apart from CNN, I have failed to see this story given a lot of airplay. George W Bush has spent the best part of his Presidency painting arabs and muslims as evil nasty terrorists who plan to take over the world. It has scared people so much, that if anyone was planning to have a holiday in the Middle East, say to Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, or the UAE, friends would be frightened to death and swear that their loved one is heading into the fiery depths of hell.

What I find ironic is that by his actions, the Emir has done two things. One, he has allowed the people of the United States to see the other side of the arab world, and of Islam. Two, he has unconciously shown George W Bush up for his ineptitude in responding to Hurricane Katrina at the time. What won George Bush the 2004 Presidential election was fear. Fear that these horrible boogie men from lands far away were going to come in the middle of the night and kill you and your children. What the Emir has done is quietly walk into the lives of the poeple of New Orleans and say, “I want to help”. Boogie men never want to help. You couldnt get better PR if you paid for it.

“How wonderful that country has been to this area when we didn’t get the kind of support we needed immediately from our own government.”

Because of the country’s generosity and the speed with which it acted, Qatar represents “a ray of hope for all of us,”  said Tulane University President Scott Cowen.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/qatar_amir_visits_new_orleans.html

It takes just one person to break down the barriers of prejudice. When people say to you, “What can I do? I’m only one person.” You tell them this story. Yes, he has bucketloads of cash, but the cash isn’t the most important aspect of this story. It’s what he is doing to improve the image of arabs and muslims worldwide. Through his efforts, at least the people who are recovering from Hurricane Katrina will think twice before they judge anyone based on a ignorant assumption.

Enjoy your day.