OUR CANVAS OUR PAINTING

OUR CANVAS OUR PAINTING

A beautiful painting is hanging on the wall. A group of art students stop by it, admiring the creativity and brilliance of the artist.  A couple walk by, the wife explains to her husband how a painting could lift up the mood of their living room urging him to buy it. The gallery owner stands by the front door with the artist inviting people in with a smile and refreshments. All is good until…
A tall man wearing a smart suite, sleek hair and well groomed. The glasses resting on his nose emits the essence of an educated person. He walks in ignores the smile and grabs a glass of lemonade, takes a sip disgusted by the way it tasted he banged it on the waiters tray. The tall man walks in, stops in front of the painting hanging on the wall. He looks at it in disgust and says the strokes are reckless, the colors are incoherent. the man  leaves the gallery. Next day news headline reads “Critic finds mistake in famous painting”. The focus of the town then shifted from admiring the painting to looking closely and with major effort for any mistakes to be in the front page of the towns’ media coverage.
This story made me think of the UAE, the constant negative coverage by a group of people, they complain about everything, but neglect to see the big picture, they neglect to see the beautiful picture.
The basic needs of any human being are Shelter, food, health and security. The UAE has provided this to everyone by different housing programs, free basic foods, and free medical benefits.
Education is also important and the leaders of the UAE have recognized the need for free education from primary level all the way to university, this has never been seen in any other place around the globe.
Security is another main need for any human being, security for yourself and your family. Fortunately for us in the UAE, this has been a priority to our leaders and only through security can a nation state flourish.
Co-existence and tolerance is a word we hear a lot around us, we listen to people talk about being tolerant and accepting others. Take a walk anywhere in the UAE and this is exactly what you will see.  People from over 200 countries are all here living, working and “co-existing”.  Different people, means different culture and different religion. Although the UAE is a Muslim Nation State it has never denied the foreigners from engaging in any cultural event that they have participated in, neither denied them the right to choose and practice their own belief as long as there is no harm in their practice.

The above mentioned are just some of the points that we should think about, the list goes longer but stopping and thinking of the basics is the best way to fully understand the bliss that we are in. The UAE is our canvas, the leaders and we the people have been painting it since 1971, it is a work in progress and will still be, only through collective efforts we will be able to eliminate haters and enjoy the beauty that lays within this special ongoing art project.

To Interfere in weeping Syria or not?

I am from the UAE and I strongly believe that internal affairs and domestic problems in any Nation-State should be resolved domestically with respect to the UN Charter independence declaration with no interference from other Nation-States. However Lately on the news we have been hearing a lot of the killings in Syria. Who is the hero and who is the evil nemesis is a point that can be up for debate but we can all agree on the fact that killing innocent civilian is WRONG and ethically violates every sense of humanity. The souls and life of civilian is so cheap that killing off thousands without differentiation to whether they are involved in the pity combat to power is wildly spread. The lately Houla Massacre just proves the point where the Assad regime Killed more than 90 people, including 32 children. I can’t seem to get a believable excuse to why were the 32 children killed, it’s far likely that any of them were attacking the Alawites in power, kids don’t really care about power, money and religion, all they care about is love, food and playtime.

A chorus of international NGO’S as well as international organizations and Nation-States have all condemned the attacks and killing of civilians and children, however condemning alone will never solve this civil war in Syria. The whole complication is hard to comprehend for we foreigners to the State of Syria do not understand their deeply rooted heritage, belief systems and culture. Therefore taking sides is not doing them justice as the whole fight is a result of political power struggle. As brothers in humanity however something needs to be done to stop these killings without interfering in the internal affairs of the Syrian politics.

 That being said is it possible to really stop the killing in Syria using international force without interfering in Syria’s internal affair?? For from previous experiences this has never happened and any international interference has always brought in more complications to whether who benefits their Nation-State leaving the best interest of the Land and its inhabitant as the least important point when making decisions on an international level.