On Arab racism
Reader comment on item: Columbia University Celebrates Edward Said
in response to reader comment: Racism, Israel and Muslims/Arabs

Submitted by Cotterall Adams 2 (Canada), Apr 30, 2007 at 14:38

Personally, I do not think that Israel is a racist state. I am struck by the emphasis on the importance of being Arab to Arabs. There are lobbies for every group, but consider that internationally, only Arab-majority nations can be members of the Arab League. This is to the exclusion of Turkey, Iran and Israel, which are not Arab states.

Many Iranians will tell you that Arabs look down on them for their culture and nationality along with their moderate Shi'ah Muslim leanings. Arab Sunni Muslims often look down on minority Shi'ah Muslims, who tend to be more supportive of democracy, peace negotiations and social reform.

In Darfur, if you are not Arab, then you may end up dead. That is genocide. Nevertheless, look at how to the exclusion of other tragedies around the world, Arab nations such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan and others focus on Palestinian righst. What about Kosovo, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Dagestan and India? They do not pay any attention to Indonesians, Chinese Muslims, Pakistani Muslims or Black African Muslims. They do not pay attention to Filipino and Malaysian Muslims. Arab culture is notorious for its violence, racism and sexism.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.