Fighting Racism
Action urged to change negative Arab image By The Arab staff reporter
The negative stereotypical image of Arabs and Muslims in the Western media, its root causes, its effects and possible remedies were discussed at a two-hour lecture given by former Kuwaiti information minister Dr Saad bin Tafla Al Ajmi on Wednesday at the Cultural and Scientific Association in Dubai. Dr Ajmi stressed that the energy that would be spent correcting the negative image of Arabs as portrayed in the Western media is better spent on changing certain ground realities in the Arab countries, who through their actions against their own people unwittingly contribute to sustaining that negative stereotypical image the West has of Arabs. "When in the Arab world we give human beings back their dignity and self-respect, when we eradicate illiteracy, build our societies and beat back ignorance and backwardness, every time we avoid the spilling of blood, with each of these actions we send a strong message to the world. "All human beings are the same and human life is sacred.
By stopping the bloodshed in Algeria we help our Palestinian brothers in the West Bank. Sadly, the 50,000 Arab soldiers who died in war in the last 50 years pale in comparison with the brutal killings of 50,000 civilians in Algeria in the last five years," Dr Ajmi said. He said it would be hypocrisy to ask others to stop the killing of Arabs when Arab regimes have no qualms to shed the blood of their own people. Dr Ajmi said that Arabs have to believe that globalisation and modern technology will help to eradicate the negative stereotypical image of Arabs in the West, as the pro-Israel forces in the Western media could no longer hold on to their dominance over the world's media. "The image of Israel as a victim has changed a lot, at least in European eyes; even in the United States things are changing," Dr Ajmi said, adding that citizens of American and European countries who are of Arab descent had done a lot to change Westerners' perception of Arabs in general.
He cited the US president's recent visit to a Washington DC mosque as a clear sign of changing attitudes. Dr Ajmi traced the origin of the negative Arab stereotype in the Western media, especially the negative image promoted by Hollywood's dream factory. He said that the Western film industry before 1948 and the start of the Arab-Israeli conflict reflected the romantic image of the Arab as a mysterious desert knight. He said that after 1948 and the dominance of the Jews in Hollywood, the power and importance of moving pictures in shaping attitudes was recognised, after which the negative stereotype of the Arab was intensified and strengthened for purely political goals.
"The period which was dominated by Jewish names in films began some time in the mid-50s and early 60s. Names like Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, Sami Davis, an African American who converted to Judaisim, Niel Diamond, Alan Alda, Bette Midler, dominated then and still do to this day," Dr Ajmi said. He said that even non-Jews and those not part of the Jewish-controlled Hollywood system had to tow the line. Those who did not were punished and ostracised by the Hollywood establishment. Dr Ajmi said that the negative stereotype of the Arabs that developed following the 1967 war with Israel, was that of the greedy and grasping oil baron on camel back, who has multiple wives and who is backward and ignorant. He said that the romantic image of the Arab, as portrayed in earlier films like Lawrence of Arabia, no longer existed. He said that as the negative image of the Arab was solidified in the Western psyche, the positive image of the Jews, as portrayed by Western media, was strengthened, which is most evident in the 1970s comedy series "Taxi". "The show speaks about the lives of taxi drivers from diverse backgrounds, there was one of Italian descent, one of African descent, one of Irish descent and one of Jewish descent. The Jew was always portrayed as handsome, lovable, cute and honest. "American films always have the concept of 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. In such films the Jewish persona on film is never cast as the bad guy. "In American film a bad guy can be of any ethnic background except Jewish," Dr Ajmi said. He said that following the Israeli invasion of Beirut the negative image of the Arab changed once again to that of the violent unpredictable terrorist, the man who cannot control his temper, who can blow himself up at any moment, hijack an aircraft and kill children.
Dr Ajmi said that the events of September 11 came along to further strengthen that negative image in the eyes of the world, just like the negative image of the Japanese had been linked to Kamikaze attacks in World War II. "For those who are dealing with this issue, particularly America, we say: Kabul and Jerusalem are unseparable twins in the political conscience of Arabs and Muslims," Al-Watan daily said in an editorial. "In the same way that Washington has Arab and Islamic backing in its war against terrorism in Afghanistan, it is required to stop the Zionist terrorism in Palestine, because the public opinion in the region no longer accepts the double standard policy of the United States," it added. Insult and injury in Afghanistan America's ill-conceived war on terror
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