Gift from US students: Reversing opinions on Kingdom

NOW that Eid has been celebrated and thankfulness expressed, perhaps it should be known that there is a particular group of Westerners who were thinking about Saudi Arabia at the same time — grateful for the changing of their minds on the Kingdom. They are the young, the teens, and the less-cynical students, able to think independently and embrace new information that changes their perspectives. Difficult to grasp how others would not at least attempt to understand an alternative, we adults can be tough nuts to crack and loathe reversing course as an admittance of weakness at having been wrong. As President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, “Public opinion, though often formed upon a wrong basis, yet generally has a strong underlying sense of justice.”
When I moved to Saudi Arabia in 2005, early on I expressed intense frustration at how misrepresented the nation remained to ‘outsiders’. It was evident that Saudis held no monolithic views on anything, including how to practice religion; instead, one found a mosaic of different views — just as any democratic nation encourages as ideal. The problem was, how could this obvious reality be shared, when clearly there was a dearth of anti-Saudi rhetoric the world over. Certainly, it has not been easy. One sector of international society, however, I find consistently eager and willing to reverse their opinions on the Kingdom when presented with fact.
A political adviser works in the sometimes cruel, often harsh world of international warfare, and so it is always a delight to travel to give lectures to students in the UK and USA. The younger the students, the more rewarding the experience although whether for them or me is not clear. However, why is it so important to reach young impressionable minds?
Middle School students are an ideal illustration of the answer. Presenting Saudi Arabia in a new light, I asked an Atlanta, Georgia school’s seventh graders to throw out tough questions, and tell me what they believed about this mysterious land far away. Once the stereotypical image of camels and tents fell by the wayside, the status of women was almost immediately addressed.
“Why do they walk behind the men?” one asked. Easy, because normally whilst ladies are happily window-shopping, their husbands are probably desperate to get home to his football game or stock portfolio, just like husbands everywhere! “Why don’t women drive?” asked another. Besides confirming no specific Islamic reasoning, I posed a hypothetical: “What is one of the first things a man does if he becomes rich?” They immediately caught on and replied, “Hire a chauffeur? I would!” After explaining the virtually non-existent non-rules of the road in Saudi Arabia (where missing an exit poses no problem — a driver merely reverses into oncoming traffic until he gets to where he needs to go), these young girls and boys shrieked with laughter and, “I wouldn’t want my mother driving then either!”
After discussing how 12-year-olds in Saudi Arabia enjoy sports, sand dune-buggy racing, iPods and action-adventure DVDs just as they did, I posed serious questions. How would you feel if every teenager in America were assumed mass murderers because of the Columbine high-school shooters? Moreover, what would you do if someone tried to come and break down your door, take your furniture, cars and house, and claim that it was now theirs? Because that is what the Palestinian 13-year-old boy thinks of, when foreigners come and take his land. That is how the Iraqi 12-year-old feels when she sees military troops break down her father’s door. That is why a teenage Afghan boy considers a weapon to stop intruders, just as the Constitution’s 2nd Amendment gives every American the right to protect his home and loved ones. No country is without a few bad apples, but intelligent people do not judge every citizen therein by extreme minority cases. As one reflective student pondered aloud, “It’s amazing they haven’t attacked us more.”
If seventh graders understand this simple premise, why do politicians the world over fail to see it?
At the end of two hours, they wanted to know more. How could they come to live and work in Saudi Arabia when they are older? Did the Kingdom need accountants, or teachers, or baseball coaches, because that is what they wanted to do when they grew up. Several asked if it was really true that they wouldn’t have to pay income taxes like their parents struggle to manage annually, as they could really save their earnings and help them in turn. (Is this basic concept of saving becoming a fantasy for today’s children?) One boy even asked if he could marry a Saudi girl — obviously looking to his long-term happiness.
A few days later, I received two folders of colorful thank-you letters illustrated with pictures, hearts and poems. Each student indicated how he or she had completely changed his or her minds about Saudi Arabia. “Thanks to you, I now know all about the Middle East and feel like an expert!” one future possible analyst declared confidently. “You showed us how to look at things from other people’s point of view,” and, “Women get a chaperone, and like their abayas because they can go out whenever they want to.” Another said, “I think that everything about Saudi Arabia is amazing!” and, “It seems like such a nice place to live and very different than what I first expected.” Another confessed, “I didn’t realize it was so safe.” They had passed on the information to their parents, and, “I told them all that I learned, and they were so surprised that their former understanding of Saudi Arabia was wrong.” One young man eloquently stated, “Your teaching has given me a new look at the Saudi Arabians. I have given up my stereotypical views on the Saudis, and changed the way I think.”
Yet, I was not the one who changed their minds. Presented with information and knowledge without an agenda or judgment, these young teens already knew that, in reality, we all want peace and security for our families, our culture, and our people. They used logic and their own acumen to formulate for themselves what information was more truthful. They knew instinctively that their peers in Riyadh, Gaza, Baghdad and Kabul are no different than they, and given a hard choice these same American teenagers would fight to protect their lands, just as much as a boy their same age on the other side of the world with little option. In the end, we all bleed red. The only difference is that maturity has not yet jaded these students to biased preconceived adult opinions.
The teenagers of today are the leaders of tomorrow. Perhaps restricting dialogue to policy-changing adults who refuse to compromise their positions limits continuing effectiveness. Atlanta’s Middle School students may be some of the first to pave the way for a new generation of ex-pats to Saudi Arabia, armed with a fairer understanding.
An African proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” The next generation can be reached so easily, if we only make the effort to approach them now.
As we return to normality after this past Eid, why not reflect upon a new future? Why not vow to plant a tree?

— Tanya Cariina Hsu is a British political analyst specializing in US-Saudi foreign policy. She was educated at the University of Essex (Economics) and the University of Oxford (Islamic Studies).