Arabs have the power to change how world views us

[#Drennn.]

It is easy for activists to blame all of the turmoil in the Arab community on US President Donald Trump, Israel or on the American public’s absolute lack of knowledge — I might even say “ignorance.”

All have brought some form of pain to the Arab world: Trump through his narrowly focused policies and undelivered promises, Israel through its brutal war crimes, and the American public through support of discriminatory laws like the anti-BDS legislation that restricts criticism of Israel’s human rights violations.

Sadly, the truth might be even more painful.

I have always wondered why the Arab League doesn’t, for example, spend money to launch a strategic communications campaign to counter the propaganda lies emanating from Israel. Why doesn’t the Arab world buy an American newspaper and force it to become objective, publishing accurate information about the Arab world, its people and also the Middle East’s Muslims and Christians?

What is stopping the Palestinians from hiring a major American author to write a novel that counters the lies spread by “Exodus,” the classic American work of fiction on Israel’s creation? Fiction, by definition, means made-up, creatively fabricated, and an entertaining lie. What stops Arab-Americans from pooling their talent to produce Hollywood movies that convey the truth about the beauty of Arab heritage, culture and history?

These simple ideas could change how the world views Arabs, and yet we don’t take them seriously at all.

What is stopping all this and preventing Arabs from using the powerful tools of communication to reverse the negative stereotypes that plague our people? A lack of money? No. What is stopping it is the Arab tendency to divide itself. What is stopping all this is the fact that Arab-Americans are like the Arab world — they are divided. They are divided religiously, nationally, ethnically, and politically.

In fact, the word “Arab” is vanishing from the world’s lexicon and is being replaced by the word “Muslim.” It’s not our choice, of course. It is the choice of our foes in the West, in much of the mainstream news media and in countries like Israel, where the word “Muslim” is used to demonize our righteous Arab history, culture and causes.

The problem in America is easy to diagnose. Arabs live in America physically, but mentally their focus is back home. When we focus on businesses, we are very successful. But when we focus on ourselves, we find ourselves divided and contentious. Arab-Americans are more critical of each other than they are of Israel, something that is apparent among Arabs in the Middle East too.