Anti-Arab racism

Anti-Arabism is prejudice or hostility against Arabs. Anti-Arab sentiment may be expressed in negative stereotypes. This happens, in particular, when Arabs are deindividualized and portrayed as intolerant, backward and violent, while positive aspects of Arab culture are ignored.

In the Western world, Anti-Arab feelings are complicated by issues of Middle Eastern politics. As in the case of anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews), hatred of Arabs is different from political opposition to the policies of Arab states. In Europe the perception of Arabs as foreigners often results in their discrimination and social isolation. In the USA, incorrect conflation of Arabs and Muslims adds to a stigma held especially after September 11, when some Muslims (and therefore Muslim-majority Arabs) have been viewed as potential terrorists.

Terminology

Owing to the etymology of the term anti-Semitism, some argue that anti-Arabism, as well as miso-Judaism, constitutes anti-Semitism. To make clear that the prefix anti- in anti-Semitism does not imply "against Semitism" and the term anti-Semitism almost always means "hatred of Jews", some scholarly authorities of the subject (such as Emil Fackenheim and Yehuda Bauer, among others) prefer the unhyphenated form antisemitism. Using the term anti-Semitism to refer to anti-Arab sentiment is likely to cause confusion.

Anti-Arabism in the U.S.

According to a 2001 poll of Arab Americans conducted by the Arab American Institute

"32% of Arab Americans reported having been subjected to some form of ethnic-based discrimination during their lifetimes, 20% reported having experienced an instance of ethnic-based discrimination since September 11. Most affected were the vulnerable parts of my community. Of special concern, for example, is the fact that 45% of students and 37% of Arab Americans of the Muslim faith report being targeted by discrimination since September 11.[1]

According to the FBI and Arab groups, the number of attacks against Arabs, Muslims, and others mistaken as such rose considerably after the 9/11 attacks. [2] Among the victims of the backlash was a Middle Eastern man in Houston, Texas who was shot and wounded after an assailant accused him of blowing up the country [3] and four immigrants shot and killed by a man named Larme Price who confessed to killing them as revenge for the 9/11 attacks.[4] Although Price described his victims as Arabs, only one was from an Arab country.

Arab Americans also experienced backlash as result of other terrorist attacks including the bombings of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and even in events where Arabs were not involved like the Oklahoma City bombing, Iranian hostage crisis, and the explosion of TWA Flight 800. According to a report prepared by the Arab American Institute "In just three days after the Oklahoma City bombing...more than 200 serious hate crimes were committed against Arab Americans and American Muslims. The same was true in the days following September 11."

Prominent conservative commentators in the United States have voiced hostility towards Arabs. Ann Coulter publicly used the epithet "raghead" at a national Republican party event and has said of Muslims "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity" [5], [6]. Bill O'Reilly has described Iraqis as a "prehistoric group" and "primitive" [[7]].

Anti-Arabism among Iranians

Anti-Arabism in Iran is related to the notion that Arabs forced Persians to accept Islam in 7th Century AD.

Many anti-Arab Iranians begrudge Arabs for bringing down the Sassanid Empire. Author Richard Foltz in his article "Internationalization of Islam" states "Even today, many Iranians perceive the Arab destruction of the Sassanid empire as the single greatest tragedy in Iran’s long history."

Anti-Arabism amongst Hindus

Anti-Arab (and anti-Muslim) sentiments exist with many Hindus in India and abroad (particularily with those who subscribe to the Hindutva ideology), as the first offensive invasions by Muslims into India were carried out by Arabs, including Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef and Muhammad bin Qasim, who insisted that those who were not People of the Book be killed or enslaved. This legacy of Islamic invasions was carried on by Turks (Mughal, Khilji dynasty), Afghans (Delhi Sultanate).

Anti-Arabism in Israel

A recent poll conducted by an Israeli research institute [8] has revealed widespread anti-Arab hostility in Israel. Large proportions of respondents were in favour of segregation and encouraging Arabs to leave. 63% believed Arabs to be a "security and demographic threat" to Israel and "more than two thirds" would not want to live in the same building as an Arab. 36% believed Arab culture to be inferior and 18% felt hatred when they heard Arabic spoken.

The Israeli political party Yisrael Beitenu, whose platform involves redrawing Israel's borders to include about 500,000 Israeli Arabs in a Palestinian state, won 11 seats in the 2006 Israeli elections and may form part of a coalition government alongside Kadima. This policy has been described as "anti-Arab" by The Guardian [9]. Labour party chairman Amir Peretz, referring to Yisrael Beitenu, has said "Anyone who opposes racism must not let the extreme right-wing bloc run Israel" [10].

