A futuristic classroom at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. KAUST is becoming a jealousy magnet.

A futuristic classroom at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. KAUST is becoming a jealousy magnet.

TechCrunch just published a piece about the inauguration of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology(KAUST). This institution is absolutely marvelous by all accounts. Not only does it have a $10BN endowment, one of the largest of any institution in the Islamic world,  it also has state of the art facilities, ranging from the world’s 15th most powerful supercomputer (Shaheen), to a nano tech fabrication lab  and the world’s highest resolution immersive visualization display. And these wonders are just the beginning. A lot more lies in wait for students and researchers. Shaheen, for example, will continue to be upgraded and will climb the world supercomputer rankings rapidly. Last but not least, the campus itself, built on 30 sq km, is beautiful.

So, when TechCrunch sent a correspondent to cover the launch of the University and King Abdullah’s inaugural address, I expected that the event would attract the right sort of attention; folks interested in education, and happy to see progress and development. Unfortunately, the reactions on TechCrunch have been largely ugly, to say the least. The very first comment on the post involved filth and abuse, and it just got worse from there. At last count, the majority of the comments on this article were all hate speech against Saudi Arabia, muslim countries and basically, everyone who is not “western”. (“West” here is used loosely and includes a tiny patch by the mediterranean that considers itself part of the “west”)

So, is there any method to this madness? Any logical explanation for these outbursts of anger? And those too, on a simple, positive story like the inauguration of a centre of higher learning where many students from western countries are enrolled! Once again, not all western audiences exhibit these reactions, but such a sizeable number do that its worrisome nonetheless. What’s more, many of these disparaging comments are so obviously based on ignorance that they could only stem from deeprooted racial stereotypes perpetuated in western societies about muslims, Islam and the Middle  East. Deeply disturbing.

The one twist to all of this is that the negative commentary doesn’t always come from pure unabashed hatred built upon ignorance, it also comes from those who DO realize that muslim countries are progressing, but the only response they can muster to this is seething jeaolousy. When much of the world is suffering from a recession and university budgets in the US are being slashed, a brand new University such as KAUST would understandably raise eyebrows. When  after 8 years and several trillion dollars invested in the Afghanistan campaign, Gen. Stanley McChrystal declares  the situation for NATO to be near to a dead loss, and then the Pakistan Army proceeds to clean out Swat in 90 days,  there are bound to be comparisons. These comparisons may even evoke emotion. But why the tirades have to be so racially motivated and wreaking of frustration and hatred, I don’t understand.

The only time this happens is when those reacting either have  too many chips on their collective shoulder and suffer from a growing sense of insecurity, or when they see the  writing on the wall with respect to their own prospects and can’t face  reality with any semblance of sanity. Whatever it is, it is certainly sad. I don’t advise it, but if you wish to witness this sadness first hand, hop on over to the comments section of the TechCrunch article in question.