About one hour ago I finished reading an article titled ‘Is it ‘anti-Semitic’ to acknowledge that Arabs are Semites too?’. It mostly quibbles over how misleading terms like ‘antisemitism’ are, but it gave me some food for thought on something that the author had the opportunity to address but managed to miss.

Anti‐Arab and anti‐Jewish sentiments overlap in numerous ways. There are not only some similar stereotypes—that they’re unfair merchants interested in world domination—but fervent Judeophobes also tend to hate Arabs, often seeing them (and other races) as ‘pawns’ in Jewish plans. Admittedly, it is unlikely that anybody would mistake Ashkenazim for Arabs, but it is very tempting to think of anti‐Arab racism as not only an Arab but also a Jewish concern, because often such attackers are just as willing to target Jews as well; Judeophobia is not far off.

I am planning to read The Arab and Jewish questions: geographies of engagement in Palestine and beyond, because I have a feeling that I may be onto something here, but presently it sounds like I’m grasping at straws. I have a lot to think about; maybe these two prejudices are more closely related than they look.