Confluence of Terms Adds to Confusion About the Middle East

A number of years ago, on one of the cable networks I watched a series on Islam filmed by a South Korean crew. Among the presentations were programs on Muslim food and Muslim dress. Then they showed programs on Islam in Africa and China. In the Muslim food and dress programs they featured Arab food and dress while in the Islam in Africa they showed Muslim women celebrating regional festivals topless. The contradictions were innumerable. It is very difficult to interpret news reports relating to the Middle East. Religions are mixed with ethnicities, nationalities with religion, ideologies with ethnicities and culture with race. This, though predominant in discussions of the Middle East, is not unique to it. The nation of India is often confused with the Hindu religion and a non-existent Indian ethnicity. In the case of India, confusion stems from ignorance whereas confusion regarding the Middle East often is part of a strategy. All the cultural traditions in the Arabian Peninsula are portrayed as Muslim in the Western press though Arabs represent only a minor part of the billion plus Muslims In the press one often sees and hears about long beards worn by men in robes as Muslim beards. The mutilation of girls through female circumcision, again a tradition in parts of Africa and Asia practiced by both Muslims and non-Muslims is presented as a requirement in Islam as are“ honor killings” and other regional traditions. Not all Muslim women wear hijabs. Teenage girls in Chechnya dress like any European teenagers and as mentioned above in Sub Saharan Africa sometimes tribal women wear no tops. One hears a lot about the head covering of some Muslim women but not Orthodox Jews nor Mennonites (in Medieval Times Christian women wore something that strongly resembles a hijab). And by the Way Amish men and the Duck Dynasty also sport long beards. Islam is a religion with adherents of all ethnicities and cultures whereas there are Christian Arabs in the West Bank and Egypt and a Jew(ethnic and religious) sits in Parliament in Iran. When it comes to discussing Israel it becomes even more convoluted because of the concentration of religion, ethnicity and culture. Criticism of Israel is often condemned as anti-Semitism or an attack on the Jewish religion. Judaism, the basis for both Christianity and later Islam, is an ancient religion predominantly practiced by one ethnic group though there are Ethiopians and a small number of converts from other ethnic groups that practice the religion. There are Jews throughout the world, who for the most part are atheists and do not practice any religion. The term Semite refers to a race and, though it includes Arabs, is most commonly used to refer to Jews especially when used as anti-Semitism. Zionism is an ideology attributed to ethnic Jews but also endorsed by a large number of Fundamentalist Christians. Israel is a nation, though aspiring to be a Jewish theocracy, has within its population, Muslims (about 20%), Christians of various denominations, agnostics and atheists. As a result, a statement made by an Iranian or a member of Hamas saying they want to destroy Israel, though they may mean the elimination of a form of government, in the press it is often interpreted as eliminating a religion, Judaism; an ethnic group, Jews; or a race, Semites. Even in the minds of bigots who rail against “Jews” I suspect it isn’t clear whether their rage is aimed at adherents of a religion, members or an ethnic group, proponents of an ideology or citizens of a nation. Though often it is politically advantageous to lump them all into one, they are not the same and to really understand what is going on in the world, it is necessary to understand the difference. In Israel there is much debate relating to the occupation of Palestinian lands and the quest for a theocracy. There and within the predominantly Muslim countries the difference between the terms is clear and a discussion can be had without confusion. Unfortunately in this country it is almost impossible to have a meaningful debate. A critic of Israel is too often accused of being anti-Semitic or if an ethnic Jew, a self-loathing one and an offense committed by someone proclaiming to be Muslim is an offence by Islam, while a critic of Muslims automatically is tagged an Islamaphobe.