RacecardIsrael and Palestine
Is anti-Zionism the same as anti-Semiticism? Can gentiles legitimately criticize Israel? Are Israelis or Zionists "playing the racecard" to quell legitimate opposition?
20050117
Through racist eyes
Through racist eyes: "Through racist eyes
Jaffer Ali
01/15/05 'ICH' -- As soon as someone of Palestinian descent decides to engage the world in a self-explaining narrative, one immediately confronts racist attitudes. Many reading this right now may be thinking that I am exaggerating. Would that it were true.
This phenomenon is especially acute in the United States with the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. While a significant portion of the Palestinian community is Christian, this rarely gets mentioned. All Palestinians are lumped in with Muslims. One might think that ignorance is at the heart of the grouping together, but there is something darker behind it.
Palestinians are also lumped together with Arabs in general, despite having their own unique history, dialect and culture. Many see Palestinians as just another Arab tribe.
You do not need to call a Palestinian a "sand nigger" to exhibit racism. Defining ethnicities in ways that are detrimental to the group is the beginning of a r acistcreed.
Palestinians are defined as "terrorists", "radicals" and "savages" often enough. These are obviously racist epithets. But maybe even more pernicious are the benign definitions that rob Palestinians of their essential identity. It is cultural identity theft and what makes it racist is its political implications.
This is not a new phenomenon. Cherokee, Sioux, Iroquois and Apache Native Americans were "just Indians" despite having different languages and cultures. With the westward push of "Manifest Destiny", all Indians were the same. Subtle and not-so-subtle differences were to be ignored. Their individual cultural identities were destroyed as the great westward migration uprooted tribe by tribe.
...
... In the case of Palestinians, the racist argot goes something like:
"There are a lot of Arab nations with a lot of land in the Middle East. Why don't Palestinians go live there, instead of Israel."
...
Golda Meir was a master propagandist - and racist par excellence. Her racism led her to exclaim, "There are no such things as Palestinians." Denying a people's existence is the ultimate racist creed. It means that Palestinians have no standing. They simply do not exist. A generation of hardline Israelis still clings to this notion. This has led to many people in the US parroting the same line of reasoning. If a Palestinian identity does not exist, then Palestinians are not unique and can live anywhere else in the Arab world. Anywhere other than the land of Israel.
The logic is inexorable.
There is more than a psychological reason for institutionalized racism. The entire state of Israel has institutionalized racism because its charter is to preserve a Jewish character. Any other country in the world would be lambasted for such ethnic exclusionary premises.
Through racist eyes: "Through racist eyes
Jaffer Ali
01/15/05 'ICH' -- As soon as someone of Palestinian descent decides to engage the world in a self-explaining narrative, one immediately confronts racist attitudes. Many reading this right now may be thinking that I am exaggerating. Would that it were true.
This phenomenon is especially acute in the United States with the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. While a significant portion of the Palestinian community is Christian, this rarely gets mentioned. All Palestinians are lumped in with Muslims. One might think that ignorance is at the heart of the grouping together, but there is something darker behind it.
Palestinians are also lumped together with Arabs in general, despite having their own unique history, dialect and culture. Many see Palestinians as just another Arab tribe.
You do not need to call a Palestinian a "sand nigger" to exhibit racism. Defining ethnicities in ways that are detrimental to the group is the beginning of a r acistcreed.
Palestinians are defined as "terrorists", "radicals" and "savages" often enough. These are obviously racist epithets. But maybe even more pernicious are the benign definitions that rob Palestinians of their essential identity. It is cultural identity theft and what makes it racist is its political implications.
This is not a new phenomenon. Cherokee, Sioux, Iroquois and Apache Native Americans were "just Indians" despite having different languages and cultures. With the westward push of "Manifest Destiny", all Indians were the same. Subtle and not-so-subtle differences were to be ignored. Their individual cultural identities were destroyed as the great westward migration uprooted tribe by tribe.
...
... In the case of Palestinians, the racist argot goes something like:
"There are a lot of Arab nations with a lot of land in the Middle East. Why don't Palestinians go live there, instead of Israel."
...
Golda Meir was a master propagandist - and racist par excellence. Her racism led her to exclaim, "There are no such things as Palestinians." Denying a people's existence is the ultimate racist creed. It means that Palestinians have no standing. They simply do not exist. A generation of hardline Israelis still clings to this notion. This has led to many people in the US parroting the same line of reasoning. If a Palestinian identity does not exist, then Palestinians are not unique and can live anywhere else in the Arab world. Anywhere other than the land of Israel.
The logic is inexorable.
There is more than a psychological reason for institutionalized racism. The entire state of Israel has institutionalized racism because its charter is to preserve a Jewish character. Any other country in the world would be lambasted for such ethnic exclusionary premises.
