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1. The Muhammasheen Mobilization Among Yemen’s Most Marginalized Community

Author:
Aisha Al-Warraq
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The historical disenfranchisement Yemen’s Muhammasheen face would still be invisible today, to the rest of the country and wider the world, if not for the community’s own mobilization efforts in the past four decades. Muhammasheen, meaning “the marginalized”, is a contemporary term for a people whom the rest of Yemeni society had for generations untold referred to with names such as Al-Akhdam, “the servants” or Al-Abeed, “the slaves”. Despite centuries of recorded history in Yemen, this ethnic minority’s dark skin has traditionally been denigrated by the rest of society as not belonging to the country, causing them to face caste-like ostracization, stigmatization, and denial of basic human dignity. Muhammasheen communities are often found in shanty towns at the periphery of Yemen’s urban centers and in isolated rural areas. This exclusion from mainstream society, dispersion around the country, and the blurry definitions that define the group have made assessing their numbers difficult, with estimates ranging anywhere between 500,000 and 3.5 million.1 In the 1990s, Muhammasheen who sought to better their community’s situation began to be increasingly vocal and active in drawing attention to their plight and asserting their right to be regarded as full members of society. The powers that be have, by turns, attempted to oppress and coopt these initiatives, as well as exploit the Muhammasheen’s vulnerable status, which has only been exacerbated by Yemen’s ongoing civil war. The belligerent parties on all sides, for instance, have sought out Muhammasheen youth in their impoverished communities and lured them to fight on the frontlines with the promise of a paycheque. At the national level, Muhammasheen advocacy is today as fragmented as the country itself. However, the drive within the group to better the community at large continues to gain momentum, as evidenced by the ever-growing number of local initiatives around the country, even as the goal of full citizenhood remains a distant prospect. The following paper examines the history and development of Muhammasheen-led activism in Yemen, and this marginalized community’s struggle for self-empowerment.
Topic:
Marginalization, Racism, Activism, and Muhammasheen
Political Geography:
Middle East and Yemen

2. For Palestine, from Ayiti

Author:
Sandy Plácido
Publication Date:
12-2024
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
Apartheid and genocide in the occupied territories hold up a mirror to the racist exclusion of Haitians and Black people in the Dominican Republic. Anti-imperialist solidarity is imperative.
Topic:
Apartheid, Genocide, Solidarity, Exclusion, Racism, and Anti-Imperialism
Political Geography:
Middle East, Palestine, Latin America, Caribbean, and Haiti

3. Iranian Turks In Nation-Building Process: First Pahlavi Era

Author:
Heidari Mojtaba
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:
Altinbas University
Abstract:
The study explores the emergence of Turkic identity because of identity politics committed in the aftermath of the nation-state building in Iran after 1925. It is believed that the primordial nationalism on the base of the Aryan race impacted the country’s diverse population and ethnic categories and the imposition of highly restrictive measures and social policies in cementing Iranian nationalism built upon the Persian culture and myth, paved the way for the politicization of identity. To obtain a thorough analysis, a set of theories are applied. Pierre Bourdieu’s class formation and symbolic concept of power and language in a semi-patrimonial society and the social identity theory and having an eclectic grasp of the literature on assimilation and violence have contributed to the theoretical base of the study. Firsthand materials, journals, and archives are used to enrich the research content. The establishment of the modern state in the 20th century and the biased ethnic-lingual policies precipitated centrifugal forces among ethnic realities, so the alchemy of stereotyping and discrimination, and social comparison giving birth to group identification contributed to the politicization of ethnic identity among Azerbaijani Turks and their ethnic awareness.
Topic:
Ethnicity, Identity, Racism, Turkic People, and Nation Building
Political Geography:
Iran and Middle East

4. The West, Israel and Settler Colonization of Palestine with Professor Prof. Joseph Massad

Author:
Joseph Massad
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
In this pivotal lecture, Professor Massad will delve into the intricate history of Western colonial intervention in Palestine, exploring the events that shaped the region both before and after the establishment of Israel. This lecture offers a comprehensive understanding of Israel's ongoing conflict with the Palestinian people, framed within the broader historical context of Western racism and its role in supporting and enabling these tensions.
Topic:
History, Colonialism, Settler Colonialism, Racism, and Palestinians
Political Geography:
Britain, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and United States of America

5. July 2022 Issue

Author:
Amarnath Amarasingam, Marc-Andre Argentino, Graham Macklin, Stevie Weinberg, Rodger Shanahan, and Matteo Pugliese
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
CTC Sentinel
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
In this month’s feature article, Amarnath Amarasingam, Marc-André Argentino, and Graham Macklin examine the May 2022 extreme far-right live-streamed terrorist attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 Black Americans were murdered “in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent American history.” Their article examines the perpetrator, his pathway to violence, how he plotted the attack, and his writings. They argue that “the Buffalo massacre was not an isolated phenomenon. Indeed, one can only fully comprehend it when considered within a continuum of self-referential extreme-right terrorism inspired by the March 2019 terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand,” that had “a catalytic effect upon extreme-right actors, sparking a chain reaction of mass shootings.” Our interview is with Nitzan Nuriel, the former director of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the Prime Minister’s Office of Israel. It is the second in a series of articles and interviews examining the terrorist threat landscape in Israel and the lessons other countries can learn from Israel’s counterterrorism efforts. The series is a joint effort between the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC) and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at Reichman University in Israel. Rodger Shanahan “uses data from Australian terrorism trials in the Islamic State era to examine the degree to which mental health issues exist among terrorism offenders and whether there is any causal link.” His findings “support the view that Islamist terrorists’ mental health is largely the same as the general population and finds that there is little evidence to support any causal link between mental health and terrorism.” Matteo Pugliese profiles convicted Islamic State terror planner Muaz al-Fizani, whose jihadi career “spanned two decades and three continents” taking the hardline Tunisian extremist from Italy to Bosnia and Afghanistan and from Tunisia to Libya, from where he helped plan a wave of terror in Tunisia in 2015 that resulted in the deaths of many Western tourists.
Topic:
Counter-terrorism, Far Right, Mass Shootings, and Racism
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North Africa, North America, Tunisia, and United States of America

