In the Arab world, racism targets non-Arabs and the expat majority of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf coming from South Asian (Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh) groups as well as Black, European, and Asian groups that are Muslim; non-Arab ethnic minorities such as Armenians, Africans, the Saqaliba, Southeast Asians, Jews, Kurds, and Coptic Christians, Assyrians, Persians, Turks, and other Turkic peoples, and South Asians living in Arab countries of the Middle East.

The previously taboo topics of race and racism in the Arab world have been explored more since the rise of foreign, private, and independent media. In one example, Al-Jazeera's critical coverage of the Darfur crisis led to the arrest and conviction of its Khartoum bureau chief.[1]

History

Medieval Arab attitudes to Black people varied over time and individual attitude, but tended to be negative. Though the Qur'an expresses no racial prejudice, ethnocentric prejudice towards black people is widely evident among medieval Arabs, for a variety of reasons:[2] their extensive conquests and slave trade; the influence of Aristotelian ideas regarding slavery, which some Muslim philosophers directed towards Zanj[3] and the influence of Judeo-Christian ideas regarding divisions among humankind.[4] On the other hand, the Afro-Arab author Al-Jahiz, himself having a Zanj grandfather, wrote a book entitled Superiority of the Blacks to the Whites,[5] and explained why the Zanj were black in terms of environmental determinism in the "On the Zanj" chapter of The Essays.[6] By the 14th century, a significant number of slaves came from either West or Central Africa; Lewis argues that this led to the likes of Egyptian historian Al-Abshibi (1388–1446) writing that "[i]t is said that when the [black] slave is sated, he fornicates, when he is hungry, he steals."[7]

Ethnocentrism

According to Dr. Michael Penn:[8]

Contrary to many present-day stereotypes of early Islam, throughout much of the seventh and early eighth centuries, admission into the umma was reserved exclusively for Arabs. Religious conversion was predicated on ethnic conversion. For a non-Arab to become Muslim, that individual first had to gain membership in an Arab tribe by becoming the mawlā (client) of an Arab sponsor. From a seventh-century Islamic perspective, ethnicity and religion were not independent variables. All Muslims were Arabs, and ideally all Arabs were Muslims.

Accusations against specific Arab governments

Iraq

According to a statement by Fred Halliday, the Ba'athists in Iraq were inspired by Sati' al-Husri and with rhetoric tinged with pan-Arabism and anti-Iranian sentiment. In the decade and a half after the Ba'ath party came to power, up to 200,000 Feyli Kurds were expelled from Iraq. In claiming to be "defenders of Arabism", Halliday asserts the Ba'ath promoted a myth of Persian migrants and communities in the Persian Gulf region to be comparable to "Zionists" settling Palestine.[9][10]

Mauritania

According to Holly Burkhalter of Human Rights Watch, in a statement made in testimony before the Congress of the United States, "It is fair to say that the Mauritanian government practices undeclared apartheid and severely discriminates on the basis of race."[11]

Sudan

Beginning in 1991, elders of the Zaghawa people of Sudan complained that they were victims of an intensifying Arab apartheid campaign.[12] Vukoni Lupa Lasaga has accused the Sudanese government of "deftly manipulat(ing) Arab solidarity" to carry out policies of apartheid and ethnic cleansing against non-Arabs in Darfur.[13] Alan Dershowitz has pointed to Sudan as an example of a government that deserves the appellation "apartheid",[14] and former Canadian Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler has also criticized Sudan in similar terms.[15]

Egypt

Black Egyptian President Anwar Sadat faced insults of not looking "Egyptian enough" and "Nasser's black poodle".[16] An Egyptian Nubian soccer player Shikabala stopped playing football for some time due to racist slurs by rival Egyptian fans during a game.[17] A group was shouting out "Shikabala" while pointing a black dog wearing the number 10, which was Zamalek football shirt.[18]

