# Filthy Arabs assault wealthy Jews **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 12, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677 "2004-07-12T07:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/81 "2004-07-13T19:27:11Z")
This may seem like a minor point here, but I think it illustrates something: > [@Aldebaran](#): > > So you actually also think that everything that is ever written, said, published on this globe comes automatically with an English translation. > (Lucky for you that you did not chose to become historian. That would cure you rather quickly from your illusion.) Say what? I just finished writing a doctoral dissertation in history, and several secondary materials I used for it were in French or German, untranslated. Sure, there weren’t a lot of them, but…I was writing my dissertation on ENGLISH history! As for the history of other European countries, let alone the history of other regions of the globe, I would say that it is nigh-on impossible to understand it without a good knowledge of the relevant native language. History is about the _last_ field where knowledge of English alone is considered a serious weakness. Where am I getting here? **Aldebaran** , you claim to be a historian. Personally, I don’t see that in your writing. I, along with countless others in my field, have learned to weigh material dispassionately (as opposed to unpassionately). Even if we personally despise a country, person, or idea, we are able to write about the subject using only proveable facts and arguments. Yes, bias may creep in, but usually we strive to minimize it, whereas you often seem to embrace it. If you claim to be a researcher, do here what you do when you write an historical essay: research more than you write. ---
**Author:** ![aegypt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@aegypt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aegypt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/82 "2004-07-13T20:08:46Z")
Well, it seems to me that this little episode really did give us all a little lesson about bigotry and racism. Not the lesson it seemed to present at the outset, but perhaps a bigger and more interesting lesson. What if the woman had claimed that the assailants where jewish, and had carved a Christian cross on her belly? The face of the Buddha? L. Ron Hubbards butt? What then? Which ethnic group would have been filthy then? Even if the story had been true, the actions of a presumably mentaly disturbed armed robber is hardly an indictment against an ethnic group that numbers in the hundreds of millions, any more that the actions of John Wayne Gacy prove that all circus people are sick freaks that should all be locked up. By the way, I hope nobody took real offense at my snide remarks about the quality of that poster’s French. I don’t demand that every American learn French - what would be the point? What does bother me is people who pick up a few words of a foreign language in order to insult native speakers and assume a patronizing attitude - basically, “lol, I learned your stupid language just like that, proves your stupid and you suck!”. There was an extreme right-wing American blogger a few years ago that had a kind of anti-French blog that he translated into French - don’t know if it’s still around. If you still want to do that, well, whatever blows your skirt up I guess, but at least learn the basic present tense forms of the most common verb - it’s always in chapter one, book one of any language course and really not that hard to remember. Or cut and paste an insult from a French web page - it’s got the best insults in any language I know, for crying out loud. By the way, I’m not French, though my brother is married to a wonderful French woman and we try to speak the language as much as we can. They’re bringing up their children (one of whom is born in California by the way) bilingual - he speaks Swedish to them, she speaks French, and they don’t seem to think that there’s anything strange about it. In my experience, French people, like people anywhere, come in all possible flavors, and then some - from the nicest, most saintly people you can imagine (like my brother’s father-in-law) to the greatest assholes (like an emigré landlord I once had) and all points in between. Like any nationality, though, almost all people are nice if you get to know them and treat them with a minimum of respect. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/83 "2004-07-13T20:16:51Z")
[Another link about the hoax.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3891425.stm) ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/84 "2004-07-13T20:41:33Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Errr…What??? How do you construct my OP as being about stupid americans??? Mais si! > [@clairobscur](#): > > …One of these persons was much more erudite than the others. She obviously knew there were christian arabs, since she always refered to the “muslim arabs”. She knew that Mohammed was a pedophile. She also knew that arabs had invaded Spain, where they masssacred all the christians. Actually, they massacred all the christians everywhere : in Sudan, in India (not sure when), etc… These are quite uncommon comments in France, contrarily to arabs being criminals and the like. If they sound familiar to you, it’s because this girl is american (and yes, I’ve a point in mentionning this). > They also hate the Jews. You know why? I think you can guess, but I’m still going to tell you. That’s because they’re envious. And they’re envious because contrarily to the backward Arabs, the Jews know very well how to reach