| GREG-STRANGE.COM |
"If you haven't found something strange during the
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
PROVIDING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTARY ON THE
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
Iranian Conference Asks The Question:
How Come Tourists Aren't Flocking To Islamic Countries?
It would appear that the Islamic Republic of Iran is fast
becoming the place in the Middle East for hosting important
conferences. For instance, there was that "Arab Conference of
Iraqi Neighbors" a while back, during which Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad imparted these words of wisdom to the
people in attendance: "The basic problem in the Islamic world
is the existence of the Zionist regime and the region must
mobilize to remove this problem." Nothing like a bunch of
friendly "Iraqi Neighbors" getting together at a conference on
friendly Iranian soil to hash out a solution to such pressing
problems.
Or how about that Holocaust conference they had a few months
ago during which they sought to settle once and for all the
"controversy" surrounding the supposed Jewish Holocaust by
declaring that, hey, it never happened and the whole thing's a
crock. It was all in the spirit of historical integrity, of course,
and once again the amicable President Ahmadinejad pleased
the attendees, and sent a message to people all around the
world, by saying: "Iran is your home and is the home of all
freedom seekers of the world. Here you can express your views
and exchange opinions in a friendly, brotherly and free
atmosphere."
But for some odd reason all that neighborliness, friendliness
and brotherly love isn't making much of an impression around
the globe and that fact led to the latest grand conference in
"the home of all freedom seekers of the world." It was the
"International Conference on Tourism of Islamic Countries,"
during which they tackled the perplexing problem of why
Islamic countries are only able to capture 13% of the world
tourism market.
Yep, it's a real forehead-slapper, all right. No, not that they're
only able to capture 13%, but that they're able to capture 13%.
Given what we see on the news every day, that they could
capture any statistically measurable percentage at all strains
credulity to the utmost.
Nonetheless, they claim there are actually four Islamic
countries that are among the top 25 in the world in terms of
tourism: Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Okay,
Turkey is on the Mediterranean, borders on Europe and is the
closest thing to a democracy (other than Israel) in the Middle
East, so that's not too surprising. Egypt has the pyramids.
Malaysia has seaside resorts galore and is thousands of miles
from the hotbed of the Middle East.
But Saudi Arabia? Who would go there? Hmm . . . Wait a
minute . . . I've got it. It's the annual pilgrimage to Mecca when
millions of Muslims engage in the Islamic equivalent of
Woodstock. But it's a bit of a stretch to call that tourism. In
fact, that's not tourism, that's fanaticism -- and fanaticism is
part of the reason Islamic countries have a problem attracting
tourism.
But dealing with the religious fanaticism that is behind so
much of what's wrong with Islamic countries, and is therefore
responsible for the lack of eager tourists, was not really on the
conference's agenda. According to one speaker, the lack of
tourism had more to do with "Western-orchestrated
propaganda about the situation in Islamic states."
You know, as if the West has to put together some clever and
misleading propaganda to make those places look bad. Here's
a typical tourism-related incident that occurred last month in
Saudi Arabia. A car load of French tourists were returning
from a trip into the desert and were fired upon from a passing
vehicle. Four of them were killed. When it comes to infidels,
they don't get much more innocuous than the French, but their
presence on holy Islamic soil was still too much to bear for
some of the rowdier local yokels. According to
travelindustryreview.com, "tourists have been subject to such
attacks in Saudi Arabia in the past."
Look, the Middle East has no shortage of beaches, sunny
weather and stunning natural beauty. The potential is there
for an economic bonanza that would make oil money look like
chicken feed. But there's just this one pesky and intractable
problem: Islam! That's right, conference attendees. Nobody
who isn't Islamic wants to go to an Islamic country on
vacation, and for some very practical reasons: it's practically
illegal to have fun, you're hated for being an infidel and your
personal safety is a total crap shoot.
The average infidel tourist likes to go somewhere and lay on the
beach with not much on, enjoy some frothy adult beverages
with little umbrellas and other silly adornments, and just
generally have a relaxing good time without having to worry
about the possibility of random shootings, suicide bombings or
being beheaded by some "Allahu Akbar!"-screaming jihadist
who is offended by the presence of a nonbeliever on sacred
Islamic soil.
These things aren't really that hard to figure out. And it's not
"Western-orchestrated propaganda," it's reality. The very fact
that any of it could be blamed on Western-orchestrated
propaganda is a blatant indication of the inhospitable
mentality of that part of the world.
I think we can safely say that the "International Conference on
Tourism of Islamic Countries" isn't going to lead to any
solutions to the stated problem since the only solution would
be that the Islamic countries become un-Islamic. When it
comes to tourism, non-Muslims will likely be vacationing on
Mars before they feel comfortable in the Middle East and other
Islamic realms.
In other words, don't expect to hear any infidels in the
foreseeable future saying things like, "C'mon, kids! We're doing
something different this year. We're going to an Islamic
country on vacation!" Unless . . .
Unless somebody drags Chevy Chase out of mothballs, spruces
him up a little and puts him in one last "Vacation" movie, this
time set in an Islamic country. Just imagine the potential for
goofy gags and hilarious scenarios. For instance, the whole
family could be kidnapped by a band of inept jihadists who
then set them up for a mass beheading to be broadcast live on
the Internet, when all of a sudden, right at the last minute, they
are saved by . . .
