Stereotype: Islam breeds terrorism

The Development and Maintenance of Islamic/Arab Stereotypes in the Media

Both Western and Middle Eastern histories present themselves as one of waxing and waning confrontation. The Western media’s treatment of the Islamic world perpetuates threat and antagonism. What occurs in Muslims countries is explained by the Western media as happening not because of local history, geography or, specific social, economic or political situations, but as a consequence of Islam itself. Western values are presented as applicable to the whole of humanity and actual cultural diversity is absolutely not an option of equal value. The ethnocentric mindset fully manifests itself when the Muslim world is defined as remote from modernity. There is nothing new in the colonial or historical practice of stigmatizing, demonizing, or ridiculing targeted cultures. Muslims are regularly portrayed as unchanging, fundamental, backward, traditionalist, irrational and aggressive.

Arabs as Terrorists: Yesterday and Today

Arabs have been stereotyped in the United States for a over a century, and in Europe much longer than that. Silent films depicted Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, with, and nowadays we have Osama bin Laden on video, print, and pictures. The events of 9/11 have clearly and emphatically amplified the negative Arab stereotype, and these stereotypes reinforced daily by their peers, magazines, TV, newspapers, and motion pictures. All people and especially educators must to examine their own images of Arabs, and then work within the classroom environment to remove stereotypes.

Arabs are seen today as ‘The Enemy’, ‘Terrorists’, ‘those who hate America’, and who desire to obliterate America and the institutions that ‘oppose Islam’. Rhetoric and jargon in seemingly never ending utterances about the war between Islam and the West, the Clash of Islamic Fundamentalism, and Islamic Fundamentalists are seen as the enemy of the West and America. Because we are in a state of war fighting terrorism, we tend to reduce the ‘enemy’ to a hated, mocked figure.(Jones)

According to Edward Said, “It is only a slight overstatement to say the Muslims and Arabs are essentially covered, discussed, apprehended, either as oil suppliers or as potential terrorists. Very little of the detail, the human density, the passion of Arab Muslim life has entered the awareness of even those people whose profession it is to report the Islamic World.”

The Canadian Arab Federation commissioned a study on the representation of Arabs in the early 1980’s in political cartoons (Mouammar). Cartoons were collect from three main Toronto daily newspapers from 1972 to 1982. It was found that found that Arabs were repetitively depicted as murderous terrorists who were blackmailing the West. They were illustrated in the cartoons as uneducated, ill-mannered, malicious, and nasty. One cartoon after another over during this ten year period Arabs were consistently and repeatedly portrayed Arabs in a negative and stereotypical way, using images implying that the Arab was “tyrannical, untrustworthy, amoral, irrational, and the architect of international terrorism”.(ibid) The danger of this type of racism is significant as shown in the fact that one of the integral parts of the foundation of the Holocaust were set into place by German caricaturists who regularly depicted Jews in a similar manner, (ibid). It has been further stated that bias against Muslims and Arabs has now developed to the extent of “prompting the observation that this represented “the other anti-Semitism”.(Sanham)

The portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in a review by Karim Karim who had researched the literature in 1991, and then conducted a study of the Eurocentric constructions of Muslims and Islam in the media. Through the methods of critical discourse analysis, Karim examined the primary stereotype through which a individual culture’s essential underlying images and beliefs can be generated. Eurocentric constructions of the Muslim as those seen as others outside of society appeared to provide ‘a seemingly endless series of biased depictions of Muslim for centuries’(ibid).

These are invariable depictions of crude, negative caricatures supports an unconscious racism in the American mind. For example, the Near East Report, , a prominent weekly publication of AIPAC, the pro-Israeli lobby on Capitol Hill, (Nov. 6, 1989 in Kavaloski in AAIF), argued against negotiating with Arab nations on the grounds that the “Arab mind” is essentially vengeful, violent and irrational. It published an overtly racist cartoon of the “Arab mind” which allegedly consists of “Blackmail,” “Double-talk,” “Don't Trust your Brother,” “Fanaticism,” “Vengeance,” “World of Fantasy,” “Sunni Hate Shiite,” “No Peace With Israel,” and “No Compromise.” (AAIF)It is almost impossible to imagine a similar racist slander of the “Jewish Mind” or “Negro Mind” being tolerated in the United States. Yet, deeply racist stereotypes of Arabs go largely unchallenged (except by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee). (ibid) Westerners who live among Arab people discover another reality. They are impressed by Arab generosity, hospitality and compassion.

