Bittar is an artist, educator, writer, and California Organizer for the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. She lives in North Park.
Do Americans privilege some victims over others? Does this favoritism create a hierarchy to enable retaliation against everyone?
Martin Niemöller is a German pastor who became disillusioned with the Nazis and delivered a well-known aphorism on how silence is complicity: First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
German politicians, including the Nazis, shielded themselves from the responsibilities of the post-World War I economy by finding other Germans to blame such as communists, trade unionists, gays, people with disabilities, the Roma and Jews.
We recently experienced a twisted version of this phenomenon. San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson’s tirade against CAIR, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, at a public meeting last month was an earthquake for the Arab and Muslim American communities, but no one seemed to notice. The ironic silence presented for us then, and the macabre irony it presents now, remain like a sticky substance.
Anderson’s declaration went unchallenged at the meeting, though the Leon Williams Human Relations Commission later delivered a strong statement in opposition. Diversionary and well-intended tactics by Supervisors Nathan Fletcher and Terra Lawson-Remer created aftershocks for our communities, further sweeping Anderson’s harmful and largely unchallenged statement out of reach. Consequently, it was not deemed news from an Arab or Muslim perspective, though press releases about its effect on local Arabs and Muslims were broadly distributed.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination. Committee (ADC), the country’s largest Arab-American grassroots organization sent out a press release to a dozen local media outlets. Two responded. But one of them did not quote any Arab Americans in the article when it was published.
Anderson’s accusation may have laid the ground for disrespect and threats from of the public to his colleagues on Nov. 2, 2021. Most Americans recognize hate when it happens to people who are in the Latinx, Black, Asian, Jewish, Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+, disabled and Indigenous communities. Arab and Muslim Americans experience hate doubled whenever well-meaning civic entities, elected officials, law enforcement, university presidents and the judiciary perpetuate its effects by denying, softening or hiding it.
Read this essay for another perspective.
Why do some authorities feel free to define us and measure the severity of the hate we experience? Leaders in the media and elected officials are often entrusted and privileged to cross boundaries in their gatekeeper roles, but respect and acknowledgment must be deeply considered.
Arab and Muslims feel hate at a microcellular level. Our guts cringe and skin crawls with alarm and fear. Let me be clear. Our community defines itself and how harm affects us, not anyone else. When someone is hurting and a person of authority and responsibility denies it or hushes it, one consequence is the victim is blamed and becomes more vulnerable. Inherently, the protection of others may also be compromised.
What are the gaps of ignorance, doggedly entrenched within the minds of responsible leaders? How could harm to other minorities be so clearly recognized but harm to Arab and Muslims continues to be sidelined? Why do figures of authority engage in delicate handwringing when hate incidents and crimes are perpetrated against Arab and Muslim American communities?
The past month presented our communities with a barrage of hate from local, regional and international incidents, barely perceived by most. It’s been a full month since Anderson’s comments escaped our collective outrage. Since then, the San Diego Board of Education adopted an extreme definition of antisemitism that prohibits criticisms of Israeli human rights violations. Essentially, our First Amendment rights were greatly weakened. Did anyone notice? Then on Oct. 23, six reputable Palestinian human rights organizations were banned and labeled as terrorists by Israel.
Will Americans be forbidden to name these six Palestinian human rights organizations? Will other organizations, not only in Israel, but here in the United States, be listed? Can we collect data, or even engage with these organizations in peace initiatives, without being called antisemitic or terrorists? It’s a slippery slope, and hopes for peace are among the casualties.
At the altar of public cowardice, Arab and Muslim communities were sacrificed by being unnamed — a version of scapegoating. Are we named only when it’s terrorism? The pumped-up minions at the county supervisors’ meeting generated alarm that boomeranged to the very elected leaders who ignored the assault on Arabs and Muslims one month prior. We want to count on conscientious Americans to reach out to us when we need .
Acknowledge and name us each time we are victims of hate large or small. Otherwise, we give strength and agency to those who indiscriminately hate everyone.
