Anti-Arabism
Anti-Arabism is
prejudice or
hostility against
Arabs. According to
The Guardian, "anti-Arabism" is considered to be the same as anti-Arab racism and the terms are used interchangeably in the media
[Whitaker, Brian. Why the 'rules' of racism are different for Arabs, The Guardian.].
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. 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, the
Iranian hostage crisis, and the explosion of
TWA Flight 800.[
5] 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."[
6]
Eric Boehlert has accused the US media, in particular
Fox News, of "pandering to anti-Arab hysteria" by "fudging the facts and ignoring the most rudimentary tenets of journalism in their haste to better tell a sinister story about lurking Middle Eastern dangers".
[Boehlert, Eric. The prime-time smearing of Sami Al-Arian Salon.com] John F. Sugg has accused prominent media terrorism expert
Steve Emerson of persistent anti-Arab prejudice and of rushing to accuse Arab-Americans after the
Oklahoma City bombing.
[ Sugg, John F. Steven Emerson's Crusade, Fair]Prominent conservative commentators in the United States have voiced hostility towards Arabs.
Bill O'Reilly has described Iraqis as a "prehistoric group" and "primitive" [
7].
Michael Savage described Arabs as "non-humans" and "racist, fascist bigots" and advocated a nuclear attack on a "major Arab capital"
[ Savage: Arabs are "non-humans" and "racist, fascist bigots". Media Matters, Fri, May 14, 2004. Accessed April 8, 2006.].
Earl Krugel and
Irv Rubin, two members of the
Jewish Defense League, classifed by some as a hate group[
8], 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. [
9]. The group was also suspected in the 1985 bombing of ADC leader
Alex Odeh, though no arrests were made [
10].
The
Cronulla riots in
Sydney, Australia in December 2005. NSW Premier
Morris Iemma said the violence revealed the "ugly face of racism in this country"
[Malcolm Brown and Dan Silkstone. Fresh violence rocks Sydney, The Age]. It has also been described as "anti-Arab racism" by community leaders [
11].
A 2004 report by the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission said that more than two-thirds of Muslim and Arab Australians say they have experienced racism or racial vilification since the
September 11 terrorist attacks and that 90 percent of female respondents experienced racial abuse or violence.
[Delaney, Brigid and Cynthia Banham. Muslims feel the hands of racism tighten around them. Sydney Morning Herald, June 17, 2004. Accessed April 8, 2006. ]Iran is a multi-ethnic society with its Arab minority mainly located in the south (
see: Arabs of Khuzestan). The constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Iran provides for the teaching of non-Persian languages and non-Persian media and equal rights, without privileging any race, colour or linguistic group (
see: Current policy towards ethnic minorities in Iran). Arabs are therefore granted legal equality with other Iranian ethnic groups. However, human rights group Amnesty International claims that in practice, Arabs are among a number of ethnic minorities that are disadvantaged and suffer discrimination by the authorities.[
12] How far the situation facing Arabs in Iran is related to racism or simply a result of policies suffered by all Iranians is a matter of debate (
see: Ethnic politics of Khuzestan).
It is claimed by some, that Anti-Arabism in Iran may be related to the notion that Arabs forced
Persians to accept
Islam in 7th Century
AD (
See: Islamic conquest of Persia). 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. [
13] (
See also: Anti-Persian sentiments) Following the
Islamic Conquest of Persia, many Iranians (also known as "
mawali") came to despise the Umayyids due to discrimination against them by their Arab rulers. The
Shu'ubiyah movement intended to reassert Iranian identity and resisting attempts to impose Arab culture while reaffirming their commitment to Islam.
