Tom Friedman, straight up racist

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 12:35 PM on March 2, 2007.

Before I'd read anything else on the Middle East, I read Thomas Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem, a journalistic memoir of his time as a Middle East correspondent. I'll be honest with you, I remember virtually nothing but that I liked it.

Subsequent to that I paid to see him speak in Tacoma. Braving that fair city's storied aroma, I sat up straight in some campus auditorium bleacher seat, pen in hand, ready to document the wisdom. Within 5 minutes my jaw approached the floor, my face twisted in horror -- it wasn't the aroma. Who was this idiot? I asked my frowning companion.

Friedman pranced about, explaining Arab nations like some schlocky TV scientist in a clown suit teaching 4-year-olds about static electricity or carbonation: "I call all these angry men in the street 'the sittin' around guys.'"

From that night on -- when we left well before his conclusion -- I've had trouble thinking of Friedman as anything but a nice suburban racist. The kind of guy who wouldn't be at the lynch mob maybe, but who would editorialize in the Northern papers about how we shouldn't necessarily judge these mobs who may not be doing exactly the right thing but who nevertheless have a vision that maybe approaches something that ultimately needs to get done, so maybe, just maybe, we should give them a chance to complete their work before judging...

Here's a portion of Friedman's latest, from Sadly, No!. (If you're wondering why this is racist, replace "Arabs" with "Jews" or "Blacks." If you're still unsure, stop watching TV):

Special Note: Some commenters think this post is a bit misleading. No, Tom Friedman did not write the following poem, as the first paragraph notes. But the issue is twofold: 1.) The translation comes from a site with a terrible reputation for propagandizing against Arabs and Muslims and 2.) Even if MEMRI's translation is perfect, it's not an excuse for publishing something that is racist. No, not even if the person is of that ethnicity. Not presented as "an honest voice."

[…] Occasionally an honest voice rises, giving you a glimmer of hope that others will stand up. The MEMRI translation Web site (memri.org) [note: see here and here] just posted a poem called "When," from a Saudi author, Wajeha al-Huwaider, that was posted on Arab reform sites like www.aafaq.org.

When you cannot find a single garden in your city, but there is a mosque on every corner -- you know that you are in an Arab country.

When you see people living in the past with all the trappings of modernity -- do not be surprised, you are...

... in an Arab country.

When religion has control over science -- you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.

When clerics are referred to as "scholars" -- don't be astonished, you are in an Arab country

When you see the ruler transformed into a demigod who never dies or relinquishes his power, and nobody is permitted to criticize -- do not be too upset, you are in an Arab country.

When you find that the large majority of people oppose freedom and find joy in slavery -- do not be too distressed, you are in an Arab country.

When you hear the clerics saying that democracy is heresy, but seizing every opportunity provided by democracy to grab high positions -- do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

When you discover that a woman is worth half of what a man is worth, or less -- do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

When land is more important than human beings -- you are in an Arab country. …

When fear constantly lives in the eyes of the people -- you can be certain you are in an Arab country.

Tagged as: racism, new york times, thomas friedman, arabs

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.