Of course, I knew Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism (really, those two concepts are inseparable and feed each other) were very prevalent in American society going back a long time, with it really ratcheting up after 9/11. But ever since the Zionist entity’s terrorist pager attack last month, the sheer depth, pervasiveness, and how it’s just out there in the open and considered perfectly acceptable has genuinely surprised me. It seems to have started with that attack and subsequent events have only reinforced it.
White Americans just seem to delight whenever they think the Arab/Islamic “terrorists” are attacked. They do not care about who the “terrorists” actually are or how many people suffer. It’s not worth interrogating what the “terrorists” are fighting for or who was harmed because to the white folks, the Muslim/Arab people don’t matter. They’ve been dehumanized to the point where their lives are considered worthless.
To give an example, there is a person in my life who I’m about to cut out (should have a long time ago) who texted me something to the effect of “that pager thing was crazy, but looks like they got a lot of terrorists”. I tried to keep my cool and explain how normal people like doctors and ambulance drivers were hurt and killed too, because lots of people use those pagers. Dude literally just used a shrug emoji in response, because I guess those people aren’t worth giving a care about.
Everything I’ve seen especially in recent weeks really shows how bad it is. Brown people in Western Asia don’t matter because they have a different religion and they are “prone to violence” and they aren’t as “developed” as us. I feel like this is really where the support for Israel comes from. Not from ideas of Israel fulfilling apocalyptic prophesy, but just because white Americans can turn on the TV and see people in Israel who look like them, who have a religion that is semi-compatible with theirs, and who live in a society that seems to be very “Western” fighting off the “savage Islamists”. It plays into their already primed-for-racism-and-chauvinism” brains.
While I don’t think American media is the source of racism and Islamophobia, I do think the last 20+ years of movies, shows, and games has really fueled the fire. I think (hope?) in the future people will look back on this period of “corn-fed white bearded operators killing all the Muslim terrorists” media in the way we look at minstrel shows now.
I wanted to add: hexbear is one of the most accepting spaces available online. I really like using this site, and I love the zero-tolerance policy the mods have for bigotry.
I mean that truly; I like using this site because of the community.
But during the period where people were "waiting" for Iran's retaliation, the doomers, and especially certain users really made me and a bunch of other Western Asian users feel a certain way.
The constant stream of users outright wanting a regional war to explode, even attacking Iran for not escalating, really gave us the impression that our lives were forfeit purely due to our race. Like it's so easy for us to get into a regional war! I mean we've been bombed to hell and back for over 30 years so we must be used to it right?
Certain users here completely disregarded what other Western Asian users said/ say that a regional war is a catastrophe. The Syrian war for example broke my heart, seeing people get treated like vermin because they need to find safety by white supremacists in Europe (95% of every white person in Europe btw) was horrifying. The stories of some of the refugees is burned into my brain.
A regional war would cause such a massive refugee problem for western Asia and quite frankly I don't want to see more of my people turned into refugees. I don't want to see the most vile and vicious savages the world has ever seen be the ones responsible for the safety of my people.
But to many users here, that never crossed their mind. That more people could die, that millions could be refugees never crossed their mind as to why Iran might not want to escalate to those user's hearts and desires.
If you pointed this out, like I did, some people would get mad at you. Honestly I stand by one of my other comments telling another user here, that if they're so invested in this war they can join an organization or go fight on the front themselves. In the end, chances are you live very far away from the violence and repercussions of this genocide. If you catch yourself attacking western Asian users because they're not as mindlessly blood thirsty as you, consider touching grass.
In the end, it's a viewpoint that needs to be repeated because we need to constantly remind people of our humanity.
It's easy for some users to think that because we are from a region that's been the recipient of the worst western foreign policy, we might be used to it. So what's a regional war to us? Another 30-40 year? We are used to it! No big deal.
This is a long post, and I'm sorry if it seems out of place. Since we are talking about dehumanizing Arabs, I thought it might pertain to the post.
Hypocritical too since one of the rightly favoured tricks when dealing with bloodthirsty pro-Ukraine types is telling them to go join the war. Wasn't very cool seeing people treat it like a sport or something.
No, you're valid as all hell. The devils want to destabilize the entire globe, and the truth is war and the fear of it sucks (especially as the west loves and is the real perpetrator of terrorism, whether that is with their beloved Zionists and daesh in the MENA, terrorists in the Sahel, those horrifying attacks on ethnic Russian civilians in Ukraine and then later in Russia itself, death squads in LatAm etc).
Honestly I get the apologies at the end (I've said similar when de-escalating from arguments that had racist shit- and then felt bad about even saying "sorry" at the end later upon reflection, like these fuckers won't give the same decency back). Don't be sorry. Fuck the west (I say as someone living in it). Fuck them (the broader society, heard people mald about "ohh noo so many of us are downtrodden POC etc" like no offense but it ain't on them and we all know it, and if they can't say "fuck the west" themselves maybe they should reflect on it), honestly one can't see their madness in the MENA, against Russia, in support of terrorists and fascists across the globe, and what they're seeking to do against China and ASEAN, and think that they get it, think that they can get it.
I'm glad that Iran is working ever closer with Russia, China, even India, etc. now. I'm glad that this time around- though things have escalated already to such horrific extents, because the west loves salami-slicing tactics and the imperialist mentality is wholly and utterly incapable of peace- that if shit truly comes to pass, the west shall have to live in even a fraction of the fear (it should be a hell of a lot more) that they orchestrate on a global level and particularly against the Muslim world.
I hope a broader war doesn't happen, but if it does this time around I hope the global majority sees to it that it's blood for blood, not engaging in nor condoning war crimes but the true experience of war and coming home (through state actions, not terrorism) may very well be the only thing that will kick some sense into the western devils. If they want to burn down Tehran, Beijing, Moscow, if they want to commit genocide on Palestinians or act like they own the Bab-el-Mandeb and terrorize the local Yemenis or talk about blockading the straits of Malacca, they should think twice. As said, I hope broader war doesn't happen but when and if it does I hope unlimited, infinite ICBMs rain down on the warmongering devils if they want their war so badly (which I suspect they do)
This is important for folks to hear, I’m very glad you shared it.