Racism is Alive and Well

I have recently been watching documentaries about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and I have learned some shocking facts. I have realized that here in America we only get one side of the story, that the other side is systematically ignored or demonized. I have learned many things that I never would have known without doing my own research and watching documentaries on the internet, because these things are not meant to be known by Americans, and our government and our media work together to deprive us of this knowledge.

We all know the Israeli perspective, we know that the Jews suffered during the holocaust and that they were driven from their ancestral lands over a thousand years ago by the Roman empire. We know that Jews feel insecure and that they want their own "homeland", which can serve as a refuge from the crazy Nazis and KKK members of the world. We know that many people hate Israel and that many Palestinians attack Israel in one way or another every year. What we don't know is that Israel was created through massacres and land confiscation, that Palestinians were slaughtered and driven from their homes en masse, and that they are huddled together in refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank, living under a hostile and often brutal military occupation in squalid conditions as Jewish settlers flood into their areas every year to take the best land, consume most of the water supplies, and demolish any homes that might be "too close" to their new settlements.

We don't know the fear and outrage they feel as they watch their land being slowly stolen before their eyes, we don't know the grief they feel when their children are shot by Israeli soldiers and their houses are demolished by huge armored bulldozers. We only know that "terrorism is bad" so we condemn them and assume that they must just be horrible, violent people with no regard for human life. They must just be angry and hateful by nature. They must just be different and inferior to us. They must just be savages who cannot possibly be dealt with in any way, so they must be destroyed.

As I have discussed this issue on YouTube, I have learned that many people have racist views toward Palestinians, or "Pals" as they call them, and arabs in general. They believe that arabs are intrinsically violent and savage, that they have no regard for human life, and that they cannot be dealt with or reasoned with in any way. I have realized that this is a very prevalent view, and yet I am not sure if most people realize that this is overt racism. If you say that Jews are stingy, or that black people are criminals, or that Mexicans ride donkeys or that white people are uptight, or that Asians are good at math, people will quite readily recognize the obvious racism and stereotyping, but somehow when you say that "arabs are violent", it is often seen simply as a factual statement. In fact, I have pointed out to people that they were bigots during conversations about how horrible all of the arabs are, and they seemed quite shocked but not at all ready to accept that characterization. I get the feeling that most of them honestly don't see themselves as being racist even though they passionately hate an entire race of people based on stereotypical notions about that race.

This to me is the most pernicious form of racism. Sure, there is plenty of overt racism out there, and there are plenty of people who will proudly tell you that they are racists, but somehow, that doesn't seem nearly as dangerous to me as the type of racism that masquerades as justice and fairness. The people who say "I'm not a racist. I don't hate arabs, I just hate all violent people, and all arabs are violent!", those people scare me much more than any KKK member. I know that most of you have heard lots of horrible things about Palestinians. You have seen many reports about suicide bombings and rocket attacks and many other things. I would not deny for one instant that those things are wrong and bad in every way, but I hope you realize that this is only half of the story. I hope you realize that these acts are not the only acts of violence being committed, and Jews are not the only ones being attacked and killed. Most importantly, I hope you realize that no matter what the evening news might try to tell you, through distortion, insinuation or through simple omission, all people are fundamentally the same. Underneath all the trappings of culture and language and religion, all people are EXACTLY ALIKE in very fundamental ways, and all people have rights, all people have dignity, and all people deserve equal consideration and sympathy. Do not fall into the trap of the insidious form of racism that pretends to be the opposite of what it truly is.