Based on my experiences and what I've heard, people that don't travel much are afraid and wary of these places, while the frequent traveler has no such concerns.
Yeah, that's generally my experience as well.
Forget stopping in Jordan or Dubai: "Wait, what? You're flying an Arab airline? Good luck man. They'll probably spit in your food. That is, if you have the balls to order a KSML. Wait, do they even have KSML? Yeah, forget spitting, they'll probably poison you. You probably won't even make it to Dubai. Dibs on your iPad."