Hollywood films have played an important role in perpetuating and amplifying these racist caricatures. Arabs in films are portrayed as being terrorists, fanatics, dirty, irrational, violent and above all disposable. Hordes of angry Arabs and Muslims in movies have been summarily machine gunned by the likes of Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger over the years. These images have a cumulative affect on people’s perceptions and psyche. (El-Amine) According to El-Amine, Jack Shaheen’s book, Reel Bad Arab discusses and provides evidence of negative images of Arabs in over 900 Hollywood films. He says, “the distortions of Arab characters in Hollywood are systemic and unapologetic.” It is so persistent and insidious that even in Disney cartoons Arab characters are stereotyped and most commonly malevolent. The Disney film ‘Aladdin’ has a evil Arab singing the movie’s theme with the lyrics “it’s barbaric, but hey it’s home.”

Although the demonization of various group ,such as the Germans and Japanese during World II, or Russians during the Cold War,it is nothing that hasn’t taken place with other demonized groups during various war and real or perceived conflicts, that the US has inflicted on other areas of the globe: The news media uses the same stereotypes and images that are extended from Hollywood. Throughout the twentieth century, films have supported government policy. Just as the Hollywood put out these negative images in a fictional world, the news media perpetuates and uses these already implanted images to maintain current political agendas.

According to El-Amine:

"It can be said that when the US goes to war, so does the media. During the Iraq invasion embedded reporters took this to another level. In the lead up to both Iraq wars, the news became a thinly veiled advertisement for the war with emphasis on military technology and digital graphics, removing the viewer far from the human devastation that is caused by these wars. Even the titles of news programs were temporarily changed to things like, “Showdown with Saddam” or “The Hunt for Osama”."

Press conferences from US field generals became the news story of the day. Embedded reporters were heavily influenced by the views of the military—which protected them—while ordinary Iraqis become inconsequential. Some reporters, like Geraldo Rivera, behaved as if they were in the military. On several occasions Rivera referred to enemy Afghanis and Iraqis as “rats” and “mosquitoes” that needed to be obliterated.

There is a long history of US administrations using imagery from the media of demonized regional figures in order to justify their foreign policy; one only needs to think how the images of Ayatollah Khomeini, Muammar Ghadafi, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein have been misused. In the US media and in Hollywood, quoting Edward Said, “Muslims are uniformly represented as evil, violent and above all, eminently killable.”

A Step Beyond: Stereotypes Effecting Civil Rights

The first wave of Arab immigrants did confront ignorance, and anti-foreign sentiments, but they were rarely singled out as a group or individually. Prior to the Arab Israeli conflicts in the 1960’s, Arab stereotypes had not creep into public policy yet anti-Arab stereotypes since the 1970s have attached a stigma on Arab ethnicity in the United States. This changed with the development of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which created a highly-charged political arena in which the United States became a strategic player and a strong supporter of the state of Israel.

The Arab as villain has been a favorite scapegoat of popular American culture, thereby setting the stage for acts of discrimination and bigotry that have affected Arab Americans at home and resulted in a range of reactions (Reports on Hate Crimes). Even before 9-11 when the virtual invisibility of the general Arab American community as a whole is contrasted with highly volatile political events, the most dominant members and their institutions can be defenseless as a scapegoat. After the first bombing attempt of the World Trade Center in 1993, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing tragedy in which initial suspicions of a Middle-Eastern link prompted incidents of anti-Arab backlash. Because public exposure to Arab history and culture was often shaped only by old stereotypes of Arab sheiks, harems, and camels, it was not difficult for this cultural bias to deepen in direct proportion to U.S. interests in the Middle East. (Samhan)

Stereotypes also seeped into public policy. Beginning in the 1970s a number of government investigations, executive orders, and legislative provisions aimed at fighting terrorism had an effect on Arab American activism and violated the rights of some Arabs living in the United States. Anti-terrorism policies of airline-passenger profiling and the use of secret evidence by immigration judges in current times excessive effects on Arabs and Muslims. This in turn has increased fears of selective prosecution. The ‘secret-evidence provisions’ of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996, have been challenged by constitutional-rights advocate and through bipartisan legislation slated to reverse this policy that was introduced in the 106th Congress in 2000.

Again, El-Amine writes:

"The post 9-11 hysteria created an atmosphere of indifference to Arabs and Muslim’s civil liberties, human rights and basic dignity. This allowed the government to launch two wars abroad while conducting a dragnet against Arabs and Muslims inside the US on a scale not seen since the internment of the Japanese. Thousands of people, Arabs, South Asians, Iranians and others were swept up and had their civil liberties nullified. They were detained and interrogated by law enforcement agencies, like the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. Some were “disappeared” and not heard from for months, and over 13,000 were put in deportation proceedings for minor visa violations."

