So much for hating us for our freedom. As much as we hear about Middle Easterners hating Americans, they obviously don’t have a problem with our television, music and fashion:

MTV Arabia, a new 24-hour free satellite channel, will begin broadcasting in Arabic across the Middle East on Nov. 16. The Viacom-owned network’s flagship show, Hip HopNa (”my hip-hop”), will be co-hosted by Saudi rapper Qusai Khidr and Palestinian-American producer Farid Nassar, aka Fredwreck, who has worked with Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and other marquee names. The show will visit 10 cities across the Middle East in search of talent, giving would-be Arab rap stars an international platform.

. . .

How will the likes of Justin Timberlake and Rihanna go down in a region that’s not exactly brimming with goodwill toward Americans? Better than you might think. Middle Eastern youth may not agree with U.S. politics, but they can’t get enough of Western music and fashion.

Indeed, James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, says, “[G]o to any mall in Saudi Arabia, and you’ll see kids in jeans and baseball caps hanging out at Starbucks and McDonald’s.”

Viacom has signed a 10-year licensing deal between MTV Networks and Tecom Investments, controlled by Dubai’s ruler. On Oct. 12, Viacom planned to announce another decade-long licensing deal with Tecom for children’s channel Nickelodeon Arabia. That’s set for the second half of 2008, and the company reckons an Arabic version of Comedy Central won’t be far behind.

Somehow, I’m thinking there probably won’t be an Arab Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert hitting the airwaves any time in the near future, though.

Maram Alhabib[, a 23-year-old Saudi studying special education at Jeddah’s Dar Al Hekma University,] loves metal group Seether and American alternative band Three Doors Down, but she finds many music videos to be too provocative. “The Arab channels are boring, they all play the same music and a lot of the videos…are all about seduction,” she says. “If MTV focuses on music and issues Arabs care about, people will watch.”

Good luck with that. We can’t even get MTV to focus on music here in the States.