As part of a series of events from the “International Speaker Forum,” the San Diego State International Student Center hosted a speaker event called “A Conversation on Middle East Conflicts’’ on Tuesday.
The purpose of the forum was to enhance global learning and development through discussion
and dialogue.
Among Tuesday’s speakers were nuclear engineer Mehdi Sarram and mechanical engineering freshman Abdulaziz Al-hubail, an international student from Kuwait.
Born in Iran, Sarram came to the U.S. to study nuclear engineering. He was a researcher and assistant professor at the University of Tehran and had to flee the country during the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Al-hubail spoke about his home country of Kuwait and said people react with prejudice when they hear he’s from the Middle East.
“Some people have a misunderstanding of how Middle Easterners grow up. People think Middle Easterners are not even educated, and it’s actually a little offensive for us, “ Al-hubail said.
Al-hubail explained how his country isn’t the way Americans
perceive it.
“Kuwait has become a strong country in producing oil, which began in 1938,” Al-hubail said. “There was a big change in Kuwait and it is a very industrialized country.”
However, the Iraqi invasion led to a lot of casualties and destroyed a lot of land, resulting in people losing their homes, Al-hubail added.
Kuwait, one of the richest countries in the world, is seen as a country with no freedom of speech, according to Al-hubail.
However, he said Kuwait’s constitution states everyone is entitled to their own ideas and beliefs, especially in the parliament.
Al-hubail addressed another misconception people have regarding Kuwait and terrorism. He emphasized that Kuwait is a very small country that wants nothing
but peace.
Al-hubail said the reason there is a general misperception about Kuwait and the Middle East in general is because of the media’s portrayal of the region.
“Media discredits the reputation of Middle East; people don’t even know where Kuwait is, and when I say it’s in the Middle East, people’s faces change,’’ Al-hubail said.