According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Black African immigrants to Egypt often face physical violence and verbal abuse at the hands of the general public and law enforcement officials. Refugees from Sudan are especially targeted, with racial slurs like "oonga boonga" and "samara" (meaning "black") constituting the most typical insults. The EIPR attributes the violence and abuse to both a lack of government efforts at disseminating information, raising awareness and dispelling myths with regard to the economic contributions made by the newcomers, and stereotyping on the part of the Egyptian media.[19] Black women are also targets of sexual harassment.[16] As a remedy, the EIPR recommends that the Egyptian government "should intensify and accelerate efforts to combat racist xenophobic views towards migrant workers, especially those of Black African origin, and to promote awareness of their positive contribution to society. The government should train all personnel working in the field of criminal justice and law enforcement officials in the spirit of respect for human rights and non-discrimination on ethnic or racial grounds."[19]

Maghreb (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya)

In March 2011, officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees confirmed allegations of discrimination by Tunisia against black Africans.[20] Black Africans were reportedly targeted by rebel forces during the Libyan civil war in 2011.[21][22][23]

Ideology

Author draws parallel between Arab nationalism and Turkish nationalism, both were "likewise evolving into the "racial" stage, the ideal being a great "Pan-Arab" empire, embracing not merely the ethnically Arab peninsula-homeland, but also the regions of Mesopotamia, The Levant, Egypt, Tripoli, North Africa and the Sudan."[24]

A writer on the Durban conference regarding racism suggests: That stressing out that "Arabism is racism" would have been an interesting debating topic. Yet, he adds that "the OIC countries were very clever in how they deflected the slavery issue that could so easily have been turned on them with a vengeance."[25]

Some Muslim activists have also expressed that "Arabism is racism, pure and simple."[26] There was Sheikh Mustafa al-Maraghi, who in a famous 1938 essay dismissed the goal of [pan] Arab unity as racist.[27]

Arab Muslim authors in "Arab-Iranian relations":

Much ink has flowed on the issue of Arab nationalism. Some people believe it to be a racist movement, advocating the superiority of the Arabs.[28]

Ali A. Allawi, the former Iraqi Minister of Defense and Finance, envisioning a peaceful Iraq: "Arabism, racism and sectarianism – would be dethroned. Iraq would be at peace with itself and with its region."[29]

In 1960's, the French Comite d' Action de Defense De- mocratique published a pamphlet titled Racism and Pan-Arabism, its introduction followed by an article by the well known French sociologist, anthropologist & political leader: Jackes Soustelle to fight against all kinds of racism, this was followed by a paper by Shlomo Friedrich on "Pan-Arabism: A New Racist Menace?" who offered a sharp critique of Nasser's book The Philosophy of the Revolution, and it terms it a mere pale imitation of Hitler's Mein Kampf.[30]

Racism – overview

Some charge that "ultra-Arabism and Jihadism have been responsible for widespread persecution and genocide." such Saddam's using chemical weapons and gas against the Kurds during the bombings of Halabja in northern Iraq. "The Kurds, a non-Arab people whose language belongs to the Iranian group, have suffered from persecution under the Baath of Iraq and Syria, especially since the departure of British and French forces in the late 1940s." (Kurds are also claiming rights in Iran and Turkey.) The Berbers, the pre-Arab native peoples of North Africa, have been victimized by the Arabs in North Africa.[31]

There are historic racial divisions,[32] racial and religious prejudices in Iraq, including on Kurds, on Shia and the Marsh Arabs.[33]

Affected victims

In Sudan, including the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile region, from 1955 to 2005, it is estimated that nearly 4 million black people were killed or ethnically cleansed. During the Second Sudanese Civil War, about 2.5 million people were killed in attacks widely regarded as racially motivated against black indigenous Africans.[34]

