During the past century, we have witnessed a long and tragic history of domestic policies that have targeted people of Arab descent. We’ve been subjected to discriminatory treatment by law enforcement, immigration authorities, and by both Democratic and Republican administrations. In addition to these hurtful policies, it is important to note the role played by the scapegoating of Arabs in American politics.
In the The Politics of Exclusion, published in 1990 by the Arab American Institute, we have documented painful experiences of Arab American candidates who were targeted by their opponents for their Arab ancestry or the instances in which candidates for local and federal posts baited their opponents for accepting contributions from Arab Americans or for having an individual of Arab descent on staff. As a result, some candidates became afraid of accepting the support of Arab Americans.
Examples abound. In 1983, a Democrat running for mayor in Philadelphia was challenged by his Republican opponent for accepting contributions from Arab Americans. He responded by returning the donations. In 1984, Walter Mondale running for President returned money to Arab American donors and in 1988, Michael Dukakis’ presidential campaign rejected an Arab American endorsement. In the years that followed, a Republican Congressman running for Senate asked Arab American leaders not to contribute to his campaign as did a Democrat running for mayor in New York City.
All of these acts of discrimination were motivated by fear of alienating Jewish voters and prompted by a campaign launched by a number of major American Jewish organisations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and AIPAC, who published “blacklists” warning of the emergence of Arab American leaders and groups who were deemed “anti-Israel”.
During the next two decades, especially following the signing of the Oslo Accords, this exclusion somewhat subsided, only to make a disturbing comeback during the 2008 presidential campaign. It resurfaced as an exclusively Republican-led effort and morphed into a largely anti-Muslim phenomenon.
In 2010, we witnessed distinct Muslim-baiting used in a national campaign for the first time.
It was utilised by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich who latched onto a local New York City controversy involving plans to build an Islamic Community Centre a short distance from Ground Zero. Using the language of anti-Muslim bigots, Gingrich said that Muslims were intending to construct a “Victory Mosque” to mark their conquering America. In that year’s Congressional elections, 17 Republican candidates ran ominous TV adverts accusing their Democratic opponents of being “soft” in their opposition to the “Victory Mosque.”
While only two of the 17 won their races, the die was cast.
Fuelled by the nativism and xenophobia Republicans had utilised to build the anti-Obama Tea Party and Birther Movement, they embraced anti-Muslim bigotry as a major theme in their political repertoire. Muslim-baiting continued to grow within the GOP setting the stage for Donald Trump in 2016.
It was, therefore, no surprise that shortly after his inauguration, President Trump issued an executive order suspending and placing restrictions on immigrants or refugees coming from seven mostly Arab and Muslim-majority countries. It was punitive and not justified.
In reaction to negative court decisions that he was unfairly singling out Muslims, Trump issued new executive orders increasing the countries covered in his ban. Nevertheless, the list remained largely focused on and adversely affected Arab and Muslim-majority countries.