Despite some resistance from the Washington Metro Transit Authority, the Pro-Israel advertisements that raised emotions in NYC by misrepresenting jihad and minimizing the Arab-Israeli conflict to a ethnocentric sitcom of the civilized man versus the savage, will be coming to the District of Colombia, coincidentally while we are busy celebrating Columbus Day.
Issues of racism in the US are deeply complicated as a result of our history and shared heritage. Public discourse around racism in the US - be it in schools, advertizing or medical practice - is often emotional, on the basis that our personal experience informs our perceptions of racial reality, so information is frequently misrepresented and dialogue often lacks complexity or context-specific evidence.
I begin with this thought because whether the ads promote solidarity with Israel or hate for Muslims or the power of PR to shape politics... it's an opportunity for us to explore race in American and learn from it. The psychology and questionable legality of hate speech are two interesting topics that I hope get explored amidst the political discourse, and potential metro gridlock, that will likely unfold in the wake of this ad campaign.
My thoughts focus on institutions and tools at our disposal to respond to this ad and defeat ignorance, instead. This Washington Post article suggests that the most fruitful response to the hate ads is to build relationships based pluralism, rather than xenophobia. This is time-consuming but undoubtedly true.
This slow-motion approach to peace-building is codified at the international level via the The Durban Declaration. Unfortunately, some discrepancy remains around the policy, particularly within the Israeli context. While the Durban Declaration and it's Plan of Action is intended to protect people from racism and xenophobic practices worldwide but some people don't like it because they believe that while condemning racism, it also provides universal grounds to de-legitimize Israel's sovereignty.
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