Lessons about Arab culture...From Robert Fisk. "He described the Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad as "a monkey, a snake and a butcher" (comparing humans to animals is a particularly cruel insult in the Arab world)". Yes, Mr. Fisk. Comparing humans to animals is a particularly cruel insult in the Arab world, but nowhere else. Again, learning from New York Times and Robert Fisk about Arab culture, I obviously wanted to test that theory myself. So I left my house and met my neighbor (the same neighbor at whom I threw shoes last week only to learn that it is not insulting in American culture to throw shoes at somebody's face). I started comparing my neighbor to animals: I invoked monkeys, cows, slime, and pigs. To my surprise, my neighbor smiled widely, and then chuckled. But he explained: My Arab neighbor; o Arab neighbor. Comparing humans to animals is only insulting in Arab culture, but not in American culture. In fact, in US culture, this is considered quite tender and affectionate. I was slightly surprised, but pleased: that I learned about Arab culture what I knew not before, and all thanks to Robert Fisk.