influential positions and they make a lot of money :rolleyes: (remember, they live in the 16th district and all that…). > … > > I wasn’t paying much attention, though, since I was arguing with the american girl. Not only she was cultured, but also she wasn’t prejudiced. She was only objective. She could easily prove it. For instance she dared me to mention even one “muslim arab” country which was affluent, stable, democratic and free. Remember, I had a point when mentionning she was american. Thinking about the importance of the racial issue in the US, I immediatly thought I could get my message across by asking her if she could mention any black African country which was stable, affluent, free, and in the case she couldn’t, if I could then assume that black people too had innate inclinations towards violence, corruption, criminal behavior and such things. Yes, I know, I was naive…She agreed with me :rolleyes: And admitted that black people weren’t any better than (muslim) arab people. That excerpt represents at least 1/3 of your OP. Comes naturally, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/85 "2004-07-13T21:10:19Z")
Has everyone gone insane here? I _said_ I didn’t care how may ‘good’ Arabs there are. I said I cared for the woman and her kid and the anti-semitism. She lied. Stupid bitch. That doesn’t mean there is no anti-semitism. \*And not just in France \* in case anyone thought I meant that. From [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1219180.htm](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1219180.htm) Tensions have mounted between France’s five million Muslims and 600,000 Jews as Middle East conflict strained relations. Some disaffected young Muslims have sought refuge in an Islamic identity rejecting France and its secularism. SABRA AND SHATILA STREET One police intelligence report last month said more than half of 630 “sensitive neighbourhoods” had turned into ethnic ghettos where Islamist preachers stoked anti-French resentment. Another official report showed religion was increasingly a source of tension in new towns France built outside its urban areas to keep low-cost housing far from its chic city centres. The Education Ministry said last week Muslim pupils often tried to impose Islamic norms in state schools, demanding everything from headscarves for girls to fasting during Ramadan for anyone of Muslim origin, whether religious or not. A militantly pro-Palestinian group called Euro-Palestine won more than five percent in June’s European Parliament vote in suburbs near the train line where Friday’s attack occurred. Last week, it staged a guerrilla action to rename a Paris road as Sabra and Shatila Street, recalling the 1982 Beirut massacre of Palestinians by Israeli-backed Christian militia. It said it was protesting against a city decision to rename another road in honour of Zionism’s founder, Theodore Herzl. Not all racist attacks have been by Muslims against Jews. In recent weeks, neo-Nazis have spray-painted swastikas and hate slogans on Jewish, Muslim and Christian cemeteries in the Alsace region bordering on Germany. France saw more racist and anti-Semitic acts in the first half of 2004 than in all of 2003, latest official figures show. I’m afraid another ‘hate against Jewish people campaign’ is on it’s way. And I’m damned if I’ll let it. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/86 "2004-07-13T21:22:44Z")
> [@New Iskander](#): > > Mais si! > > That excerpt represents at least 1/3 of your OP. Comes naturally, doesn’t it? And then? I argued mostly with this american girl. And I explained why there was a point in mentioning she was american. Believe it or not, the racial issues aren’t perceived in the same way all over the world, and it’s because she was american that I expected she would get what I mean if I replaced “arabs” by “blacks”. I wouldn’t have said that if she had been, say, Italian. And as for the part you underlined. Once again, believe it or not, these _aren’t_ arguments you’d commonly hear over here, because people are way less religious. Same with the “Mahomed was a pedophile”, that I read frequently, but only on american boards. I also mentionned french people, canadian people and an algerian, but for some reason you took issue with me criticizing an american, or took issue with the idea that people in other countries won’t necessarily have the same perceptions nor use the same arguments that american people, or something similar. Should I avoid to mention the nationality of anybody, because someone could take offense? Or am I allowed to criticize only french people? Do you really think I would need such a long post to make an “american are stupid” statement? I just would have to find some link to something stupid an american had done and write “Look how stupid american people are!”. I wouldn’t even have needed to actually search for a link. The Pit being full of rants about stupid things done in the US by americans, I just would have to post a “stupid americans” comment in each of them. On the other hand, caught in your paranoid attitude, you jumped on the occasion to take some cheap shot at some french people (I didn’t check your links, and don’t intend to, given the irrelevance of your post and your attitude) just because they happen to be from my country. I couldn’t care less about other french people having said or done idiotic things. I’m not the one oversensitive and ludicrously defensive when it comes to my country or citizenship. Though since I now remember when I noticed your screename and why (you were defending the use of torture in Abu Ghraib, for those who wouldn’t know), I can understand why you’re so defensive about “stupid americans”. It’s probably not related to the “american” part. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/87 "2004-07-13T21:32:04Z")
