The comment was hardly xenophobic; having worked in the region for a couple of years myself, I know that even in spite of the best official intentions, people on the ground often don't adhere to the rules. Of course this happens everywhere in the world, including in the West, but then most Western airlines - and everyone knows what that term means - have a safety record which is far superior to most airlines from other parts of the world.
Airlines in the Gulf region do tend to have excellent safety records (exluding Saudi, of course), but seeing the routine breach of rules and regulations that occurs every day here in front of one's eyes, it is not a stretch to begin to wonder if similar breaches are occurring in other fields as well.