MUCH WORK remains to be done to combat prejudices and negative stereotypes concerning the Middle East. In the post-9/11 era, awareness of Middle Eastern issues has grown tremendously, but a misunderstanding of the region and its inhabitants endures.
In the book "Orientalism," Edward Said sets forth an analysis of the widely held notion that the East is exotic, other-worldly, incomprehensible and mysterious - in a word, "Other." Said notes that this perception has been perpetuated for at least two centuries and, in presenting an analysis of this phenomenon, he signals the particular importance of Ernest Renan, a renowned philologist and one of the major nineteenth-century pioneers of the academic tendency toward Orientalism.
Said reflects that in studying Middle Eastern language and culture, Renan adopted the discipline of philology as "a harsh divider of men into superior and inferior races" and demonstrated "his notorious race prejudice against the very Oriental Semites whose study had made his professional name." Said also recounts how Renan described the Semites as being terribly backward, immune to progress and in need of enlightenment.
Even recent years have seen such stereotypes, especially in the Western media's portrayals of Arabs and Muslims. In the 2006 movie "Reel Bad Arabs," film critic Jack Shaheen chronicles Hollywood's use of negative imagery in depicting Arabs and Muslims. Shaheen asserts that more than 300 Hollywood films demean Arabs. These are movies that involve "gratuitous slurs," and in general "portray Arabs as being the butt of a cheap joke."
Shaheen points to Disney's "Aladdin" as a prime example, noting "it was hailed as one of Disney's finest accomplishments, but the film recycled every old degrading stereotype from Hollywood's silent, black and white past." For example, the film's opening song includes the lines, "Where it's flat and immense/And the heat is intense/It's barbaric, but hey, it's home." These lyrics originally read, "Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place/Where the caravan camels roam/Where they cut off your ear/If they don't like your face/It's barbaric, but hey, it's home."
Non-governmental organizations across the country, as well as student-run organizations at the nation's colleges and universities are working to dispel these misconceptions. The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the nation's largest grassroots advocacy organization for the rights of Americans of Arab descent, was quick to protest the unflattering depiction of Arabs in the above-mentioned Disney production. The Committee has also been actively conducting pro bono legal work for Arabs and other Americans who have been victims of discrimination, and it has been holding and promoting events to educate the public about Arab-American affairs and to showcase Arab culture.
In April, the Committee launched its Women's Initiative, a volunteer organization dedicated to supporting ADC "in order to activate, re-energize, and strengthen the role of women as community leaders
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