[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:14031] Re: FW: Call for Action to End Use of Anti-Arab Books by the U.S. Government

[Alfred Kagan]

>  >
>>  Please circulate widely!
>>
>>  2004 Racism Watch Calls for Action to End Use of Anti-Arab Books by the
>>  U.S. Government
>>
>>  For immediate release: June 2, 2004
>>
>>  For more information: Ted Glick, 973-338-5398
>>
>>  Manning Marable, Director of African American Studies at Columbia
>>  University, today called for immediate action to be taken to end use by
>>  the U.S. military of a book, "The Arab Mind," by Raphael Patai.  In the
>>  words of Brian Whitaker, Middle East correspondent for Britain's
>>  Guardian newspaper, the book presents "an overwhelmingly negative
>>  picture of the Arabs."
>>
>>  "It is outrageous that a book full of racially charged stereotypes and
>>  generalizations would be a major source of alleged 'knowledge' about
>>  Arab people within any branch of the government," Marable charged. "It
>>  reminds me of how Africans and Native Americans, later joined by
>>  Mexicans, Asians and other Latin people, were dehumanized for centuries
>>  over the course of our nation's history. Such overt racism is not only
>>  wrong and backwards, it is dangerous, having a direct connection to what
>>  took place at Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-controlled prisons in Iraq and
>>  Afghanistan."
>>
>>  In an article posted on May 24th on the Guardian website,
>>  http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0, 7792,
>>  1223525,00.html, Whitaker explains that the use of "The Arab Mind" was
>>  mentioned earlier this month by Seymour Hersh in an article in the New
>>  Yorker magazine. Hersh says, "The Patai book, an academic told me, was
>>  'the bible of the neocons on Arab behaviour.' In their discussions, he
>>  said, two themes emerged-'one, that Arabs only understand force, and
>>  two, that the biggest weaknesses of Arabs is shame and humiliation.'"
>>
>>  Whitaker explained that "my own further enquiries about the book
>>  revealed something even more alarming. Not only is it the bible of
>>  neocon
>>  headbangers, but it is also the bible on Arab behaviour for the US
>>  military. According to one professor at a US military college, The Arab
>>  Mind is 'probably the most popular and widely read book on the Arabs in
>>  the US military.' It is even used as a textbook for officers at the JFK
>>  special warfare school in Fort Bragg."
>>
>>  Among the racist generalizations made in the book, according to
>>  Whitaker:
>>
>>  -that, as the title implies, there is one "Arab mind." "The idea that
>>  200 million people, from Morocco to the Gulf, living in rural villages,
>>  urban metropolises and (very rarely these days) desert tents, think with
>>  some sort of single, collective mind is utterly ridiculous," Whitaker
>>  charged. -that Arabs "hate" the West; -that "the Arab view (is) that
>>  masturbation is far more shameful than visiting prostitutes;" -that
>>  "once aroused, Arab hostility will vent itself indiscriminately on all
>>  outsiders."
>>
>>  Other disturbing statements made in the book include:
>>
>>  -"The fact remains that under traditional Islam, efforts at human
>>  improvement have rarely transcended ineffectuality." -What emerges. . .
>>  is the picture of a human type which readily and frequently throws off
>>  the restraints of discipline and, especially in mass situations, is
>>  likely to go on a rampage." -"The unwillingness of the Arabs to 'dirty
>>  their hands,' to engage in manual labor, is a trait not easily
>>  overcome."
>>
>>  Patai concludes his book by stating that "the challenge facing the Arab
>>  world in the 1980's [conclusion written in 1982] is to digest the
>>  overwhelming influx of Western things, techniques, skills, and
>>  knowledge. . . Its successful accomplishment will require total
>>  dedication and
>>  concentration, which will be possible only if the Arabs can rid
>>  themselves of their obsession with and hatred of Zionism, Israel and
>>  American imperialism. . ."
>>
>>  Whitaker describes the book as "a classic case of orientalism which, by
>>  focusing on what Edward Said called the 'otherness' of Arab culture,
>  > sets up barriers that can then be exploited for political purposes."
>>
>>  Marable called upon George Bush to immediately issue an order that this
>>  book should no longer be used within any branch of the U.S. government,
>>  and he called upon John Kerry, Ralph Nader, members of Congress and
>>  others to demand that he do so. He also called for a Congressional
>>  investigation into the curricula being used in the military and
>>  government departments interacting with Arab countries.
>>
>>  "A public repudiation of the views expressed in this book and a
>>  Congressional investigation into the nature of the curricula being used
>>  to 'educate' those interacting with Arab and Islamic cultures is one
>>  part of what is necessary to demonstrate to the world that action is
>>  truly being taken to get to the bottom of the Abu Ghraib scandal,"
>>  Marable explained. "Those who claim the mantle of political leadership
>>  must demonstrate that they 'get it' when it comes to opposing racism,
>>  and taking these steps is a clear-cut way to do so."
>>
>>  2004 Racism Watch was founded in early February at a national meeting in
>>  Atlanta, Ga. Members of its Advisory Committee include Edward Asner, Ed
>>  Begley, Jr., Noam Chomsky, Ron Daniels, Barbara Ehrenreich, Bill
>>  Fletcher, Jr., Manning Marable, Elizabeth Martinez, Cynthia McKinney,
>>  Phil Tajitsu Nash, Susan Sarandon, Ron Walters, Tim Wise and Howard
>>  Zinn. George Friday and Ted Glick are the National Co-coordinators. More
>>  information can be found at http://www.racismwatch.org.
>
>
>--
>Elaine Harger
>Librarian
>W. Haywood Burns School, PS/IS 176
>New York City
>
>212/942-6718 h
>212/942-7862 w
>eharger at agoron.net


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu