Countdown

I'm Not a Racist, I Just Play One on TV

Volume VII, No. 12
Posted on Tuesday March 28, 2006

I’m Not a Racist, I Just Play One on TV

Silly season is in full swing, with the contest for control of Congress generating provocative—if not surprising—hyperbole. In an attempt to beef up their national security credentials, anti-Arab rhetoric seems to be on the rise among Democratic leaders. The latest affront comes from New York’s senior Senator, Charles Schumer, a vocal critic of the Dubai ports deal. Asked by a New York Observer reporter about charges that “his opposition to the deal was driven by xenophobia or anti-Arab racism,” Schumer said, “Let’s say skinheads had bought a company to take over our port. I think the outcry would have been the same.” An interesting answer to a question about anti-Arab racism. Schumer serves as Chairman of Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and some Republican candidates are taking notice of his remarks. Michigan Republican candidate Michael Bouchard chastised Schumer, stating: “It is distressing that Senator Schumer, a member of the Democratic Senate leadership charged with re-electing Democrat Senators like Debbie Stabenow, believes that it is acceptable to equate Arab businessmen with skinheads.”

No Mercy for Merhi

Unfortunately, the aforementioned anti-Arab backlash seems to be threatening Arab American involvement in the political process. Last week, Sami Merhi, a Democratic activist who had won his party’s nomination for the position of Freeholder in Passaic County, New Jersey, was removed from the ticket because of unfounded allegations of being “soft on terrorism.” New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and Senator Robert Menendez supported Merhi’s removal without ever meeting with the candidate and despite his repeated and unequivocal rejection of terrorism in any form. Merhi appeared on MSNBC’s Situation Room to discuss the situation: “I have been a loyal Democrat for the past 26 years,” he said. “And I was promised by my grandfather that when you live in America, you play by the rules and you work hard, you will get there. You will reach the American dream. Last Saturday…I walked out of that room when my leaders elected me and selected me for the ticket, like a giant. I felt that the American dream is right there.” Host Tucker Carlson hailed Merhi as a “role model…for all Americans, as someone who has succeeded in America doing the right thing” and urged him to switch to the Republican Party. New Jersey’s Arab American Republican Caucus concurred, announcing an “aggressive outreach campaign” and “touting the warm reception that Arab-American voters have always received” from the GOP.

Mi Casa Es Su Casa?

Sixty-eight percent of Israeli Jews would refuse to live in the same apartment building as an Israeli Arab. These are the results of a poll commissioned by the Center for the Struggle Against Racism. Other disturbing trends as reported by Haaretz include: “Forty-six percent of Jews would refuse to allow an Arab to visit their home while 50 percent would welcome an Arab visitor. Forty-one percent…support the segregation of Jews and Arabs in places of recreation and 52 percent of such Jews would oppose such a move…Seventy-five percent of the reports on racist incidents came from institutional sources such as government ministries, government companies or publicly-elected officials…Forty percent of Jews believe “the state needs to support the emigration of Arab citizens” and just 52 percent don’t agree with the statement…Thirty-four percent also agreed with the statement that “Arab culture is inferior to Israeli culture.” Fifty-seven percent did not agree with the statement…Half of Israeli Jews express fear or discomfort when hearing people speaking Arabic. Eighteen percent of Jews said they feel hate when hearing Arabic speakers.

Rachel’s Words at Riverside Church

The New York Theater Workshop may have decided not to honor the words of Rachel Corrie, but several thousand New Yorkers saw fit to do so last week at a packed Riverside Church, at an event organized by the Rachel’s Words coalition. Here’s an excerpt from Rachel’s February 27 e-mail to her mother: “When that explosive detonated yesterday it broke all the windows in the family’s house. I was in the process of being served tea and playing with the two small babies. I’m having a hard time right now. Just feel sick to my stomach a lot from being doted on all the time, very sweetly, by people who are facing doom. I know that from the United States, it all sounds like hyperbole. Honestly, a lot of the time the sheer kindness of the people here, coupled with the overwhelming evidence of the willful destruction of their lives, makes it seem unreal to me. I really can’t believe that something like this can happen in the world without a bigger outcry about it. It really hurts me, again, like it has hurt me in the past, to witness how awful we can allow the world to be.”