A new US law is interested in protecting only Jews. Emad Gad finds out why On 10 October, the US Congress passed a law entitled the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act. The law establishes an office in the US State Department and appoints a special envoy to monitor anti-Jewish acts around the world and prepare an annual report for the State Department. On the basis of this report, Washington will determine the steps necessary to confront these acts. President Bush signed the act into law on 16 October, and it went immediately into effect. The first report on anti-Semitism around the world is scheduled to be released on 15 November. The new law raises several questions, first and foremost, its reduction of the term Semite to Jews alone, exclusive of other Semitic peoples, including the Arabs. In addition, one must ask if the US can legitimately issue a piece of national legislation that would hold other countries accountable to US law. Why is the US only interested in protecting Jews, rather than all races, ethnicities and religions? Why does the law provide specific protection for Jews, but not Christians and Muslims? What relation does the law have to the legacy of general human rights, international human rights law, and humanitarian law, which protect all human beings in times of both war and peace? Has the United States replaced the United Nations, subsuming for itself the will of the international community and using it as it wishes? One question that may be asked is who will bring Israeli racism to account and confront the defamations found in the Israeli media? This is a question for those who passed the law to monitor anti-Semitism. We offer some examples of Israeli racist writings that, if used by non-Jews to describe Jews, would certainly be part of the reports to be submitted to the US Congress. At a time when dozens of racist statements can be found against Arabs, the West, Christianity, and Islam, we shall focus on a few "jokes" that reveal extreme racism and hatred of others, taken from the website www.noaravim.ios.st (noaravim meaning "no Arabs"). The web poster writes, "I know these are old jokes, but jokes about Arabs will last forever (at least until every Arab dies, at which point there will be parties). Let us begin: "A man stood before the firing squad, and they asked him about his last wish. So the man said, 'I want to become a Muslim.' They asked him, 'Why?' The man said, 'If I'm going to die, at least let another Arab die, too!' "What's the difference between a dead Indian and a dead Arab? They build houses on the Indian's grave, and they dance on the Arab's grave! (I don't mean to make fun of Indians! God forbid! I don't have anything against them! The Arabs are my target!) "Why did the Arab cross the road? Who cares? The important thing is that he gets hit by a car! "Arabs are like cockroaches! We kill one and dozens more appear! (Sorry, this is sad and not funny). "What does one Arab in the ocean mean? Pollution! What do all the Arabs in the ocean mean? Or haven't you figured it out yet? "This is a riddle that sounds better in English: What's black, blue, and really ugly (preferably dead)? An Arab after I catch him! "You are all invited to add whatever jokes you want here (as long as they're anti-Arab jokes, of course)." On another site, www.humorportal.co.il, the following jokes appear: "What can you do if you're bored and there's an Arab nearby? Hit his head against the wall. "What's the difference between comedy and tragedy? Comedy is when a ship full of Arabs sinks, while tragedy is when some of them escape by swimming to the shore. "What's the difference between an Arab and an ape? The tail. "What's black and goes on top of an Arab? The boot of an Israeli soldier. "What's black, hard, and long, and goes in an Arab's mouth? An M-16. "Why did the Arab take the donkey with him to the market? To have someone to talk to." On www.noaravim.ios.st, a corner is devoted to the musings of "those who hate Arabs". Comments include, "I hate the Arabs, and hatred of them flows in my veins. "I hate them and I will always hate them! The Arabush [derogatory phrase for Arabs] are sons of whores. Death to the Arabs. No Arabs, no attacks! "Damn, the Arabs are sons of whores! So is the Arab woman who blew herself up in Givat Zeev. That was 10 minutes away from me. Damn all the Arabs, I can't stand them anymore! "A question: why do we write 'Arab dogs'? What have dogs ever done to you? What has man's best friend done to you to despise them so? Aside from that, this site is great!" In Maariv magazine an article appeared on 11 August written by Nissan Sharifi entitled "Changing the Channel". Sharifi writes, "According to the most recent studies, on Channel Two, Sephardic Jews appear to be bastards, Arabs are frightening, and settlers are violent militants. The secular Ashkenazi alone is the star. There are some who would like this situation to continue forever. "Recently, certain bought-off journalists have been walking around blindfolded and pale in the face. They're frightened. For a decade, they have occupied the screen, doing whatever they like. Channel Two has become their mirror. This mirror daily repeats one response to their question: Yes, you are the fairest of all, you're shining stars, truly breathtaking. "Now the members of the board at Channel Two are trying -- God forbid -- to play with the laws of the universe. They are trying to reflect an image of other sectors, both social and geographic. They are trying to improve the quality of content and increase drama and quality programming. "At this point, those who receive their orders from the court are dusted off to personally impugn the board members. A world war waged against the board at Channel Two, to prevent them from implementing God's will. It changes nothing that all members of the board are practised and have achieved something in their lives; they are not like the court journalist. Although all the board members have passed stringent tests to measure their worthiness for the job -- guidelines drafted by a committee led by a judge -- and all have much experience, whether in art or the media or management, don't bother the media men with facts. They are moved by a group of vested interests with money and power attacking the board members who work voluntarily and devote their lives to the welfare of the general public. "Let us move to a few facts garnered from a poll conducted recently by Channel Two: among all the characters that have appeared in all programming (news, talk shows, drama, entertainment) over 19 weeks, about 60 per cent were secular Jewish men, born in Israel. In other words, two-thirds of the people belong to the common group (and this without including correspondents and hosts, almost all of whom belong to the same category). "One-third of the figures are secular Ashkenazi Jewish men born in Israel. Other groups appear in the following distribution during prime time: the ultra-orthodox (two per cent), settlers (two per cent), immigrants (two per cent), Arabs (two per cent), national religious Jews (six per cent), women (24 per cent), and Sephardim (27 per cent). "By the way, on entertainment programmes -- the pride of the court journalist and his followers -- the situation is much worse than this average: 100 per cent of participants of Jews, 91 per cent secular, 61 per cent men, and 50 per cent Ashkenazim. "The poll found that Channel Two reinforces negative stereotypes: the Sephardim are bastards, Arabs are frightening, and settlers are violent militants." These are just some, very limited examples of the type of racism and discrimination found in Israeli society, but they reveal that no society is immune from racism and discrimination. The question, then, is why the US Congress passed a law to monitor only anti-Jewish acts, leaving Israelis free to defame and attack others as they please? For more examples of racism and discrimination in Israeli society, please visit Arabs Against Discrimination at www.aad-online.org.
