Hussein ShobokshiASK anyone living in the United States who happens to be from a religious or an ethnic minority, “Which group gets treated with a special status the most?" Most likely the answer will be the Jewish community. I must admit that I can only admire the way the concept of anti-Semitism has been aggressively promoted in social, legal and political circles in America. It is considered a “high crime" to be accused of being anti-Semite (how did a Semite become exclusively Jewish is another fascinating story!). You cannot dare to cross that line and criticize Jews or Israel without risking a fall into a messy legal confrontation. Many have tried this and many have suffered. However, it's a field day for those who attack by all means (serious or funny) any other religious or ethnic community and they are ironically “protected" under the freedom of speech act. I remembered this as I watched the new film by the Jewish British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Dictator", which is a complete farcical portrayal of a Gaddafi-like dictator who threatens to blow up the world. The movie is loaded with anti-Arab and anti-Islamic messages. Pathetically enough, the movie got away with this without anyone in the legal circles anywhere raising an eyebrow. It seems, clearly, that it is the open season to “freely" attack and ridicule Arabs and Muslims in the media and politics. While this is not a new phenomenon, mind you. Professor Jack Shaheen, an American media expert of Lebanese origin, has written and lectured extensively about this important subject. His classic works, “The Real Bad Arabs" and “The TV Arabs," remain the best books on Arab portrayal in both cinema and television. He provides horrific examples of how the negative stereotyping has been building up in the Hollywood psyche since the days of the silent cinema. Slowly, bit by bit, sometimes done in a subtle manner and sometimes in a straight-in-your-face style. The “acceptance" of the brutal anti-Muslim, anti-Arab tirades in the visual media today while at the same time criminalizing similar portrayal of Jews is nothing but double standard and hypocrisy. I was discussing some Middle Eastern political issues with a leading American journalist when I bluntly asked him, “When will you as tax payers demand an end to the embezzlement that is committed against you by Israel? How can you still pour tons of billions of dollars in its coffers while you are going through your worst economic crisis?" He sighed and said, “You are absolutely right but I can't write it this way." I asked him in a shocked tone, “Why not?" He laughed and said, “I just can't". The vulgar and pathetic portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in the Western media (particularly in TV shows and films) is simply anti-Semitic and must be treated as such. The failure to do so exposes as a sad reality of hypocrisy in a very noble set of “rights"!
