Arab and Muslim identities are distinct and overlap only partially.

Evidence

Much of the current Islamophobic rhetoric seeks to demonize Arabs in particular. As we saw in the example at the start of this chapter, Obama was “accused” of being an Arab, which is shorthand for “Muslim” in some quarters. Let us note, therefore, a simple point: all Muslims are not Arabs, and all Arabs are not Muslims. Arabs are people who speak Arabic, share certain common cultural traditions, and claim a common Arab ethnic identity. Geographically, the Arab world has traditionally been divided into two parts: the Maghreb or the West, which includes Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, and other countries west of the Nile, and the Mashreq or the East, which includes Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and all the countries to the east of the Nile up to, but not including, Iran. Because of linguistic and cultural differences, Iranians and Turks are not considered Arabs. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 161

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: British Muslims are a diverse minority diaspora, not a monolith — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 535; Arab and South Asian identities have been conflated with Islam — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 173; Islam as identity marker is internationalist solidarity, not Arab nationalism recoded (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Private citizens conflate Islam with the Middle East, erasing Muslim ethnic diversity #exemplifies (0.60)
• Islam as identity marker is internationalist solidarity, not Arab nationalism recoded #expands (0.50)
• Orientalism imagined Muslims as a monolithic Arab or Middle Eastern racial bloc. #corroborates (0.50) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 161
• Islamophobia is powered by the overlap of Muslims being both inside and outside #qualifies (0.40)