Racism has been documented in Libya,[35] including the 2000 anti-African racist violence.[36] They have reported facing racism in the country, with one witness reporting being called a "slave" and "animal."[37][38] From the start of Libyan Civil War in 2011, blacks were massacred for their skin color according to an Amnesty International report.[39][40]

In Algeria victims of racism include Sub-Saharan immigrants who suffer daily from verbal attacks and other forms of discrimination. Many Sub-Saharan immigrants find themselves on the street due to lack of public resources. The homeless immigrants often quote the Quran in an effort to appeal to the country's Muslim unity and divert attention from their race.[41] On the world stage the country has declared that members of its national football team must undergo a stricter selection process if they possess dual citizenship to ensure their loyalty to the country.[42]

Some of the persecuted victims of racism and discrimination in the Arab world include: Sub-Saharan Africans in Egypt,[43] including on Eritreans,[44] and oppressing Darfurian refugees,[45] Algeria, Mauritania – fighting off racist policies in these countries,[46][47][48] in Iraq where blacks face racism,[49][50] Kurds in Syria and in Iraq,[51][52][53][54] Copts,[55] it worsened under pan-Arabism by Nasser and with the empowerment of the Muslim Brotherhood.[56][57][58] Al-Akhdam in Yemen,[59] as well as slaves who fight the stigma of their status as 'slaves' in impoverished Yemen,[60] Persians' historic struggle against the 'Arab supremacy,'[61] Berbers in North Africa (Moroccos, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya ),[62][63][64][65][66] South Asians and Southeast Asians (migrant workers and maids in the Gulf Arab nations),[67][68][69][70] Jews (see: Antisemitism in the Arab world, in a 2009 PEW poll, 90% of the Middle East were found to view Jews unfavorably).[71] Although slavery was officially abolished in 1981, a 2012 CNN report suggested that 10% to 20% of the Mauritanian population was enslaved with a correlation with skin color – darker-skinned Mauritanians were often enslaved by lighter-skinned.[72]

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Racism in the Arab world.

