“They are an old country and people but have seemed to experience nothing but trouble”
Somalia is the country that introduced the “Zionism is racism” resolution in the UN.
Maybe that was a mistake...
It was stupid.
The countries over there are PUBLICALLY anti-Israel, but they all trade with them.
Example #1:
I was in the Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, in the camp cafeteria/kitchen, looking for the weekly menu and I saw some boxes being unloaded. They were FRESH FLOWERS.
We used to get fresh flowers from Lebanon but when the wars got so fierce, the fresh flowers stopped.
THESE boxes and boxes of fresh flowers were from Israel. The Star of David was CLEARLY printed on each box.
I made a comment about that to a young Pakistani unloading the box, asking him: "Do you SEE that? It's from Israel!"
He had NOT CLUE ONE about what I was saying.
Example #2: Coca Cola was not allowed on camp because the company traded with Israel. So we had "Kaki Kola," identical to the "real thing."
The local camp hairdresser was a Lebanese man. I didn't trust his talent so my husband and I would periodically fly over to Greece and I would have my hair done by a Greek hair stylist--all men, btw.
I remember one time, in an Athens beauty parlor, that there was a BEAUTIFUL young Saudi woman there at the same time as I was. I am blonde, by the way. She and the hairdresser were having a very serious discussion:
She wanted to be VERY, very blonde-blonde and the hairdresser was trying to convince her to go lighter via a red color. She had very dark hair, dark eyes, dark eyebrows and dark eyelashes. She would have looked DREADFUL as a blonde with all her darker tones, hair, skin, eyes, lashes and brows.
She was SO unhappy that he didn't want her to be blonde and they kept flipping the hair color pages...
She wanted BLONDE.
I left before their "discussion" was over. I felt sorry for her.
Sorry for droning on.