From Arab News. Excerpt.
Perhaps the answer can be found in a book published by a Japanese Arabist, Nopoaki Notohara, who spent about 30 years living in the Arab world and wrote a book entitled âThe Arabs.â In this book, the author, who seems to care a great deal about this part of the world, mentions some for the major differences between the Japanese and Arab minds. He says that Japanese âadd something new every day, while most Arabs just reminisce on facts discovered long time ago.â He also says the Arabs cannot comprehend how Japan was able to deal with the US after being bombarded with atomic bombs at the end of World War II. The Arabs, he says, âexpect that Japan makes an everlasting enemy of the US until doomsday.â They are also at a loss to understand that Japan did a lot of âtruthfulâ and âcandidâ soul-searching following their grave defeat, and were able to learn from their old mistakes. Also, the Japanese discovered early on that emotion alone does not make a future and that they must deal with their old enemies and make them allies for the benefit of Japan. The writer concludes that the Arab mind cannot overcome its emotional, backward-looking thinking. This, I believe, limits our ability to adapt, change, and benefit from experiences, and is one of the reasons why we have not yet been able to transform from our old warriors, whose values were similar to those of the Samurais, into modern day warriors fit for this era.
Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate ourselves and learn from past mistakes, keeping the values that make us special while becoming adaptable, flexible, and letting the voice of reason and tolerance speak louder. That way we may gain the respect of the world through a deeper understanding of our own culture. In turn it will give future generations an improved chance of prosperity and growth. We donât have to search far: Just look at some Muslim countries that have become successful while keeping their values and traditions. I am thinking in particular of Malaysia and Dubaiâs boom experience. Perhaps most Arab countries missed the Industrial Revolution, but it is not too late to be a key player in the Information Revolution. We just need to member that emotion alone never makes a future. |