References

  1. ↑ Middle East report: Issues 234-235; Issues 237-241, Middle East Research & Information Project, 2005, p. 54, p 32
  2. ↑ Bernard Lewis (1992). Race and slavery in the Middle East: an historical enquiry. Oxford University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-19-505326-5.
  3. ↑ Kevin Reilly; Stephen Kaufman; Angela Bodino (2002-09-30). Racism: A Global Reader. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 52–58. ISBN 978-0-7656-1060-7.
  4. ↑ El Hamel, Chouki (2002). "'Race', slavery and Islam in Maghribi Mediterranean thought: the question of the Haratin in Morocco". The Journal of North African Studies. 7 (3): 29–52 [39–40]. doi:10.1080/13629380208718472. S2CID 219625829.
  5. ↑ Yosef Ben-Jochannan (1991). African origins of the major "Western religions". Black Classic Press. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-933121-29-4.
  6. ↑ "Medieval Sourcebook: Abû Ûthmân al-Jâhiz: From The Essays, c. 860 CE". Medieval Sourcebook. July 1998. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  7. ↑ Lewis, Bernard (2002). Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-19-505326-5.
  8. ↑ Penn, Michael Philip (5 June 2015). Envisioning Islam: Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim World. p. 59. ISBN 9780812291445.
  9. ↑ Halliday, Fred (2000). Nation and Religion in the Middle East. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. pp. 117–118. ISBN 1-55587-910-1.
  10. ↑ M. GIELING, SASKIA. "IRAQ vii. IRAN-IRAQ WAR". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  11. ↑ Yambo Ouologuem: postcolonial writer, Islamic militant, Christopher Wise, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999, p. 4.
  12. ↑ Hilde F. Johnson, Waging Peace in Sudan: The Inside Story of the Negotiations That Ended, Trans Pacific Press, 2011, p. 38.
  13. ↑ Vukoni Lupa Lasaga Archived 2014-09-01 at the Wayback Machine "The slow, violent death of apartheid in Sudan," 19 September 2006, Norwegian Council for Africa.
  14. ↑ Alan Dershowitz, The Case Against Israel's Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand in the Way of Peace, John Wiley and Sons, 2009, p. 24.
  15. ↑ Hubert Bauch "Ex-minister speaks out against Sudan's al-Bashir" Montreal Gazette, march 6, 2009.
  16. 1 2 Khalid, Sunni M. (February 7, 2011). "The Root: Race And Racism Divide Egypt". npr.org. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Shikabala ends Egypt career over racist taunts". usatoday.com. Dec 31, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Egypt arrests 14 for racism against top Zamalek footballer, Shikabala". The New Arab. November 30, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  19. 1 2 "III. Racist attitudes and Racially-Motivated Identity Checks and Detentions". Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  20. ↑ Saunders, Doug (1 March 2011). "At a Tense Border Crossing, a Systematic Effort To Keep Black Africans Out". The Globe and Mail. Canada. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  21. ↑ "UNHCR concerned as sub-Saharan Africans targeted in Libya". UNHCR. Geneva. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  22. ↑ Sengupta, Kim (27 August 2011). "Rebels settle scores in Libyan capital". The Independent. Tripoli. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  23. ↑ "Gadhafi Loyalists?". CNN. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  24. ↑ The New World of Islam by Lothrop Stoddard, 2009, History, p. 201 , The Middle East, abstracts and index, Part 4 about "Jihadi Movements Worldwide: Abstracts & Documents", p. 1111, from Library Information and Research Service Published by Northumberland Press, 2004
  25. ↑ Out of step: life-story of a politician : politics and religion in a world at war by Jack Brian Bloom, Indiana University, p. 112
  26. ↑ Africa events, Volume 7, published by Dar es Salaam Ltd., 1991, p. 21
  27. ↑ Sivan, Emmanuel (26 September 1990). Radical Islam: medieval theology and ... - Google Books. ISBN 0300049153. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  28. ↑ Arab-Iranian relations By Khair el-Din Haseeb, K. Haseeb, Markaz Dirāsāt al-Waḥdah al-Arabīyah, Beirut, Lebanon, published by Centre for Arab Unity Studies, 1998, p. 368
  29. ↑ Ali A. Allawi, The occupation of Iraq: winning the war, losing the peace p. 438
  30. ↑ Patai, Raphael; Patai, Jennifer (1989). The myth of the Jewish race - Google Books. ISBN 0814319483. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  31. ↑ The Confrontation: Winning the War Against Future Jihad, p. 109, by W. Phares, Macmillan, 2009. ISBN 0-230-61130-3, 978-0-230-61130-6 https://books.google.com/books?id=DTc2ACWFt18C&pg=PA109
  32. ↑ "NEWS SUMMARY". The New York Times. November 18, 1991.
  33. ↑ John Burns Q and A: Ending the War in Iraq – NYTimes.com Sep 29, 2009
  34. ↑ "JewishPost.com - Remarkable Speech by Simon Deng, Once a Sudanese Slave, Addressing the Durban Conference in New York". Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  35. ↑ Brooke, James (June 5, 1988). "African Disputes Pit Arab Vs. Black". The New York Times.
