Reading the recent news of a British woman arrested in UAE, Bassam is reminded of a stand-up comedy show he recently saw on TV, and the culturally ignorant vitriol that followed. respecting other cultures, he argues, really isn’t that hard.

Respecting cultures comes from people’s education. Before I came to the U.S. I learned as much information as I could about the American culture and how to respect people’s traditions. If I hadn’t done that, I could have easily disrespected people here and be condemned and spelled out of the society.