Your Favorite Middle Eastern Country

[Celsius]

What is your favorite Middle Eastern country in the world today?

[Lord Feloric's Ambassador]

Syria, the name and location is remnant of the mighty Assyrian Empire. That is an order worthy of my Lord's respect.

[Thorn777]

Lebanon. One of my dearest friends is a Libanese, they have a biautifull diverse mediterranian country, at least used to be very liberal and outgoing and Beirut whas once called "the middle-east Paris". I shour like to see it come back on its feet again, and I would offcourse like to pay a visit there.

[Legionem Insanis]

Lebanon. One of my dearest friends is a Libanese, they have a biautifull diverse mediterranian country, at least used to be very liberal and outgoing and Beirut whas once called "the middle-east Paris". I shour like to see it come back on its feet again, and I would offcourse like to pay a visit there.

From what I know of Lebanon I agree.

[Pickle_mole]

Lebanon. One of my dearest friends is a Libanese, they have a biautifull diverse mediterranian country, at least used to be very liberal and outgoing and Beirut whas once called "the middle-east Paris". I shour like to see it come back on its feet again, and I would offcourse like to pay a visit there.

Muslims tend to ruin those things

[Thorn777]

Muslims tend to ruin those things

Christian Libanese, Americans and Israelis had their share in the countrys dramatic history and present day situation. But hey, I know who Im talking to.

[Каие]

Muslims Christians and Jews tend to ruin those things

Corrected.

[Thorn777]

Corrected.

The Suni vs Shiite hate and Syria´s involvement also took its share.

Just a random holiday situation of my Libanese friend:
One of my best friends visited his country a few years back. At night-time a Syrian screamed that his nephew(a baby) should stop screaming, then my friend shouted back: go home to Syria if you dont want to hear this baby scream. Next day the Hizbollah stood at his doorstep, but he also has a Hizbollah past and could convince them to leave him and his family alone.

Lets not ignore guilt comes from all sides.

[Major.Stupidity]

Muslims tend to ruin those things

Bashir Gemayel, is that you?

Assuming I get the money, how hard would it be for an American to travel through Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and the UAE with a limited knowledge of Arabic?

Just say something like "Ana ismi Maha Muhammed Abulayla, ana taliba amrika" Should about cover everything you need.

[Barry Goldwater]

Israel, I'm half-Israeli (my mother's Israeli) and I visited Acre last year with my family, most of the people I ran into were friendly and likable.
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[Anachronist]

Why no Turkey?

[Celsius]

Becuase Turkey isn't really part of the Middle East.

[Strattios]

Becuase Turkey isn't really part of the Middle East.

Ummm, OK?

I went with Israel. I have a Jewish friend who went there and showed me some photos and it looked pretty. That and I hate the others (other than Iraq, I'm currently indefferent with them).

[MaximiIian]

Iraq. It is, at the very least, the only secular Arabic republic in the region. All the others are strongly Islamist.

And, no, I don't consider Turkey or Israel to be truly "Middle Eastern".
They're both more culturally and structurally European than Arabic. Geography be damned.

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

Iraq. It is, at the very least, the only secular Arabic republic in the region. All the others are strongly Islamist.

That's factually incorrect.

Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, the West Bank, Lebanon, etc have been fiercely secular since the 1920s. Although the days of atheistic secular nationalism of the type that brought about the United Arab Republic are over, it's difficult to argue that the secularists don't have a firm hold on power in Hejaz (northern Arabia) and North Africa. Indeed, secular civil law also dominate the legal system of the Gulf states of Qatar and Bahrain.

It's also important to note here that the Hashemite brothers who were given Jordan and Iraq by the British were anything but Islamic. They were the the direct descendants of the Arabs that revolted against Ottoman rule.

Anyway, it's sad to see that 23 people think their favorite state in the Middle-East is the one that's occupying the lands of three independent countries and was created at the barrel of a gun and through illegal mass immigration.

[rodne]

Iraq. It is, at the very least, the only secular Arabic republic in the region. All the others are strongly Islamist.

And, no, I don't consider Turkey or Israel to be truly "Middle Eastern".
They're both more culturally and structurally European than Arabic. Geography be damned.

Egypt is supposedly secular, though it does have laws that cater mainly to Muslims. The government also recognizes only abrahamic religions, which kind of defeats secularism.

[nce_wht_guy]

Egypt

[Axeman]

Kuwait and the UAE are pretty secular as far as the Middle East is considered.

[Captain Jin]

I put Jordan. I think that King Abdullah II is a great example of a moderate Muslim leader that does very well to imrpove the situation in his country as well improve relations with the West. Even building a relationship with the Pope in order to create more peace and tolerance and co-existance. He's cracked down on radical Imams preaching their hateful messages in his country greatly, and to me that is the way to beat Islamic fundamentalism. By stopping the brain washers from influencing the youth of the Middle East. Jordan works well with the US, while still maintaining it's independance from our overt pressure at times; which is good. Jordan shows a ton of promise.

Plus his wife is way hot. Queen Rania al-Abdullah . She's a Jordanian of Palestinian descent and a perfect example of why it's a crime to cover up women of the Middle East =D.

[Treize]

I put Jordan. I think that King Abdullah II is a great example of a moderate Muslim leader that does very well to imrpove the situation in his country as well improve relations with the West. Even building a relationship with the Pope in order to create more peace and tolerance and co-existance. He's cracked down on radical Imams preaching their hateful messages in his country greatly, and to me that is the way to beat Islamic fundamentalism. By stopping the brain washers from influencing the youth of the Middle East. Jordan works well with the US, while still maintaining it's independance from our overt pressure at times; which is good. Jordan shows a ton of promise.

Plus his wife is way hot. Queen Rania al-Abdullah . She's a Jordanian of Palestinian descent and a perfect example of why it's a crime to cover up women of the Middle East =D.

Me for the same reasons.