Antisemitisme tegen Arabieren

De vraag is waarom antisemitisme tegen Arabieren door de westerse commerciele massamedia wel geaccepteerd wordt, terwijl het antisemitisme tegen joden terecht met klem wordt afgewezen door diezelfde pers.

'Rahm Emanuel’s Israeli gate
By Paul J. Balles

22 November 2008

Paul J. Balles considers the racist, anti-Arab comments made by the father of Rahm Israel Emanuel – President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff – and asks why these comments are acceptable to the American public whereas if they had been referring to Jews, African Americans or Hispanics they would have caused uproar.

If Rahm Emanuel's appointment as Obama's chief of staff was bad news, the news about Emanuel's father is even worse.

According to English-language reports in The Jerusalem Post and The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Benjamin Emanuel discussed the potential impact of his son’s new position on US-Israeli relations:

“Obviously he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House,” the elder Mr Emanuel told the Israeli daily Ma’ariv.

Jane Hamsher reported, "Representative Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff, called the president of an Arab-American group today to apologize for comments his father made to an Israeli newspaper."

Observing the activity stimulated by the Emanuels, Professor Jack Shaheen notes that he has been reading comments on liberal blogs like, "why should Rahm be held responsible for comments he didn't make? Shouldn't Rahm's father be the one apologizing? Those were his words, not Rahm's."

Having thoroughly studied decades of brainwashing of the American public with Hollywood's negative portrayals of Arabs in both film and TV, Professor Shaheen saw immediately just how racist the elder Emanuel's comment was. He noted how vigorously the press would react if the target was NOT Arabs:
Irrespective of the colour, faith or ethnicity of the parent, if he/she had made a similar comment about blacks, Jews, Asians, Latinos, Catholics, Irish, Italians, or whomever, would not the societal outrage have been three-fold? Would not an apology be expected from the son, but also from the parent? How abhorrent would it sound if the parent had stated:

“What is he, a black? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."

"What is he, a Jew? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."

"What is he, a Mexican? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."

You get the point of how unacceptable such a statement would be. Yet, why the tolerance of intolerance when it comes to Arabs? Why do they count – in our media and in our country – for less?

The answer goes back to the exposure that Professor Shaheen has done of the film and TV industries' vilification of Arabs in his books, including Reel Bad Arabs, The TV Arab, and his latest (2008) Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs After 9/11.

In his research of nearly a thousand films from 1896 to the present that included Arab characters or references, Shaheen found that only 12 gave positive depictions, 52 were neutral and some 900 were negative.

Rahm Emanuel’s father brought his son up as an Israeli-American. Apparently, Emanuel still has dual citizenship. If he is to devote himself to America as a public servant, he should give up his Israeli ties, particularly since he will be in a position to have great influence on the president.

There should remain some doubt about whether or not Rahm Emanuel, who once served in the Israeli army, can relinquish his ties with Israel. To be an American supporter of Israel has obviously become entirely acceptable politics in Washington.

One has to go as far as Jonathan Pollard and provide Israel with stolen secrets before getting into trouble. It’s easy to suspect that even Pollard thought he could get away with it, noting the abject devotion of Americans to Israel.

However, returning to the elder Emanuel’s comment about his son. Even if he apologized for his son’s sake, we need to realize that he knows his son well. No doubt, his observation about Rahm’s loyalty to Israel was an accurate picture of Emanuel family reality.

Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com.'