traveling in the middle east?

What are some American-friendly middle eastern arab countries? (and Plz dont say Turkey) I want to visit that region someday but I dont want to go to some of the more violent countries. What about Jordan? Cyprus?

If Moroccon is french or spanish-friendly middle eastern then if American i would say Jordan or UAE.

Morroco is NOT middle eastern.. its North African.. dont confuse arab with middle eastern...
middle eastern includes.. Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, SaudiArabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, and Syria.... Some include Egypt in this, but Egypt is N. African also...
the tourist destination hot spot at the moment is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates... its the best currently...

I live in Oman now and Omanis are generally friendly to all Westerners. They didn't (still don't) have any issues with the West, they have stable economy (oil rich country) and Sultan Qaboos (the ruler) has quite open-minded approach towards the West. Apart for that, the country is really lovely place to visit, great natural and historic places to see and not over-exploited as some other tourist destinations here (as Dubai).
I'm European expat here and never have had any problems with any kind of violence.

Definitely Jordan ......
Very safe too....
Alot of attractions there....
Nice people....
With any country always leave your belongings beside you...
Never trust a seller of an item in an outside market to send somebody off with your money to get you change, most likely they wont come back and the seller knows you cant prove it, its happening in alot of places...
Do alot of bargaining if you look like your not from the country they will triple the price, give them a price you want for it, if they dont accept pretend to walk off, most of the time they call you back and give it to you for the price you wanted, you have to show them that your not stupid if you know what i mean..Here are some links for you on Jordan...
Enjoy, Hope you like it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRLsN9maDCk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpTObF3vt3M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxHfcRld144&feature=related

Cyprus is not in the middle east and it's definitely not Arabic!

UAE (Dubai) is very nice place to visit & very friendly. You'd see there many different people. The UAE citizens are the minority, but they are surely nice & very friendly.

Jordan is interestng, so is Egypt, & Lebanon. Don't believe the news, after all a large part of the Lebanese population is Christian.

Kuwaitis are very friendly, especially with the Americans. But you could see it all in a week or less. Best place there is the memorial museum (Also known as the war museum)

Yes Egypt is not technicaly Middle Eastern.. it is North African by geography, but much of the culture is shared with middle eastern countries......
Come to Egypt!!! It is very safe here! And I guarantee you will have a fantastic time...especially if you come in the winter months..now it is too hot. There is very little crime here compared to the US, and they have a special police force protecting the tourists called tourist police just in case.
People traveling here with foriegn visas such as American or Euro or Australia are even safer than the locals because of the big business relationships forged between your countries.
Most people in Cairo and other tourist locations in Egypt speak at least some english..so it isn't hard to communicate.
There is so much to see here, that it could be a very long holiday. Also it is not exspensive. One american dollar equals 5.3 egyptian le (pound). 2 le buys a can of coke, lux apartments on the beach in marsemetrough rent for 1000 le for a week and include every convenience. not to mention great views of turqouise water framed by borgonvelia bushes.

Egypt is a cultural travelers goldmine..check out the answers in egypt section

Middle East is almost all nice and friendly.
I should say that the best destination in Middle east are:
-Jordan . with Amman the capital city, Petra de hidden, pink old city in middle of the desert, Acqaba, an important beach on the Red Sea.
-Lebanon..historic places like Byblos, Baalbeck, Tyr all of them with great buildings from the Roman Empire times.
Saida, with the Crusades' castle....Faraya, and The Cedars with the ski slopes in winter, visited by pple from all over the world, and Beirut, the capital, with an amazing night life.
-Gulf countries: Oman, Bahrain, Qatar,Kuwait and Emirates.
All of this countries are friendly, and although what Media says, it's safe and very enjoyable to go and visit them.
I did it last march....and will do it again next year.
Another places that are so nice but arent in Middle East are Egypt (north africa) and Cyprus...in front of the Turkish coasts.

[ladynj]

I would say Jordan is the every interesting and safe country in a Middle East. You can combine Jordan with the neighboring Israel, which is being Middle Eastern is not Arabic country though. Nevertheless, it is safe and amazing destination. Travel in the footsteps of Jesus from Jerusalem to the Galilee and beyond. And if you are so much concern about the safety why don’t you consult one of the travel professionals? I can recommend you a tour operator, the expert in Middle East, Isram World of Travel. Travel safe and in style.