By Feyza Gumusluoglu
Doha: The American celebrity of Saudi Arabia, Joshua Van Alstine known as ‘Abu Muteb Al Amriki’ moved to Qatar and helped cover National Day celebrations last week.
Son of an American father and raised by a Turkish mother, Al Amriki has been enjoying enormous fame across the Arabian Gulf. Wearing traditional clothes and speaking fluent Arabic with Saudi accent, he has become popular in the region over the past few years.
The 25-year-old Muslim American is not a native speaker of Arabic and started learning the language at University of North Texas, where he was surrounded by Saudi students. He first captured attention when he posted a video on YouTube in 2011, challenging Westerners to seek a better understanding of Islam. His videos about his life hanging out with the Saudis have spread.
His life changed in 2013, as he was offered a job by the Saudi Ministry of Education to develop a new TV channel. His acting career also started in the kingdom, as he took part in a famous Saudi TV soap opera.
Having over 150,000 followers on Twitter, and nearly 100,000 on Instagram, he was stopped during National Day celebrations by Arab fans keen to take selfies with him. He told this daily that he moved to Doha, and planned to start a new TV programme. His mission is to promote the Qatari culture, as he says he loves to show it to foreigners and expatriates. “I like to immerse them in the culture, history, food here. I enjoy doing this.”
The Peninsula
By Feyza Gumusluoglu
Doha: The American celebrity of Saudi Arabia, Joshua Van Alstine known as ‘Abu Muteb Al Amriki’ moved to Qatar and helped cover National Day celebrations last week.
Son of an American father and raised by a Turkish mother, Al Amriki has been enjoying enormous fame across the Arabian Gulf. Wearing traditional clothes and speaking fluent Arabic with Saudi accent, he has become popular in the region over the past few years.
The 25-year-old Muslim American is not a native speaker of Arabic and started learning the language at University of North Texas, where he was surrounded by Saudi students. He first captured attention when he posted a video on YouTube in 2011, challenging Westerners to seek a better understanding of Islam. His videos about his life hanging out with the Saudis have spread.
His life changed in 2013, as he was offered a job by the Saudi Ministry of Education to develop a new TV channel. His acting career also started in the kingdom, as he took part in a famous Saudi TV soap opera.
Having over 150,000 followers on Twitter, and nearly 100,000 on Instagram, he was stopped during National Day celebrations by Arab fans keen to take selfies with him. He told this daily that he moved to Doha, and planned to start a new TV programme. His mission is to promote the Qatari culture, as he says he loves to show it to foreigners and expatriates. “I like to immerse them in the culture, history, food here. I enjoy doing this.”
The Peninsula