Despite ample evidence that racial profiling does not work, along with the inability of the government to net any terrorists connected to 9-11, the policies have continued. An Amnesty International report on racial profiling estimates that 32 million people—which by the way is the population of Canada—have been racially profiled in the US. Discrimination against Arabs or people who look Arab has become perfectly acceptable, and “flying while Arab” is the new type of racial profiling. In fact, after 9-11 dozens of planes were grounded because of suspicious “Middle Eastern-looking” passengers, no other reason needed to be given. Even an Arab-American Secret Service agent who was part of a security team for the President—with full security credentials and ID card—was ejected off a plane to clear himself.

Combating the Stereotypes

A more active retort has emerged as Arab-born intellectuals, students, and professionals united to counter the bias seen in American policy and culture. Organizations to educate and to advocate the Arab view laid the foundation for the first publicly engaged movement to embody the needs and issues of Arab Americans and to create a national sense of community and common purpose. Organizations such as the National Association of Arab Americans, the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Arab American Institute and others were established to act in response to these political, civic, and cultural challenges.(Sanham)

Facts Destroy Stereotypes

Arabs in the United States

(Adopted from the Arab American Institute)

Population Highlights Arab immigrants began arriving in sizable numbers during the 1880's. It is estimated that nearly three million Americans trace their roots to an Arab country. The 1990 U.S. census identified just under one million persons who indicated one or more lines of Arab "ancestry," but it is believed that this figure underestimates considerably the actual population. In 2000, Arab Americans were among the populations identified by the U.S. Census Bureau for a special outreach effort, using promotional materials in the Arabic-language to improve the response rate and thus the ethnicity count.

Arab Americans are found in every state, but more than two thirds of them live in just ten states. The three metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Detroit, and New York are home to one-third of the population. Since the late 19th century, New York has been a port of entry for Arabic-speaking immigrants, and for decades that city remained the community's cultural and commercial center. While New York and neighboring New Jersey (particularly Paterson and Jersey City) remain a focus for new arrivals, southern California has become the preferred destination for new Arab immigrants.

By far the most concentrated areas of Arab American settlement, however, are in southeastern Michigan, especially the distinctly Arabic neighborhoods in the city of Dearborn. Michigan's vibrant expanse of ethnic, civic, and religious institutions have made it the new cultural and political magnet for the community nationwide. Unlike anywhere else in the country, Arab Americans make up 20% of Dearborn's population and more than 40% of the students enrolled in public schools.

Arab Americans are employed in all major occupation groups, but 72% work in managerial, professional, technical, sales, or administrative jobs. As an ethnic group, they value education and have a higher-than-average percentage (36%) who hold bachelor's degrees. The propensity of Arab Americans to be business owners and professionals translates into a corresponding median income ($39,580 in 1990) that also surpasses the national average. However, some new arrivals struggle economically, resulting in a poverty rate of some 10%.

Important Resources for Teaching about Arabs and Islam

Suggested Resources for Educators

This is a abridged listed from varied reliable sources for teachers from Arts of the Islamic World: A Teacher’s Guide. The Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. 2002

Books

For Children

Ahsan, M. M.Muslim Festivals. Vero Beach, Fl.: Rourke Enterprises, 1987. This book introduces Islam and Islamic festivals from all over the world, providing contextual photographs that bring the descriptions of Islamic practices and celebrations to life.

Child, John. The Rise of Islam. New York, N.Y.: P. Bedrick Books, 1995. This clear and straightforward introduction to the history of Islam provides middle school students with particularly engaging timelines, pictures, photographs, and charts.

Ghazi, Suhaib Hamid. Ramadan. New York: Holiday House, 1996. This beautifully illustrated book describes Ramadan and follows the main character,Hakeem, and his family through their month of fasting.

Gordon,Matthew S. Islam. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File, 1991. Appropriate for middle school and high school students, this book provides information on Islam, its history, and the issues affecting the Islamic world in recent history.

Husain, Shahrukh. What Do We Know about Islam? New York, N.Y.: P. Bedrick Books, 1995. This lively and colorful guide to Islam touches on a variety of topics, including festivals, calligraphy, stories, and the Hajj.

Matthews, Mary.Magid Fasts for Ramadan. New York, N.Y.: Clarion Books, 1996. This charming story of Magid, a young boy who wishes to fast for Ramadan, will engage young readers and give them a better understanding of this Islamic holiday.