More recently, Anti-Arabism has arisen as a consequence of aggression against Iran by the regime of
Saddam Hussein in
Iraq. During a visit to
Khuzestan, which has most of Iran's Arab population, one British journalist, John R Bradley wrote that despite the fact that the majority of Arabs supported Iran in the war, "ethnic Arabs complain that, as a result of their divided loyalties during the Iran-Iraq war, they are viewed more than ever by the clerical regime in Tehran as a potential fifth column, and suffer from a policy of discrimination."[
14]. However, the role Iran's Arab population played in defending Iran during the
Iran-Iraq War and the fact that most refused to heed Saddam Hussein's call for an uprising and instead fought against Iraq is known to many.[
15]Furthermore, Iran's former defence minister
Ali Shamkhani, an Ahwazi Arab, was chief commander of the ground force during the Iran-Iraq War as well as serving as first deputy commander of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In a report published in February 2006, Amnesty International claimed that the "Arab population of Iran is one of the most economically and socially deprived in Iran" and that Arabs have "reportedly been denied state employment under the gozinesh criteria". Furthermore, it states
land expropriation by the Iranian authorities is reportedly so widespread that it appears to amount to a policy aimed at dispossessing Arabs of their traditional lands. This is apparently part of a strategy aimed at the forcible relocation of Arabs to other areas while facilitating the transfer of non-Arabs into Khuzestan and is linked to economic policies such as zero interest loans which are not available to local Arabs. [
16]
However, critics of these reports have pointed out that such reports are often based on sketchy sources and are not always to be trusted at face value (see:
Criticism of human rights reports on Khuzestan). Furthermore, critics contend that Arabs do have social mobility in Iran, with a number of famous Iranians from the worlds of arts, sport, literature and politics having Arab origins (see:
Famous Iranian Arabs) illustrating Arab-Iranian participation in Iranian economics, society, and politics. Khuzestan province where most of Iran's Arabs live is actually one of the most economically advanced provinces of Iran, more advanced than many of the Persian-populated provinces.
Some critics of the Iranian government contend that it is carrying out a policy of anti-Arab
ethnic cleansing.[
17] [
18] While there has been large amounts of investment in industrial projects such as the
Razi Petrochemical Complex [
19], local universities [
20],[
21][
22], and other national projects such as hydroelectric dams (such as the Karkeh Dam, which cost $700 million to construct) and nuclear power plants [
23], many critics of Iran's economic development policies have pointed to the poverty suffered by Arabs in Khuzestan as proof of an anti-Arab policy agenda. Following his visit to Khuzestan in July 2005, UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing Miloon Kothari spoke of how up to 250,000 Arabs had been displaced by such industrial projects and noted the favourable treatment given to settlers from Yazd compared to the treatment of local Arabs.[
24]
However, it is also true that non-Arab provinces such as
Kohkiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad Province,
Sistan and Baluchistan Province, and neighboring
Ilam Province also suffer high levels of poverty, indicating that government policy is not disadvantaging Arabs alone but other regions, including some with large ethnically Persian populations. Furthermore, most commentators agree that Iran's state controlled highly subsidized economy [
25][
26] is the main reason behind the inability of the Iranian government to generate economic growth and welfare at ground levels in all cities across the nation, rather than a state ethnic policy targeted specifically at Arabs; Iran is ranked 156th on the
Heritage Foundation's 2006 Index of Economic Freedom.
During the 2000
October riots, thousands of Jewish Israelis rioted in
Nazareth and
Tel Aviv, throwing stones at Arabs, destroying Arab property and chanting "Death to Arabs"
. Two Arabs were killed in the violence and
Haaretz editorialized that that year's "Yom Kippur will be infamous for the violent, racist outburst by Jews against Arabs within Israel"
.
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, though it did not form part of the coalition government. This policy has been described as "anti-Arab" by
The Guardian . 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"
[[27].]Some Israeli politicians and leaders have used negative 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".
[Israeli MP: Arabs are worms] [ADL Dismayed At Offensive Remarks Made By Member of Israeli Knesset].
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."
[BBC: Former Israeli army chief drowns]. 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."
[Boim: Is Palestinian terror caused by a genetic defect?].
In Hebron the slogans "Arabs to the crematoria" and "Arabs - sub-humans" were once spray-painted on a wall, and anti-Arab graffiti has been spraypainted in
Jerusalem [U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2005 - Israel and the Occupied Territories - November 2005]. Leftists have noted that this graffiti remains for long periods of time, and have therefore painted swastikas beside the graffiti in order to hasten the city to take action.
[[28]]A comic strip for children was carried in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish weekly,
Sh'a Tova, that negatively depicted Arabs, and made the statement, "Yes, a good Arab is a dead Arab."
[U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2005 - Israel and the Occupied Territories - November 2005]In the article
"The Arab Image in Hebrew School Textbooks" by professor Dan Bar-Tal of the Tel Aviv University makes a study of 124 textbooks used in Israeli schools and reports that "over the years, generations of Israeli Jews were taught a negative and often delegitimizing view of Arabs." The two main traits of Arabs in the textbooks are "primitiveness, inferiority in comparison to Jews" and "their violence, to characteristics like brutality, untrustworthiness, cruelty, fanaticism, treacherousness and aggressiveness.". In the 1980s and 1990s "Geography books for the elementary and junior high schools stereotype Arabs negatively, as primitive, dirty, agitated, aggressive, and hostile to Jews … history books in the elementary schools hardly mention Arabs … history textbooks of the high schools, the majority of which cover the Arab-Jewish conflict, stereotype the Arabs negatively. Arabs are presented as intransigent and uncompromising."
