By Paul J. Balles
Paul J.
Balles
considers
the racist,
anti-Arab
comments
made by the
father of
Rahm Israel
Emanuel –
President-elect
Barack
Obama’s
chief of
staff – and
asks why
these
comments are
acceptable
to the
American
public
whereas if
they had
been
referring to
Jews,
African
Americans or
Hispanics
they would
have caused
uproar.
November
21, 2008 "Redress
Information
& Analysis"
-- -If
Rahm
Emanuel's
appointment
as Obama's
chief of
staff was
bad news,
the news
about
Emanuel's
father is
even worse.
According to
English-language
reports in
The
Jerusalem
Post
and The
Jewish
Telegraphic
Agency,
Benjamin
Emanuel
discussed
the
potential
impact of
his son’s
new position
on
US-Israeli
relations:
“Obviously
he’ll
influence
the
president to
be
pro-Israel.
Why wouldn’t
he? What is
he, an Arab?
He’s not
going to be
mopping
floors at
the White
House,” the
elder Mr
Emanuel told
the Israeli
daily
Ma’ariv.
Jane Hamsher
reported,
"Representative
Rahm
Emanuel,
President-elect
Barack
Obama’s
chief of
staff,
called the
president of
an
Arab-American
group today
to apologize
for comments
his father
made to an
Israeli
newspaper."
Observing
the activity
stimulated
by the
Emanuels,
Professor
Jack Shaheen
notes that
he has been
reading
comments on
liberal
blogs like,
"why should
Rahm be held
responsible
for comments
he didn't
make?
Shouldn't
Rahm's
father be
the one
apologizing?
Those were
his words,
not Rahm's."
Having
thoroughly
studied
decades of
brainwashing
of the
American
public with
Hollywood's
negative
portrayals
of Arabs in
both film
and TV,
Professor
Shaheen saw
immediately
just how
racist the
elder
Emanuel's
comment was.
He noted how
vigorously
the press
would react
if the
target was
NOT Arabs:
|
Irrespective
of
the
colour,
faith
or
ethnicity
of
the
parent,
if
he/she
had
made
a
similar
comment
about
blacks,
Jews,
Asians,
Latinos,
Catholics,
Irish,
Italians,
or
whomever,
would
not
the
societal
outrage
have
been
three-fold?
Would
not
an
apology
be
expected
from
the
son,
but
also
from
the
parent?
How
abhorrent
would
it
sound
if
the
parent
had
stated:
“What is he, a black? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House." "What is he, a Jew? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House." "What is he, a Mexican? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House." You get the point of how unacceptable such a statement would be. Yet, why the tolerance of intolerance when it comes to Arabs? Why do they count – in our media and in our country – for less? |
The answer goes back to the exposure that Professor Shaheen has done of the film and TV industries' vilification of Arabs in his books, including Reel Bad Arabs, The TV Arab, and his latest (2008) Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs After 9/11.
In his
research of
nearly a
thousand
films from
1896 to the
present that
included
Arab
characters
or
references,
Shaheen
found that
only 12 gave
positive
depictions,
52 were
neutral and
some 900
were
negative.
Rahm
Emanuel’s
father
brought his
son up as an
Israeli-American.
Apparently,
Emanuel
still has
dual
citizenship.
If he is to
devote
himself to
America as a
public
servant, he
should give
up his
Israeli
ties,
particularly
since he
will be in a
position to
have great
influence on
the
president.
There should
remain some
doubt about
whether or
not Rahm
Emanuel, who
once served
in the
Israeli
army, can
relinquish
his ties
with Israel.
To be an
American
supporter of
Israel has
obviously
become
entirely
acceptable
politics in
Washington.
One has to
go as far as
Jonathan
Pollard and
provide
Israel with
stolen
secrets
before
getting into
trouble.
It’s easy to
suspect that
even Pollard
thought he
could get
away with
it, noting
the abject
devotion of
Americans to
Israel.
However,
returning to
the elder
Emanuel’s
comment
about his
son. Even if
he
apologized
for his
son’s sake,
we need to
realize that
he knows his
son well. No
doubt, his
observation
about Rahm’s
loyalty to
Israel was
an accurate
picture of
Emanuel
family
reality.
Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com.
