Desert-Bound Marines Learn ABCs of How Not to Offend

Along with their chemical weapons gear, U.S. Marines bound for the Middle East are receiving a quick Emily Post course on how to avoid ugly Americanisms in a foreign land.

Don’t pass the bread with your left hand. Never give the “A-OK” sign. Refrain from gawking. If introduced to an Arab man--women are out of the question--stand close to him. Very close. And don’t be startled if he takes your hand.

That was some of the advice given to 50 Marines at Camp Pendleton on Thursday--an almost humorous element of training that otherwise has focused on weapons and gas masks and acclimation to searing desert heat.

But for these Marines, sitting in rapt attention in a large conference room--some taking copious notes--the advice was intended to ease the merging of cultures suddenly joined by the possibility of war.

The Marines are likely to wind up in the Persian Gulf, where the surrounding nations are known for the strict practice of Islam. This is particularly true in Saudi Arabia, where the bulk of the American troops are stationed and where religion permeates everyday life.

Never cross your legs when sitting among Arabs, warned Navy Cmdr. Stanley B. Scott, because exposing the underside of your shoes to your guest is an insult something akin to swearing, “Camel dung on you!”

When Muslims set out their prayer rugs at midday in a public area, do not take pictures and do not gawk. Keep walking, but take the long way around behind them, he advised.

If you should be invited into a Muslim’s home in that part of the world, don’t expect to see any women. They’ll be in the kitchen, strictly off limits to visitors. And if you come across a Muslim woman in public, don’t even think about asking her what she’s doing tonight.

If you compliment an Arab on his headdress, expect him to promptly offer it to you as a gift. Not only had you better accept, Scott said, but you’d better offer a reciprocal gift--your own hat.

And so it went Thursday at Camp Pendleton, with Scott giving another of his two- or three-times-daily briefings to Marines about Middle Eastern culture and etiquette.

Scott, a United Methodist minister and senior chaplain to the 1st Marine Division headquartered at Camp Pendleton, spent three years in Bahrain and traveled throughout the Middle East, making him an expert of sorts on Arab customs and culture. For the past two weeks, he’s been holding forth daily for as many as 600 Marines at a time about how they should behave off-duty as guests in Saudi Arabia.

His remarks mirrored the contents of a 40-page booklet produced by the Army and already distributed to U.S. service personnel overseas, covering such subjects as how to greet Arab men and warning that joining your forefinger and thumb and waving doesn’t mean everything’s A-OK. It’s a curse.

For his part, Scott talked of such things as Arab speaking patterns, native dress, marriage and family values, food, drink and religious practices.

He said he wanted to sensitize Marines to what they may face, adding:

“I’m worried about how we’ll be received. Not the short term, but how we’ll get along with them down the road, 10 years from now.”

Don’t beckon an Arab by pointing at him palm up and curling your fingers upward. That’s how you get a dog’s attention, he said; for an Arab, turn your palm down, then curl your fingers back toward you.

Don’t figure on sharing a bottle of wine or popping a six-pack, because the Koran, the Muslims’ holy book, has declared alcohol taboo--along with adultery, fornication, pornography and the eating of pork. If invited into an Arab’s home, plan on drinking coffee or tea.

Never pass a plate or bowl with your left hand, Scott admonished. The left hand is traditionally reserved for sanitary functions, and to use it when offering food or drink is the basest of insults.

He advised Marines not to take boom boxes or rock ‘n’ roll cassette tapes to Saudi Arabia, and the Marine Corps already has notified families not to send any photos of nude or even semi-nude women to the men overseas--including pictures of wives and girlfriends clad in bathing suits--because Middle Eastern culture frowns on it.

Lance Cpl. Ken Johnson acknowledged after the 30-minute briefing that he and his buddies were a little put off about the prospects for enjoying free time in Saudi Arabia, if they’re destined to go there. “The guys are asking each other, what are we going to do with ourselves? I guess build sandcastles.”