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This article discusses the various stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims present in Western societies. This article primarily discusses Arab and Muslim stereotypes present in American culture, but the same or similar stereotypes are present in many other Western societies as well. Stereotypical representations of Arabs and Muslims are often manifested in a society's media, literature, theatre and other creative expressions, but often have very real repercussions for Arab Americans and Muslims in daily interactions and in current events.

In his essay "Arabs in Hollywood: An Undeserved Image", Scott J. Simon argues that of all the ethnic groups portrayed in Hollywood films, "Arab culture has been the most misunderstood and supplied with the worst stereotypes":

Rudolph Valentino's roles in The Sheik (1921) and The Son of the Sheik (1926) set the stage for the exploration and negative portrayal of Arabs in Hollywood films. Both The Sheik and The Son of the Sheik represented Arab characters as thieves, charlatans, murderers, and brutes.

Other movies of the 1920s share a common theme of power-hungry, brutal Arabs ultimately defeated by white westerners:

• The Song of Love (1923)
• A Cafe in Cairo (1924)
• The Desert Bride (1928)

Simon singles out A Son of the Sahara (1924) as "the strongest subconscious attack on the Arab culture of all the Arab movies of the 1920s." ^[1]

The same themes prevailed into the 1970s and beyond:

• Black Sunday (1977) concerns an Arab terrorist plot to bomb a stadium during the Super Bowl.
• The Black Stallion (1979) opens with Arabs mistreating a horse aboard a ship, then attacking a boy with a knife and stealing his life jacket.
• Back to the Future (1985) went so far as to name a specific country, referring to antagonists in the film as "Libyan terrorists".

The equation of "Arab" and/or "Muslim" with "terrorist" is firmly embedded in western media, in defiance of the "political correctness" that is frequently alleged by conservatives to permeate what they characterize as the "liberal" and "multicultural" editorial positions of the media.

Contents 1 Billionaires, bombers, and belly dancers 2 See also 3 Bibliographies & Videographies 4 References

A report titled "100 Years of Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim stereotyping" by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh (director of media relations for the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) specifies what some in the Arab American community call "the three B syndrome": "Arabs in TV and movies are portrayed as either bombers, belly dancers, or billionaires":

Thomas Edison made a short film in 1897 for his patented Kinetoscope in which "Arab" women with enticing clothes dance to seduce a male audience. The short clip was called Fatima Dances (Belly dancer stereotype). The trend has shifted over the years and was predominated by the "billionaires" for a short while especially during the oil crises in the seventies. However, in the last 30 some years, the predominant stereotype by far has been the "Arab bombers." ^[2]

In a piece in the Los Angeles Times published July 28, 1997, Laila Lalami offers a 12-step guide to making a successful Arab-bashing movie, including such items as "the villains must all have beards," "they must all wear keffiehs," "they must all have names like Ali, Abdul or Mustapha" and "have them threaten to blow something up." ^[3]

Jack Shaheen, Professor Emeritus of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University, documented these trends in his book The TV Arab (ISBN 0-87972-309-2), which identifies more than 21 major movies released over ten years which show the U.S. military killing Arabs. These include:

• Iron Eagle (1986)
• Death Before Dishonor (1987)
• Navy SEALs (1990)
• Delta Force 3: The Killing Game (1991)
• Patriot Games (1992)
• Executive Decision (1996)

In Reel Bad Arabs (ISBN 1-84437-019-4), Shaheen writes that "television's image of the Arab is omnipresent [and] is becoming a part of American folklore." He also writes that Arabs have "consistently appeared in American popular culture as billionaires, bombers, and belly dancers." ^[4]

Arab Muslims are fanatics who believe in a different god, who don't value human life as much as we do, they are intent on destroying us (the west) with their oil or with their terrorism; the men seek to abduct and brutally seduce our women; they are without family and reside in a primitive place (the desert) and behave like primitive beings. The women are subservient — resembling black crows — or we see them portrayed as mute, somewhat exotic harem maidens. ^[5]

The movies which Shaheen identifies as the three worst in terms of negative portrayal of Arabs in modern films are:

• Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987); "Arab thugs... plan to ignite Los Angeles... killing millions."
• True Lies (1994); "Arnold S. INC." shoots dead Palestinians like clay pigeons. "
• Rules of Engagement (2000); "a film which "justifies" US Marines killing Arab women and children." ^[6]

In response to 9/11, previous negative portrayal of Arabs in the media (including their Muslim and South Asian counterparts) may have incited hate crimes against the Arab-American community.^{[citation needed]}

• Anti-Arabism
• Anti-Iranian sentiments
• Ethnic stereotype
• Ethnic stereotypes in American media
• Ethnic stereotypes in popular culture
• Ethnic stereotypes in pornography
• Freedom of Speech, First Amendment, United States Constitution
• Stereotype threat
• Racial profiling

• Arabs in Film and Television: A Bibliography via UC Berkeley library
• Images of Arabs and the Middle East videography of films on video and DVD in the UC Berkeley Media Resources Center

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