JACK SHAHEEN: Well, I think it's gotten much worse. And it's gotten much worse, if you look at the film called The Kingdom, where Arabs drop like Cupie dolls in an amusement park. I have hope --
AMY GOODMAN: By the way, the film by James Webb, or by the same Rules of Engagement James Webb. Jim Webb is the senator from Virginia.
JACK SHAHEEN: I know. I know. He wrote the story on which that film was based, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's featured in the documentary, the governor of California, we see him gunning down Palestinians in True Lies. So, the link between politics and entertainment is there. I mean, media enforces policy; policy enforces media. They sort of scratch each other's back. I mean, it's a mutual sort of vilification society.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we have to leave it there, but I look forward to your next book coming out in the next month called Guilty. Thank you for joining us.
JACK SHAHEEN: Thank you, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: Jack Shaheen, award-winning media critic, his book is Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People. The book is the same title as the film that has just premiered in New York. (source)
In summation, if we are going to purge America of the horrific emotional plague that has overwhelmed us as a nation and set us off on a crusading bloodbath against Arab peoples, as well as Moslems in general, then we are going to have to eliminate the ugly, vicious stereotyping that drives this plague, a plague that requires such an archetypal scapegoat. Just as Nazism required a Jewish scapegoat, today's Fascist Neocon Movement requires an Arab scapegoat.
Ironically, Arabs are classified as a Semitic people ethnically, just like the Jews, so the parallels are even more glaring, with the added double irony that many Jews support the Neocon movement.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
