Edward T. Hall wrote several books describing cultural differences. For instance the German culture gets unglued if you go about moving furniture around. They have thick doors and want things to stay put. His description of the Arab culture went something like this:
He was sitting in a nearly deserted train station when an Arab came and stood right by him, making him quite uncomfortable and forcing him to move to a new location. He reported that their way is to just get nearer and nearer and nudge the other person out of their space...for instance in a movie theatre, standing RIGHT BEHIND your seat
until you are uncomfortable and move away and they have the seat. In this way they edge to the best seat. I think this cultural aspect is intersting in light of this mosque issue. The nearness or distance is VERY meaningful to them I think.
He also said they do not have a word that translates to “borders” and that instead they are defined by family groupings rather than by geography. They have a huge aversion to having their right of way cut off when they are moving forward which translates roughly to the way we feel about having our space bubble penetrated.
Very interesting books, but written quite a few years ago so some cultural things may have changed.
I lived in a Muslim country for a couple of years. At the post office, there is no such thing as waiting your turn in line. They just edge right in—right in front of you. It used to burn me up. By the time I finally got to the counter, I was absolutely fuming. Their business is SO much more important than yours, I guess.
Their traffic consists of pounding on the horn and every man for himself. There is no orderliness or procedure to it—it makes someone like me nuts.
They also BUILD a Mosque where they have had a VICTORY...witness the Temple Mount!!