Dear Ari Chaaban

Submitted by Octavio Johanson (Italy), May 13, 2006 at 17:44

I know that Arabs are only 17% of the world's Muslim populaton, only a section of the Muslims. The word 'Arab' is often confused with the word 'Muslim'. Indeed, the Arabs are a nation (or a people) and the Muslims are a religion. So, your Iranian hate-monger is not an Arab. However, if I had used the word 'Muslim' or 'Moselm', you would be even more offended. Indeed, criticizing Muslims has got grim consequences, therefore the word 'Arab' is safer. The Danish cartoon controversy proves my point. You argue that my comment was unfair to Arabs. Well, if I said something like 'the Arabs are irrational' or ' the Arabs are genetically different', then I would be part of the racialist way of thinking. I did not describe the Arabs as 'dark' or 'hook-nosed'. I simply pointed out that Arab Islamists are all in favour of conspiracy theories. I did not talk about 'race and IQ' or 'eugenetics'. All I said was that some Arabs see the world as a huge conspiracy of Jewish bankers and Christian crusaders. No ethnic stereotype attached. It is not about their race; it is about their Islamist ideology.

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