[Reports on Palestinian kids' hatred grossly exaggeratedIsraeli Textbooks and Children's Literature Promote Racism and Hatred Toward Palestinians and Arabs]Bedouin claim they face discrimination and have submitted a counter-report to the United Nations that disputes the Israeli Govrnment's own official state report. They claim they are not treated as equal citizens in Israel and that Bedouin towns are not provided the same level of services or land that Jewish towns of the same size are and they are not given fair access to water. The city of Be'er Sheva refused to recognize a a Bedouin holy site, despite the high court recommendation.
[Bedouin ask UN to help fight systemic discrimination in Israel. Haaretz, 03-07-2006]Israeli Arabs complain of racism and discrimination and community leaders have said they will draw up a blacklist of grievances. The decision to draw up this list was taken after the terrorist attack of
Eden Natan Zada. "This was a planned terror attack and we find it extremely difficult to treat it as an individual action," Abed Inbitawi, an Israeli-Arab spokesman, told The Jerusalem Post. "It marks a certain trend that reflects a growing tendency of fascism and racism in Israeli society generally as well as the establishment towards the minority Arab community," he said.
[Israeli Arabs: Israel is racist. David Rudge, The Jerusalem Post, August 11, 2005]Israeli-Arab soccer players face racist chants from the crowd when they play such as "No Arabs, No Terrorism".
[Israeli's World Cup hopes saved by ... Arabs. Associated Press, April 1, 2005]Abbas Zakur, an Arab Member of the
Knesset, was stabbed by a gang speaking Russian-accented Hebrew who shouted anti-Arab chants. The attack was part of a "stabbing rampage" and was described as a "hate crime".
Anti-Arabism expressed from Middle Eastern and North African
Christians is due to
Arabs invading the
Levant, and
North Africa in the
7th Century. In addition forcing the native Levantines and North Africans to convert to Islam. Today, many Levantine Christians from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan refuse to be referred to as Arab. Many Lebanese Christians prefer to be referred to as Phoenecians, and many Christians from Syria and Lebanon still feel a connection to the pre-Arab Greco-Roman Byzyntine era, as many of the Christians in the region trace their ancestry back to Ancient Greece. Other Christians in the region are of Assyrian and Syriac heritage.
Hollywood has been accused of using a disproportionate number of Arabs as villains and of depicting Arabs negatively and stereotypically. According to Godfrey Cheshire, a critic on the New York Press, "the only vicious racial stereotype that's not only still permitted but actively endorsed by Hollywood" is that of Arabs as crazed terrorists.
[Whitaker, Brian. The 'towel-heads' take on Hollywood, The Guardian. Friday August 11, 2000.].
The 2000 film
Rules of Engagement drew criticism from Arab groups, described as "probably the most racist film ever made against Arabs by Hollywood" by the ADC.
[ Paul Clinton of the Boston Globe wrote "at its worst, it's blatantly racist, using Arabs as cartoon-cutout bad guys". ]
Jack Shaheed, in his book Reel Bad Arabs[Shaheed, Jack. Reel Bad Arabs, Interlink Publishing Group, 2001. ISBN 1566563887], surveyed more than 900 film appearances of Arab characters. Of those, only a dozen were positive and 50 were balanced. Shaheed writes "Seen through Hollywood's distorted lenses, Arabs look different and threatening." [Levesque, John. Arabs suffer in the hands of Hollywood, Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Thursday, March 21, 2002].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). [29]Israel
A recent poll conducted by an Israeli research institute
*41% were in favour of segregation
*40% believed "the state needs to support the emigration of Arab citizens"
*63% believed Arabs to be a "security and demographic threat" to Israel
*More than two thirds would not want to live in the same building as an Arab
*36% believed Arab culture to be inferior
*18% felt hatred when they heard Arabic spokenThe American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is a group founded to counter anti-Arab discrimination.[30]
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."[31]
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.[32]* Arab
* Islamophobia
* Persecution of Muslims
* Anti-Persian sentiments* American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee*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.
* An October 2001 report on civil liberties in the U.S. including an appendix of some anti-Arab hate-based incidents
* The American Gulag - A record of anti-Arab bigotry in America
* ADL statement against Anti-Arab prejudice
* ADL Urges House of Representatives to Consider Resolution Protecting Arabs, South Asians, Muslims and Sikhs
* Al Jazeera article: What do Israelis say about the Arabs