Israeli politicians and leaders often use strong language when discussing Arabs and Palestinians. In 2004, Yehiel Hazan, an Israeli member of parliament, declared at the Knesset that "The Arabs are worms. You find them everywhere like worms, underground as well as above." and went on to describe them as "murderers" and "terrorists". [11], [12]. Raphael Eitan, former Israel Army Chief, once said "When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle." [13]. In 2004, then Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim asked "What is it about Islam as a whole and the Palestinians in particular? Is it some form of cultural deprivation? Is it some genetic defect? There is something that defies explanation in this continued murderousness." [14].

In Western media

After the end of the Cold War, American films (such as Hot Shots or True Lies) generated controversy over what some considered a disproportionate number of Arab villains in American movies. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center there were reports of assaults on individuals who either were or were perceived to be Arab. These reports were generally given national prominence in the US media, and US President George W. Bush issued a statement condemning the incidents.

Anti-Arabism in polls

France

In March 1990, according to a poll reported in Le Monde:

• 76% of those polled said that there were too many Arabs in France (46% said there were too many blacks);
• 39% said they had an "aversion" to Arabs (21% to blacks). [15]

Groups that fight against discrimination

There are a number of Arab American groups in the USA and Europe that work to protect the civil rights of Arabs, and fight against anti-Arab discrimination, such as the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Many Jewish groups have committed themselves to rejecting Anti-Arab prejudice. The Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform Judaism) states that "Our commitment to the State of Israel also implies a commitment to helping it realize values which we as liberal Jews hold dear; peace with her neighbors and full civil, human and religious rights for all citizens, Jews, Muslims, Christians and others. Whether or not we or those dear to us are living there, our commitment to the State should impel us to work with those in and outside the Land to achieve the vision of a society in which Reform Jewish values and practices can help create a better life for all. Peace, of course, does not merely mean the signing of peace treaties, as much as we have longed for that, but for the establishment of political, economic and cultural relations with Israel's neighbors which can create a peace which will enhance the lives of all the citizens of the region." (Source: Commentary to the Pittsburgh Principles of Reform Judaism)

The Israel organization Rabbis for Human Rights is dedicated to promoting peace, and ending what it sees as anti-Arab discrimination in Israel.

The Anti-Defamation League, (ADL) dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, gave this response shortly after the terrorist attacks on 9-11. "We are disturbed that a number of Arab Americans and Islamic institutions have been targets of anger and hatred in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. At this time of profound anger and anxiety, no group in this country should be singled out for hatred, prejudice or blame based on their ethnicity or religion. Threats, harassment or acts of hate-motivated violence against members of a group are un-American and must be forcefully condemned. In laying blame on an entire people, we undermine our nation's core values of equality and respect for the individual."

During July 2003 the Anti-Defamation League urged the Speaker of the United States' House of Representatives to approve a bill condemning bigotry and violence against Arab-Americans and American Muslims. (The bill was resolution 234.) The American Jewish Committee, and American Jewish Congress have issued similar responses.

There are many organizations working to end Anti-Arab bias among Israelis, as well as to end Anti-Semitic bias among Arabs.

Examples of anti-Arab incidents

• Earl Krugel and Irv Rubin, two members of the Jewish Defense League, a militant organization commonly identified as an anti-Arab "hate group," planned to bomb Arab-American Congressman Darrell Issa's office and the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, California. The two were arrested as part of a sting operation when they received a shipment of explosives at Krugel's home in L.A. and both met their end in prison. [16]
• Anti-Arab graffiti has been spraypainted in Jerusalem.
• Anti-Arab riots spread in Sydney, Australia in December 2005.
• ADC member Alex Odeh was assassinated by a pipe-bomb that the FBI has identified JDL members as planting [17]

See also

• Arab
• Anti-Semitism
• Islamophobia
• Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs

Organizations

• Anti-Defamation League
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

References

• J. G. Shaheen, Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood vilifies a people, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 588 (July 2003), 171-193. Also see an interview with the author.

• Testimony of Dr. James J. Zogby to the US Commission on Civil Rights October 12, 2001. With an appendix of hate-based incidents, Sept. 11 to Oct. 10, 2001.

External links

• An October 2001 report on civil liberties in the U.S. including an appendix of some anti-Arab hate-based incidents
• Rabbis for Human Rights
• ADL statement against Anti-Arab prejudice
• ADL Urges House of Representatives to Consider Resolution Protecting Arabs, South Asians, Muslims and Sikhs
• AJC statement on avoiding stereotyping or scapegoating
• AJC deplores slander against Palestinian Arabs
• Al Jazeera article: What do Israelis say about the Arabs
• The American Gulag - A record of anti-Arab bigotry in America