Well, I'll leave the particulars up to the screenwriters.
How Come Tourists Aren't Flocking To Islamic Countries?
It would appear that the Islamic Republic of Iran is fast
becoming the place in the Middle East for hosting important
conferences. For instance, there was that "Arab Conference of
Iraqi Neighbors" a while back, during which Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad imparted these words of wisdom to the
people in attendance: "The basic problem in the Islamic world
is the existence of the Zionist regime and the region must
mobilize to remove this problem." Nothing like a bunch of
friendly "Iraqi Neighbors" getting together at a conference on
friendly Iranian soil to hash out a solution to such pressing
problems.
Or how about that Holocaust conference they had a few months
ago during which they sought to settle once and for all the
"controversy" surrounding the supposed Jewish Holocaust by
declaring that, hey, it never happened and the whole thing's a
crock. It was all in the spirit of historical integrity, of course,
and once again the amicable President Ahmadinejad pleased
the attendees, and sent a message to people all around the
world, by saying: "Iran is your home and is the home of all
freedom seekers of the world. Here you can express your views
and exchange opinions in a friendly, brotherly and free
atmosphere."
But for some odd reason all that neighborliness, friendliness
and brotherly love isn't making much of an impression around
the globe and that fact led to the latest grand conference in
"the home of all freedom seekers of the world." It was the
"International Conference on Tourism of Islamic Countries,"
during which they tackled the perplexing problem of why
Islamic countries are only able to capture 13% of the world
tourism market.
Yep, it's a real forehead-slapper, all right. No, not that they're
only able to capture 13%, but that they're able to capture 13%.
Given what we see on the news every day, that they could
capture any statistically measurable percentage at all strains
credulity to the utmost.
Nonetheless, they claim there are actually four Islamic
countries that are among the top 25 in the world in terms of
tourism: Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Okay,
Turkey is on the Mediterranean, borders on Europe and is the
closest thing to a democracy (other than Israel) in the Middle
East, so that's not too surprising. Egypt has the pyramids.
Malaysia has seaside resorts galore and is thousands of miles
from the hotbed of the Middle East.
But Saudi Arabia? Who would go there? Hmm . . . Wait a
minute . . . I've got it. It's the annual pilgrimage to Mecca when
millions of Muslims engage in the Islamic equivalent of
Woodstock. But it's a bit of a stretch to call that tourism. In
fact, that's not tourism, that's fanaticism -- and fanaticism is
part of the reason Islamic countries have a problem attracting
tourism.
But dealing with the religious fanaticism that is behind so
much of what's wrong with Islamic countries, and is therefore
responsible for the lack of eager tourists, was not really on the
conference's agenda. According to one speaker, the lack of
tourism had more to do with "Western-orchestrated
propaganda about the situation in Islamic states."
You know, as if the West has to put together some clever and
misleading propaganda to make those places look bad. Here's
a typical tourism-related incident that occurred last month in
Saudi Arabia. A car load of French tourists were returning
from a trip into the desert and were fired upon from a passing
vehicle. Four of them were killed. When it comes to infidels,
they don't get much more innocuous than the French, but their
presence on holy Islamic soil was still too much to bear for
some of the rowdier local yokels. According to
travelindustryreview.com, "tourists have been subject to such
attacks in Saudi Arabia in the past."
Look, the Middle East has no shortage of beaches, sunny
weather and stunning natural beauty. The potential is there
for an economic bonanza that would make oil money look like
chicken feed. But there's just this one pesky and intractable
problem: Islam! That's right, conference attendees. Nobody
who isn't Islamic wants to go to an Islamic country on
vacation, and for some very practical reasons: it's practically
illegal to have fun, you're hated for being an infidel and your
personal safety is a total crap shoot.
The average infidel tourist likes to go somewhere and lay on the
beach with not much on, enjoy some frothy adult beverages
with little umbrellas and other silly adornments, and just
generally have a relaxing good time without having to worry
about the possibility of random shootings, suicide bombings or
being beheaded by some "Allahu Akbar!"-screaming jihadist
who is offended by the presence of a nonbeliever on sacred
Islamic soil.
These things aren't really that hard to figure out. And it's not
"Western-orchestrated propaganda," it's reality. The very fact
that any of it could be blamed on Western-orchestrated
propaganda is a blatant indication of the inhospitable
mentality of that part of the world.
I think we can safely say that the "International Conference on
Tourism of Islamic Countries" isn't going to lead to any
solutions to the stated problem since the only solution would
be that the Islamic countries become un-Islamic. When it
comes to tourism, non-Muslims will likely be vacationing on
Mars before they feel comfortable in the Middle East and other
Islamic realms.
In other words, don't expect to hear any infidels in the
foreseeable future saying things like, "C'mon, kids! We're doing
something different this year. We're going to an Islamic
country on vacation!" Unless . . .
Unless somebody drags Chevy Chase out of mothballs, spruces
him up a little and puts him in one last "Vacation" movie, this
time set in an Islamic country. Just imagine the potential for
goofy gags and hilarious scenarios. For instance, the whole
family could be kidnapped by a band of inept jihadists who
then set them up for a mass beheading to be broadcast live on
the Internet, when all of a sudden, right at the last minute, they
are saved by . . .
Well, I'll leave the particulars up to the screenwriters.