For Adults

Bloom, Jonathan, and Sheila Blair. Islamic Arts. London: Phaidon Press, 1997.

Canby, Sheila R. Persian Painting. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1993.

Douglass, Susan L. Beyond a Thousand and One Nights: A Sampler of Literature from Muslim Civilization. Fountain Valley, Calif: Council on Islamic Education, 2000. This teacher resource on various forms of Islamic literature includes poetry, travel accounts, biography, science, folktales, and epithets from the Prophet. Its lessons are appropriate for junior high and high school students.

Douglass, Susan L., and Karima Diane Alavi. The Emergence of Renaissance: Cultural Interactions between Europeans and Muslims. Fountain Valley, Calif: Council on Islamic Education, 1999. This teacher resource on the multicultural nature of the Renaissance includes information on commerce, travel, education, science, and the visual arts. Its lessons are appropriate for junior high and high school students.

Irwin, Robert. Islamic Art in Context: Art, Architecture, and the Literary World. New York, N.Y.: Harry N. Abrams, 1997.

Teaching about Islam and Muslims in the Public School Classroom: A Handbook for Educators. Fountain Valley, Calif.: Council on Islamic Education, 1995. This straightforward guide to basic information on Islam and the Islamic world also offers information useful for teachers who have Muslim students.

Aramco World Magazine This bimonthly magazine, free of charge to educators, covers a variety of topics related to the Arab world. Write to Aramco World, P.O. Box 3725, Escondido, CA 92033-3725.

For a more comprehensive list of written resources on Islam, see the resource list that accompanies Teaching about Islam and Muslims in the Public School Classroom: A Handbook for Educators.

Overviews of Islam

The Arabs: A Living History Made up of ten parts, each written and narrated by a prominent Arab intellectual, this series illuminates the many facets of Arab culture and history, exploring both historical and contemporary issues. 1986.Video; ten 50-minute episodes. Available for rent or purchase. Arab Film Distribution.

Beyond the Veil: The Many Faces of Islam Part one of the series, “The Born-Again Muslims,” profiles a wide range of attitudes and practices in the Islamic world, including liberals in Turkey, moderates in North Africa, and hard-line conservatives in Iran. Part two, “The Holy Warriors,” examines radical interpretations of the Koran in Algeria, Palestine, Jordan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan that function as attempts to escape the pervasive influence of the Western world. Part three, “The New Cold War?” asks whether a widening gap is opening between Westerners and moderate Muslims and looks at possible foundations for dialogue about democracy and human rights.1999.Video; three 52-minute episodes. Available for rent or purchase. Filmmakers Library.

The Gift of Islam This video introduces the Islamic world’s cultural achievements and contributions to the West in the fields of literature, crafts, philosophy, architecture, astronomy, engineering,geography, mathematics, navigation, and medicine. 1970. Film or video; 28 minutes. Available for rent. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Islam (Smithsonian World) Historian David McCullough hosts this introduction to Islam that pays special attention to negating common stereotypes and common misperceptions. 1987.Video; 60 minutes. Available for rent. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Islam: Empire of Faith This ambitious PBS documentary covers the spread of Islam from the birth of Muhammad to the spread of the Ottoman Empire and explores Islam’s contributions to world culture via reenactments of important events, displays of art and architecture, and interviews with scholars from around the world. 2001.Video; three episodes, 150 minutes total. Available for purchase. PBS and Astrolabe Islamic Media.

Ramadan This interactive educational video intended for grades K–4 explores the meaning of the various rituals of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. 1997.Video; 25 minutes. Available for purchase. Astrolabe Islamic Media.

The Traditional World of Islam Designed as an introduction to Islam’s 1,300-year legacy of culture and civilization, this six-part series focuses on the classical Islamic empire and its lingering influence on Africa, Indonesia, and West Asia. 1998.Video; six 25-minute episodes. Available for rent or purchase. Arab Film Distribution.

The Wonders of Islamic Science This documentary describes the achievements of Muslim scientists in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, geography, botany, and other fields and provides insight into the Koran’s role in inspiring these efforts. 1994.Video; 27 minutes. Sound Vision.

Art of the Islamic World

Art and the Islamic World Images of calligraphy, carpets, ceramics, architecture, miniature paintings, scientific drawings, and metalwork provide insight into the varied world of Islam’s artistic tradition. 1993. Video; 33 minutes. Available for purchase. Middle East Institute.