> [@gum](#): > > One police intelligence report last month said more than half of 630 “sensitive neighbourhoods” had turned into ethnic ghettos where Islamist preachers stoked anti-French resentment. Anti-French is anti-semitism? > [@](#): > > Another official report showed religion was increasingly a source of tension in new towns France built outside its urban areas to keep low-cost housing far from its chic city centres. This is anti-semitism? > [@](#): > > The Education Ministry said last week Muslim pupils often tried to impose Islamic norms in state schools, demanding everything from headscarves for girls to fasting during Ramadan for anyone of Muslim origin, whether religious or not. Still not seeing anti-semitism. > [@](#): > > A militantly pro-Palestinian group called Euro-Palestine won more than five percent in June’s European Parliament vote in suburbs near the train line where Friday’s attack occurred. Nor here. > [@](#): > > Last week, it staged a guerrilla action to rename a Paris road as Sabra and Shatila Street, recalling the 1982 Beirut massacre of Palestinians by Israeli-backed Christian militia. Waldo? > [@](#): > > Not all racist attacks have been by Muslims against Jews. In recent weeks, neo-Nazis have spray-painted swastikas and hate slogans on Jewish, Muslim and Christian cemeteries in the Alsace region bordering on Germany. Anti-semitism, but not Arab in this case. > [@](#): > > France saw more racist and anti-Semitic acts in the first half of 2004 than in all of 2003, latest official figures show. And that’s a deplorable thing, and you can lock up the folks responsible and throw away the keys for all I care. > [@](#): > > I’m afraid another ‘hate against Jewish people campaign’ is on it’s way. > And I’m damned if I’ll let it. I’m not about to deny that there are a lot of anti-semitic Arabs (and vice versa) in the world. I’m just not seeing evidence of it from your cites. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/88 "2004-07-13T21:39:20Z")
Originally posted by **DMC** > [@](#): > > _I’m not about to deny that there are a lot of anti-semitic Arabs (and vice versa) in the world. I’m just not seeing evidence of it from your cites._ You want evidence? Oh man, are you in for a surprise. Give me time to get the numerous cites. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/89 "2004-07-13T22:13:21Z")
**DMC** , These are just a few. If you want me to, I’ll have a couple of hundreds tomorrow. From: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3586543.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3586543.stm) France’s statistics suggested a “significant” rise in anti-Semitic violent incidents and threats in 2002 - six times as many as in 2001. There were many incidents of Jewish people assaulted and insulted, attacks against synagogues, cemeteries and other Jewish property, and arson against a Jewish school, the report said. It identifies “young, disaffected white Europeans” as the key culprits followed by _North African or Asian Muslims_ [From my own ‘lovely’ country](http://israpundit.com/archives/006243.html) [From Sweden](http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10487) From: [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/21/1026898945239.html?oneclick=true](http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/21/1026898945239.html?oneclick=true) For the past two years, the Arab world has become increasingly dominated by government-incited Jew-hatred. Holocaust denial is now mainstream, even among Arab intellectuals Once again, I’m not Jewish. I’m a hard left-winger. I can read too. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/90 "2004-07-13T22:28:16Z")
> [@gum](#): > > _(Quoting a source)_ > It identifies “young, disaffected white Europeans” as the key culprits followed by _North African or Asian Muslims_ I’m not denying there’s a problem with certain Muslim youths displaying anti-Semitism, but your cite seems to indicate they’re not the largest group responsible for the unfortunate rise in 2004. Now, I’m as horrified by this new wave of anti-semitism as much as you are, but I’ll -to use your words- be damned if I’ll let it be painted as a primarily _Arab_ problem. In fact, I’ll go you one further. Post-9/11, racism and xenophobism has been on the rise across the board, be it anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, or anti-Western. The world seems more on edge, more unwilling to trust. Perhaps explainable from a sociologic point of view, but a very worrying trend nonetheless - a trend that is _not_ limited to Muslims alone. So, FWIW, the two cents of another left-of-the-middle non-Jew. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/91 "2004-07-13T22:30:04Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Does having a knee that jerks about like a crack addled weasel not get in the way of being a pompous ass? Buddy, you are my new best friend. Permission to print this up on business cards and pass them out willy-nilly? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/92 "2004-07-13T22:33:24Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > xenophobism Or _xenophobia_, if you’re really anal about it. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/93 "2004-07-13T22:46:49Z")