  36. ↑ "Libya: Dreamland of "One Africa" Betrayed". Theperspective.org. 2000-10-23. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  37. ↑ Slackman, Michael (2009-03-22). "New Status in Africa Empowers an Ever-Eccentric Qaddafi". The New York Times. Libya;Africa. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  38. ↑ "UN Watch Turns Tables on Libyan Chair, Exposes Durban 2 Hypocrisy". Unwatch.org. Archived from the original on 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  39. ↑ "In Tripoli, African 'mercenaries' at risk". Csmonitor.
  40. ↑ "Amnesty finds widespread use of torture by Libyan militias". The Guardian.
  41. ↑ Daoud, Kamel (2016-05-02). "Opinion | Black in Algeria? Then You'd Better Be Muslim". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  42. ↑ "Video campaign tackles dual-national 'racism' in Algerian football". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  43. ↑ Racism The Arab world's dirty secret, Mona Eltahawy, New York Times, December 10, 2008
  44. ↑ "Egypt crackdown on African migrants hits Eritreans". Sudan Tribune.
  45. ↑ "Egyptian troops execute another Darfur refugee". israel today. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  46. ↑ The Journal of international studies, Volumes 30-31 By Sophia University. Institute of International Relations p. 31
  47. ↑ Africa insight, Volumes 23-24, 1993, p. 45
  48. ↑ Daoud, Kamel (May 2, 2016). "Opinion | Black in Algeria? Then You'd Better Be Muslim" – via NYTimes.com.
  49. ↑ "IRAQ: Black Iraqis hoping for a Barack Obama win". Los Angeles Times. 2008-08-14.
  50. ↑ "Black Iraqis In Basra Face Racism". NPR. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  51. ↑ Autonomy, sovereignty, and self-determination: the accommodation of conflicting rights, Hurst Hannum – 1996, p. 198
  52. ↑ Geographical abstracts: Human geography, Volume 14, Issues 5-8, published by Elsevier/Geo Abstracts 2002, p. 852
  53. ↑ "Syria's Kurds Struggle for Rights". 28 October 2009.
  54. ↑ "Kurdistan issues in press interviews: Dr Fuad Omar". Ekurd.net. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  55. ↑ Minorities in the Middle East: a history of struggle and self-expression by Mordechai Nisan, pp 143–144
  56. ↑ "القردة الزانية - الأقباط الأحرار The Free Copts". Freecopts.net. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  57. ↑ "A Test of Faith". Orderofmaltacolombia.org. 1997-02-12. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  58. ↑ "A Struggle Against Intolerance Embattled Coptic". Netanyahu.org. Archived from the original on 2001-01-28. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  59. ↑ Social exclusion: rhetoric, reality, responses, Gerry Rodgers, Charles G. Gore, José B. Figueiredo, International Institute for Labour Studies, United Nations Development Programme – Business & Economics, p. 181
  60. ↑ "Slaves in impoverished Yemen dream of freedom". Alarabiya.net. 2010-07-21. Archived from the original on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  61. ↑ Race and slavery in the Middle East: an historical enquiry by Bernard Lewis p. 32 https://books.google.com/books?id=WdjvedBeMHYC&pg=PA32
  62. ↑ "Press kit: Issues - Racism against Indigenous peoples - World Conference Against Racism". Un.org. 1999-04-01. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  63. ↑ "The Maghreb in Black and White - By Brian T. Edwards". Foreign Policy. 2005-01-05. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  64. ↑ "Berbers: The Proud Raiders | BBC World Service". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  65. ↑ "kalebeul » Berbers attack Moroccan state racism". Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  66. ↑ "Berber Leader Belkacem Lounes_ 'There Is No Worse Colonialism Than That of the Pan-Arabist Clan that Wants to Dominate Our People' - CIJR Databank". Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  67. ↑ Donald, James; Rattansi, Ali (21 April 1992). Race, Culture and Difference by James Donald, Ali Rattansi p 27. ISBN 9780803985803. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  68. ↑ "Asian maids in Gulf face maltreatment". Middle East Online. 10 October 2004. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  69. ↑ Rabiya Parekh (2006-04-04). "World Service - World Have Your Say: South Asian workers in Saudi". BBC. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  70. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: Asian immigrant forced to clean mosques for 'skipping prayers' - Adnkronos Religion". Adnkronos.com. 2003-04-07. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  71. ↑ Prusher, Ilene (2009-06-16). "Poll: 90% of ME views [ews unfavorably". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  72. ↑ Sutter, John D. (March 2012). "Slavery's last stronghold". CNN.
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