Not sure if "geographic discrimination" is in any way better than "racism" but using terms correctly is required for good communication.
So if that individuals distrust towards the Arabian peninsula begins in the exact year Islam began to spread, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that OP is an Islamaphobe (and it would include a number of North African countries as well)
TLDR: OP is using geography as a dog whistle.
It so happens that the large majority of these governments are in Muslim-majority countries, where Islam is the 'state religion' (I have a problem with 'state religions' too). Therefore, a reasonable conclusion: it is that particular religion that demands these of its adherents (and worse, non-adherents), and therefore, I mistrust it.
> a number of North African countries as well
For the record, I have little problem with Tunisia.
> I'll be frank: I have a deep mistrust of any culture present in the Arabian peninsula since about 632 CE.
Enough said. This isn’t an informed opinion
Another HN post today motivated me to look up the history of British blasphemy law and it turns out it was not medieval. Criminal blasphemy laws appeared right at the end of the Middle Ages (at least in England and Wales) so are mostly modern. Before that the punishment for blasphemy was excommunication.