**Coldfire** , The only thing I’m anal about are haemorrhoids. 😃 I am _not_ saying anti-semitism is exclusively Arab or muslim. Nor did I ever say that. I’m merely answering **DMC** ’s post, who complained he [she?] is not seeing evidence of it from my cites. And I so agree about the intolerance of people vs other peoples these days. It’s scary. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/94 "2004-07-14T00:38:50Z")
I’m a he, and I said that your cites as you had posted them did not appear to show anti-semitism among Arabs. I then clearly stated that there was plenty of anti-semitism to go around, thus negating the need for additional cites. If I call someone on the carpet for a correct statement based on falsehoods, proving the correctness doesn’t eliminate the falsehoods. The problem I had was with your particular cites, not your message above those cites, which I thought I made **quite** clear. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/95 "2004-07-14T01:08:36Z")
Mods - I’m only going to rebut this once, so just let me get my two cents in I’ll let \*\*Aldebaran \*\* rave all he wants. > [@Aldebaran](#): > > 1. Good advise: Don’t rely on internet translation machines type Bablefish thinking that what comes out of it is good enough to make people think you have a clue of how to write it yourself. > 2. If you use such a thing like Bablefish, you better don’t use it to attack people because that makes you look double ridiculous. The truth is, Babelfish and cousins do a MUCH better job of translating than I do - among other things, they don’t screw up verb conjugations like I do. No, my spoken and written French is not particularly good. If you want proof I _didn’t_ use Internet translators, there it is. No, it’s not very good - but nonetheless I manage to communicate. > [@](#): > > 1. Try to study English first, because obviously you are not even able to read what I write. I do know my English is not perfect, but nevertheless I think that what I wrote in my posts in this thread is clear enough. Yes, but it deteriorates rapidly when you’re upset. Hey, I don’t acuse YOU of using Internet translators, nor do I get pissy when YOU fuck up in a language not your native tongue. And no, you are not always clear in what you say, and some of your later posts in this thread are proof of that. > [@](#): > > So: explain to me where you possibly make the connection between my remark that the chatbox girl clairobscur talks about probably only knows English and your remark It’s “chatroom”, by the way. Anyhow – bolded parts my emphasis – > [@](#): > > Tonight, I decided to visit a chatroom, something I had not done in a long time. Since it was very late in France,\*\* I picked a french-speaking chat-room on an international site\*\*, where I would likely find more people. Some chatters were discussing the assault I described above… [\*snip]… \* > One of these persons was much more erudite than the others. She obviously knew there were christian arabs, since she always refered to the “muslim arabs”. She knew that Mohammed was a pedophile. She also knew that arabs had invaded Spain, where they masssacred all the christians. Actually, they massacred all the christians everywhere : in Sudan, in India (not sure when), etc… These are quite uncommon comments in France, contrarily to arabs being criminals and the like. If they sound familiar to you, **it’s because this girl is american** (and yes, I’ve a point in mentionning this). Right in the OP - **Clairobscur** states he is in a _French-speaking chat room_ where, presumably,\* everyone is speaking French, \*and runs into these statements _made by an American_ who is _presumably speaking French_, just like everyone else there. Yeah, my written French might suck, but your English comprehension needs a little work, **Aldebaran**. Presuming \*\*Clairobscur \*\* conveyed what he intended (and, if anything, his English is better than **Aldebaran’s** ), the logical conclusion is that the American girl was operating in French. Then you zap back with “obviously if she’s an American she knows only English”. That, sir, in the face of the circumstances presented, is a statement indicating prejudgement of an individual based solely on country of origin - a form of bigotry. > [@](#): > > Now maybe you live somewhere in a very remoted spot in the USA, but the truth is that the vast majority of the US citizens only knows English. Or do you have proof of the opposite. Yeah. I do. I live in this country. Have you even _visited_ the United States? If English is the only language in the US why the fuck does the local office of department of motor vehicles in Indiana - HARDLY a cosmopolitan state - offer driving tests in Spanish, French, German, Serbian, Croatian, and - get this - ARABIC? If you have ever been to New York City, LA, Chicago, Detroit, or other large urban area you can’t walk down a street downtown without hearing a dozen other tongues. The census data on 18% of US households using a language _other than English_ at home has already been posted. That’s not counting the millions who study other languages either because their school district requires it, or as part of obtaining a college degree. Your statement that Americans know only English is just plain fucking ignorant of the actual state of affairs. Once again, you are judging people based _solely_ on country of origin, in flagrant disregard of _all other facts_. > [@](#): > > So yes, supposing that she only knows English is completely normal. Gee, I dunno - if her name was “Gonzalez” or “Hernandez” I’d think knowing Spanish was perfectly normal. If the last name was “Nguyen” Vietnamese wouldn’t be a shock. I wasn’t surprised to find the lady with the last name of “Tekchandani” at work spoke Hindi. Can’t count the number of people I know who speak Polish or Russian or Croatian or Serbian or Czech as either first or second languages. One of the tech guys in the computer area at work is fluent in German. Hell, I know people who speak _Irish Gaelic_ fluently, now there’s a somewhat obscure language. We have one of the highest proportions of immigrant-citizens on Earth - where the FUCK do you get the idea no one here knows anything but English? > [@](#): > > Maybe you think everything that is ever written, said, published on this globe comes with an English translation but the reality is that it is not. Maybe you think you know what the US is like - you don’t. I invite you to come visit for awhile and get some FACTS. