Anti-Arab racism in the US is rooted in the Palestinian struggle.
Evidence
In 1987, Helen Samhan explained that “political racism” in the US against Arab Americans—in the form of civil rights abuses, violence, and harassment—is rooted in the Palestinian struggle, against which Zionists have been waging a war for over a century. In 2000, Nadine Naber wrote about Arab Americans as “ambiguous insiders” who are racialized through Islam, whether they are Muslim or not, and through US political interests and alliances—namely, with Zionism. — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 20
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to scholarship on racialization of Middle Eastern/Arab Americans and settler-colonial theory. — connects to: The term Islamophobia obscures the specificity of anti-Palestinian racism. — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 20; Anti-Palestinian racism historically produced Islamophobia in the United States — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 21; Anti-Muslim crisis periods simultaneously empower and marginalize Arab American communities (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Anti-Palestinian racism historically produced Islamophobia in the United States
#corroborates(0.85) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 21 - The US mainstream defaults to Islamophobia as the frame for violence against Palestinians
#contradicts(0.55) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 17 - University DEI responses frame antisemitism and Islamophobia symmetrically while omitting the Israeli-Palestinian context.
#expands(0.55) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 12 - Anti-Muslim crisis periods simultaneously empower and marginalize Arab American communities
#complicates(0.50) - Redefining antisemitism to include Israel criticism inflates antisemitism and intensifies anti-Palestinian racism
#corroborates(0.50) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 30 - Islamophobic crisis produces simultaneous mainstreaming and marginalization of Arab American communities
#complicates(0.50) - Political crisis inclusion simultaneously mainstreams and marginalizes Arab-American communities
#complicates(0.50) - Campus DEI responses to October 7 systematically obscure Israel’s role in anti-Palestinian violence
#expands(0.50) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 11 - Islamophobia is a conflict over American identity rooted in racial and religious bitterness.
#complicates(0.40)