Israel Matzav

So that's why they hate us

For those of you wondering why Arabs hate Jews so much, Mona Eltahawy may have the answer: It's racism (Hat Tip: Flying Dutchman via Little Green Footballs).

We are a racist people in Egypt and we are in deep denial about it. On my Facebook page, I blamed racism for my argument and an Egyptian man wrote to deny that we are racists and used as his proof a program on Egyptian Radio featuring Sudanese songs and poetry!

Our silence over racism not only destroys the warmth and hospitality we are proud of as Egyptians, it has deadly consequences.

What else but racism on Dec. 30, 2005, allowed hundreds of riot policemen to storm through a makeshift camp in central Cairo to clear it of 2,500 Sudanese refugees, trampling or beating to death 28 people, among them women and children?

What else but racism lies behind the bloody statistics at the Egyptian border with Israel where, since 2007, Egyptian guards have killed at least 33 migrants, many from Sudan's Darfur region, including a pregnant woman and a 7-year-old girl?

The racism I saw on the Cairo Metro has an echo in the Arab world at large, where the suffering in Darfur goes ignored because its victims are black and because those who are creating the misery in Darfur are not Americans or Israelis and we only pay attention when America and Israel behave badly.

We love to cry "Islamophobia" when we talk about the way Muslim minorities are treated in the West and yet we never stop to consider how we treat minorities and the most vulnerable among us.

Of course, Ms. Eltahawy doesn't make the connection to the Arabs' treatment of Israelis and Jews. The mention of 'Israelis' you see above is the only one in the article. And perhaps that's because hating Jews isn't necessarily racist. Hating 'infidels' is apparently a religious obligation for Muslims.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:29 AM