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/96 "2004-07-14T01:13:55Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > And then? I argued mostly with this american girl. And I explained why there was a point in mentioning she was american. Believe it or not, the racial issues aren’t perceived in the same way all over the world, and it’s because she was american that I expected she would get what I mean if I replaced “arabs” by “blacks”. I wouldn’t have said that if she had been, say, Italian. She’s American, so you expected her to see the folly of her bigotry by replacing Arabs, a foreign and brand new nussaince with blacks, a domestic and classic nussaince - scratch that - THE American nussaince. WTF were you thinking again!? (That’s why people should stop dragging black people into every single irrelevant argument as an E-Z onmi-example and try to argue a side on its own merits) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/97 "2004-07-14T01:22:42Z")
Back to the main topic – Judging by the reports I’ve seen today, it appears this may be, at least in part, a mentally ill young woman with a history of … what would you call it? Persecution? Paranoia? **Mehitabel** mentioned “Tawana Brawley” and, since we have a fair number of non-US folks here, I just wanted to make sure they knew what the reference was. Ms Brawley showed up one day in a dissheveled state claiming she had been assaulted by skinheads or some other known-to-be-racist group of people, and part of the show included swastikas on her belly and other body parts. Turned out to be self-inflicted. The girl was messed up, what can I say? But the incident wound up fanning the flames of various sorts of hatred and misunderstanding and other bad things. I’m wondering if this recent situation is something similar - a woman with some seriously messed up mental workings looking for attention of some sort. How unfortunate that she had to throw fat on the growing fire of ethnic/religious/other conflicts. Whatever her intention (assuming she was even thinking very far into the future) this will only inflame ill-will and bad feelings. And goodness knows there are enough of _those_ in this world. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/98 "2004-07-14T02:51:34Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > Buddy, you are my new best friend. Permission to print this up on business cards and pass them out willy-nilly? Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/99 "2004-07-14T04:07:33Z")
> [@gum](#): > > Has everyone gone insane here? > > I _said_ I didn’t care how may ‘good’ Arabs there are. I said I cared for the woman and her kid and the anti-semitism. … France saw more racist and anti-Semitic acts in the first half of 2004 than in all of 2003, latest official figures show. > > I’m afraid another ‘hate against Jewish people campaign’ is on it’s way. > And I’m damned if I’ll let it. I love how this incident has shown that there are clearly French anti-Muslim sentiments as evidenced by the fact that there was such wide-spread condemnation of this act precisely because of who supposedly carried it out and you say that we should take notice at all this horrible anti-semitism. What about French xenophobia; disallowing religious displays in school, etc? It’s like when Susan Smith killed her kids but said that somebody black kidnapped her and her kids and everyone believed her. Then the complete story comes out, and now your saying that we should be concerned about black people committing acts of violence against white women and their children? Huh? Even though the case at hand tends to suggest the opposite? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677/100 "2004-07-14T04:42:37Z")
Le Yikes. I think rode that train line, very late at night, just three weeks ago–with a friend, both of us Jewish (American, though). Everyone else in the car was black, with African costumes. Most were women. I’d like to put in a sober observation that the hotel staff, who were largely Arab, did everything they could to harass us, incidentally. They “forgot” our room service orders, told us that the things we ordered–only the things we ordered–were not available in the restaurant, left unasked for cots and cribs in our rooms, repeatedly turned off the air conditioning in our rooms, locked us out of our rooms, messed up our hotel bills, forgot to leave towels, and ignored “Do Not Disturb” signs–at the very beginning, before I’d learned to bolt the door, one walked in on me while I was naked. Maybe it’s because we were American, or maybe the hotel staff really were _that_ incompetent, but there was a large group of Israelis who ended up at the front desk every night, to get their electronic keys fixed along with us, and apparently no one else in the hotel had this problem–because no one else was there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filthy-arabs-assault-wealthy-jews/254677.md?page=6)