Islam: A Civilization and Its Art This video features commentaries from leading Islamic art historians on the developmentof Islamic civilization as expressed via its art. 1987.Video; 60 minutes. Available for rent. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Islam: A Pictorial Essay in Four Parts Broadly outlining Islam as a faith and a foundation for Muslim civilization in four parts—“The Doctrine,” “The Life of the Prophet and the Faith,” “The History and Culture,” and “The Arts and Sciences”—this video includes images of over three hundred items of Islamic art and architecture. 1986.Video; 90 minutes. Available for purchase. Islamic Texts Society.

Islamic Art This program discusses the art of the garden, the architecture and sculpture of mosques and Koranic schools, the illumination and calligraphy of ancient texts, and the influence of Islamic decorative style on Western art. Video; 30 minutes. Available for rent or purchase. Films for the Humanities and Sciences.

Contemporary Islam

Living Islam A project initiated by renowned Muslim scholar Akbar S. Ahmed and produced by the BBC, this six-part exploration of Islamic faith and practice contains glimpses of life in nineteen different countries as well as interviews with leading Muslim scholars. 1993. Video; six 60-minute segments. Available for purchase. Ambrose Video.

Not without My Veil: Amongst the Women of Oman This film introduces the viewer to educated, independent women who wear the veil in modern Oman and consider it a symbol of their origins rather than oppression, focusing on a woman who was raised in England and returned to Oman to pursue a career in banking. 1995.Video; 29 minutes. Available for rent or purchase. Filmmakers Library.

The Peoples of Islam This film emphasizes the geographical extent of the Islamic world, from Nigeria to Indonesia, with a particular emphasis on how contemporary Muslims adopt Islam’s ancient heritage in their daily lives. 1982.Video; 20 minutes. Available for rent. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Additional Links

Anti-Arab Discrimination: What Teachers Can Do From the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, http://www.esrnational.org/sp/we/end/counterantiarab.htm

Islam Online, http://www.islamonline.net

Islamic Information Center, http://www.Islaminfo.com

Islamic Institute, http://www.islamicinstitute.org

Muslim Journal, http://www.muslimjournal.com

Muslim Women's League, http://www.mwlusa.org/index.htm

Teaching Guide on International Terrorism: Definitions, Causes and Responses, http://www.usip.org/class/guides/terrorism.html

The Council on Islamic Education, http://www.cie.org/

University of California Muslim Student Association, http://www.USC.edu/dept/MSA

War, Terrorism and Our Classrooms. Rethinking Schools, http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/sept11/index.shtml

References and Resources

AAIF(Arab American Institute Foundation. http://www.aaiusa.org/ (sited 18 June 2006)

Aronson, Joshua. (2004) The Threat of Stereotype. Educational Leadership. Nov 2004 vol 62 no 3 p 14-19. http://www.ode.state.or.us/initiatives/closinggap/2005/threatstereo-edldrshp112004.pdf (sited 18 June 2006)

Barker, C. (1999). Televison, globalization and cultural identities. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

El-Amin, Rayan. (2005) The Making of the Greene Menace. Muslim Wake Up. http://www.muslimwakeup.com/main/archives/2005/05/002783print.php (sited 18 June 2006)

Jones,Phillip. (2002) Billionaires, Bombers, and Belly Dancers.NEH 2002 The Arab World and the West Teacher In-Service Cultural Sensitivity Training Stereotyping Arabs.

Karim, Karim. (1997) “The Historical Resilience of Primary Stereotypes: Core Images of the Muslim Other. In S. Riggins (ed.) The Language and Politics of Exclusion: Others in Discourse.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Maalej, Nabil. Myth of Islamic Holy War.The Haibia Chaouch Foundation http://www.habiba.org/islam.html (sited 18 June 2006)

Mouammar, Leila Khalid. (2006) Caricatures, Canage, and Colonialism. Al- Jazeerah. http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/March/10o/Caricatures,%20Carnage%20&%20Colonialism%20By%20Leila%20Khaled%20Mouammar.htm (sited 18 June 2006)

Razack, Sherene.(1998) Looking at White People in the Eye: Gender, Race and Culture in the Courts and the Classrooms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Said, Edward,(1981) Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World New York: Pantheon.

Samhan, Helen Hatab,(1991) Notes on Anti-Arab Racism, for the President’s Initiative on Race, Arab American Institute Foundation, Washington, DC 20006

Schwartz, Wendy.(1999) Arab American Students in Public Schools ERIC Digest No. 142 (ED429144) ERIC Clearing House on Urban Education. NY http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-4/arab.htm (sited 18 June 2006)