One overlooked resource we Americans have in our battle against Arab extremism is our own Arab-American population, many of whom fled here because of prejudice and wars in our native homelands. But rather than maximizing this useful resource, we too often pretend it does not exist. Alternatively, all too real American prejudices cause Arab-Americans to hide their identities. The result: many of those who could be America's best interlocutors to the Arab world instead hide our identities, seeking to invisibly "blend in" to mainstream society.
The first misunderstanding to be addressed is: just who is an Arab-American? The answer is that Arab is defined as coming from a certain region. Being Arab is not a religion, just like being an American is not a religion. The fact that the Muslim religion is predominant in the Arab world helps flavor, but does not define, that culture, just like the Christian religion helps flavor, but does not define the American culture.
The divides among Muslims - particularly Sunni and Shiite - are well known. What is less well known, however, is that Arab-Americans also include Christians (although their numbers are diminishing) and Jews. In fact, there are an estimated 800,000 Jews from the Arab world - including myself, born in Baghdad, immigrated to the United States as a child, becoming a contributor to papers such as the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
The majority of Israeli citizens came from the Arab world when that country was founded in 1948, and possibly up through today. They are known as Sephardic Jews. Arab Christians, who have felt the yoke of oppression as a minority religion likewise bring a similarly intimate understanding of the Arab world.
Among Arab Muslims are the religious fundamentalists - who are not all that different from fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Jews - and those who have more secular values. These include the Syrians who recently voted in a more pro-Western government, and the Iranian reformers desparately trying to move their country out of the Middle Ages. (True, the Iranian culture is not considered Arab per se, but there is a high level of integration between Iranian and Arab cultures, the similiarities in many ways outweighing the differences).
In sum, it is Arab-Americans who have the most personalized and nuanced view of this part of the world - and yet who are oddly ignored by many Americans, who prefer to treat them as "terrorists." Quite often, when I tell someone I am Iraqi-American, I get back fear and suspicion When I mention that I have written a book, Baghdad on the Hudson, on growing up transitioning from the Arab to the American culture, the Arab values with which I initially grew up are regarded as wholly violent and otherwise virtually non-existent.
I believe it is time for Arabs to reevaluate many of their cultural values, most notably that of treating women as inferior to men. This is similar to how we Americans continue to reevaluate many of our values, such as whether the Supreme Court should de facto be restricted to white male judges. (Thank God we Americans are finally moving to change this!)
At the same time, Arab-Americans show a fluency in the language and cultural values of their homelands, and should be a primary resource in fighting those who would destroy America and the West. The mistake is our first tendency, as Americans, to brush Arab-Americans aside, rather than celebrating them. Anything or anyone who can help Americans rediscover this woefully underutilized resource can only help make this country stronger and safer.