6. Racial Discrimination and Anti-Blackness in the Middle East and North Africa

Author:
Nisrine Hilizah
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Barometer
Abstract:
The issue of race and race relations has recently gained increased salience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Increased levels of migration to and through a number of MENA countries and the historic marginalization of Black communities in the region have brought some of these issues to the forefront. However, there has been scant attention to the views of publics across the region toward such issues. Arab Barometer‘s Seventh Wave is the first survey to systematically examine the degree to which citizens across MENA perceive racial discrimination and anti-Black discrimination to be a problem in their countries. The results suggest that citizens in surveyed countries understand and view racial discrimination differently from anti-Black discrimination. In most countries surveyed, majorities affirm that racial discrimination is a serious problem. Yet, only a minority of citizens report that discrimination against Black individuals is a problem to a great or medium extent in all but two countries. Furthermore, only in Tunisia is there a majority who think both racial discrimination and discrimination against Black individuals is a problem. This raises questions for further research on how MENA citizens understand “race” and on the extent to which there is awareness of anti-Black discrimination in their countries.
Topic:
Migration, Public Opinion, Discrimination, Racism, and Anti-Blackness
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

7. In the Footsteps of Martin Luther King: Will We Witness a Revolution Against Racial Discrimination in the Middle East?

Author:
Saad Salloum
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Afro-Iraqis, who number around 400,000, continue to suffer from racial discrimination and marginalization despite their repeated attempts to demand equality. This paper shows the struggle of black people in Iraq through the struggle and activism of Jalal Dhiab, founder of the Free Iraqi Movement, to restore a forgotten revolution and awaken an identity that has long been marginalized in Arab historical writings, in order to defend the rights of this minority and to combat racial discrimination against it in Iraq.
Topic:
Social Movement, Minorities, Discrimination, Protests, and Racism
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

8. Mobilizing against Anti-black Racism in MENA: A Reader

Author:
Arab Reform Initiative
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA, in May 2020 prompted a global surge of demonstrations in solidarity with the “Black Lives Matter” movement and has ushered in one of the most significant and wide-reaching anti-racism movements in recent history. While much of the world is slowly coming to terms with the painful racial histories that fuel present-day discrimination and tensions, the issue of racism in MENA and the region’s role in the slave trade have long been left either unacknowledged or explicitly denied. This denial reinforces entrenched systems of oppression, marginalization, and social exclusion with wider implications on the lives of MENA communities. Societies from Rabat to Sana’a are not as inclusive as they claim to be. Deeply ingrained racial prejudices continue to be a source of suffering and marginalization for diverse minorities, including black communities. Despite the recent growth of interest in anti-racism in MENA, scholarly and literary work on the subject remains sparse, and history books have either glossed over the plight of black people in the Arab region or ignored the part they play in the region’s social dynamics. As part of an effort to promote more regional discussions on the issue and our commitment to fight discrimination in the region, the Arab Reform Initiative is putting together a series of papers (as part of our Bawadar series) on anti-Black racism in MENA in an attempt to raise awareness about anti-black racism in Arab countries and highlight the mobilization that is taking place by anti-racism activists in the region. As a part of this effort, we are also compiling this reader list to draw attention to key academic and artistic works (in English, French and Arabic), but also to bring and keep the issues of anti-black racism at the forefront of public debates and actions. This list – although not exhaustive – presents works chronicling the history of Black communities in MENA, Afro-Arab experiences, and anti-Blackness in the region. We aim to regularly update it to highlight new authors and works. If you think there is a book or paper that needs to be added to this reader, please email us at the address provided above with a link to the paper or book and a few words as to why you think it should be added.
Topic:
Solidarity, Discrimination, Black Lives Matter (BLM), and Racism
Political Geography:
Africa and Middle East

9. Arab Media Reactions to U.S. Protests: How Regional Considerations Shape Media Coverage

Author:
Mohamed Abdelaziz and Shaina Katz
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Aglobalized world has meant that international media reactions to a policeman’s brutal killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, and the subsequent protests have been swift and comprehensive. Responses within the Arab media have shifted between attempts to explain to readers sociological fault lines and structural racism in the United States and pointed takes on what these protests might mean for the upcoming election—with the underlying question of what it might mean for the region. From a political perspective, images of protests are also shaped by the Arab governments’ responses to the Arab spring, when pro-democracy protests were crushed in many Arab states. Notably, and in contrast to media responses, there has been a shortage of statements from government officials, with Palestinian officials being the exception. While this silence can in part be attributed to the fact that the current protests in the United States are purely a domestic issue, it is also important to note that numerous state-aligned media outlets have offered characteristic viewpoints of their respective countries, suggesting an interest in indirect messaging on the protests without explicit comment.
Topic:
Social Movement, Public Opinion, Media, News Analysis, Protests, Police, and Racism
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arab Countries, North America, and United States of America