Arab-Lands & The Brain Drain

There are no exact figures of how many Arabs live in diaspora. Regardless of the numbers, there are many challenges facing Arabs in diaspora, especially the relationship with the motherland/fatherland.

First generation Arab emigrants are caught between their love for the motherland/fatherland that on hand increased by leaps and bounds following emigration and a resentment stemming from feelings of betrayal, of being driven out by what they perceive as unfavorable circumstances if not true hardship.

After an initial period of nostalgia and a degree of culture shock, many emigrant Arabs begin the slow process of acculturation/assimilation into their adoptive countries. In their “self-imposed” exile, they face daily the love-hate feelings towards their motherland and/or fatherland.

Memory polishes events, people and places. Memory plays tricks on the mind. The things that used to irritate Arabs-in-diaspora about the motherland/fatherland seem so trivial after a few months abroad. They start forgetting or minimizing the bitterness that drove them away and remembering only the sweet things about motherland/fatherland. Nostalgia makes the memory both deceptive and selective.

Advertisements