[Question] Who are you?
[Answer] I am an Arab living in Britain – see my About page.
[Q] Why are you blogging?
[A] Because I think my insight on life in Britain might be useful to Britons and foreigners alike – the Britons seem to labour under illusions of grandeur and are in general blind to their own foibles, while foreigners not living here deeply misunderstand what life in Britain is like.
[Q] Why did you come to Britain?
[A] Because of misfortune, and I remained here because of further misfortunes.
[Q] How long have you been living in Britain?
[A] Many years. I will not say precisely how many because I do not wish to be identified.
[Q] Why do you not wish to be identified?
[A] Readers of my weblog will gain nothing by knowing who I am. Besides, I wish to be entirely open and truthful on this weblog; however, if I were to identify myself I would have to censor what I write, for example about my work, family matters or the British government and its tentacles.
[Q] Do you like the British people?
[A] They have the good, the bad and the ugly, just like any other people.
[Q] What is best about the British?
[A] Compassion, especially towards animals. Also generosity – witness the extraordinary public response to the tsunami disaster in 2005.
[Q] What is worst about the British people?
[A] Arrogance, hypocrisy, ignorance, laziness, anti-intellectualism and servitude.
[Q] Servitude?
[A] Yes, see how they have sold their sovereignty to the United States. Also, see how they have allowed Israel to penetrate their political system so deeply. Wherever you look you will find "Friends of Israel" buying or influencing British politicians of all political colour, from the prime minister downwards. No proud people would allow their country to be turned into a vassal of other state like the British have.
[Q] Do you like living in Britain?
[A] No.
[Q] Why not?
[A] Because it is a grey, dank, sunless, miserable country whose few spots of beauty are overshadowd by lifeless, soulless villages, towns and cities dotted with utilitarian ugliness, beholden to tedious routine and inhabited by an asocial populace.
[Q] Why don't you go home, then?
[A] I have a duty to myself, which is to survive. Owing to misfortune and circumstance, I have been away in this wilderness for too long. This means that, if I returned home now, I would most likely be unemployed, perhaps for the remainder of my working life. And, of course, I would be treated with suspicion, thanks to my years out here in the wilderness.
[Q] So what will you do?
[A] I shall bide my time, as I always have. If relief from this wilderness does not come soon, then when I retire I shall pack up and go to live in an Arab country. Failing that, maybe I shall go to a southern European country, where the environment and the people are closer to my own. But it is a while yet until my retirement. So, I shall treat this torment like a prisoner treats a life sentence (even life sentences come to an end, unless you are in the United States).
[Q] Is there a message in this to Arabs and other peoples from the Third World who want to come to Britain?
[A] Yes: do not come here unless your life is in absolute and certain danger.
[Q] But Britain is one of the most desireable destinations for people from the Third World, including people from the Arab countries. Do you not think that you are the one who is out on a limb here, perhaps with an axe to grind?
[A] I have no axes to grind. The problem with Arabs and other Third World peoples is that they spend a fortune to come to this country because they believe, from films and false feedback sent by relatives or friends already in Britain, that once they are here they would become very rich, enjoy a great quality of life and then return home to live like kings. However, after they come here the reality of the British wilderness hits them hard but, to save face, they would tell friends and relatives that life here is good and that coming here was the best decision they had ever made. The remittances they send home, of course, would appear to confirm this. Sadly, they would be probably living in a slum or rotting in a bedsit, and they would keep on saving face with their lies until they themselves rot to death or drown in a quicksand of debt, drink, women and maybe even crime.
[Q] Are you describing your own life here?
[A] No, far from it. I live in a nice house, I have no mortgage and only a small credit card debt, I have a large salary and I live in one of the more respectable urban centres. But it is a life without soul or flavour. This is the best an immigrant can expect and it really is a futile, pointless, colourless existence. A fish’s life without water is no life. It is infinitely better to be in your own habitat, among your own people, than to rot in the wilderness.
