March 21st, 2025 marks 60 years since the United Nations adopted the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Yet today, Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (MENA) communities are facing more systemic, institutional, and interpersonal racism and oppression in the U.S. and worldwide, not less. The rise in Islamophobia, which is often conflated with anti-Arab racism, further deepens the discrimination faced by Arabs and Muslims alike. Unfortunately, even individuals who are neither Arab nor Muslim but are merely perceived as such have become targets of this growing hostility. Despite ample evidence, the marginalization of Arab/MENA people has received little to no government or media attention.

Globally, the oppression of Arab populations is blatant. The ongoing U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza, the Israeli government’s use of programs like “Where’s Daddy” to target Palestinian males in their homes with the aim of eliminating entire Palestinian families, escalating Israeli settler violence, and the continued bombing of Lebanon despite a ceasefire are stark examples of systemic racism and discrimination.

In the U.S., the institutional bias against Arabs is just as evident. A glaring example is the recent arrest of U.S. permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil, where the legality of his treatment in custody has already come under scrutiny. Another is the recent deportation of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese Ivy League professor and kidney transplant specialist. Despite the critical shortage of such specialists in the U.S., she was expelled while on a valid H1-B visa in blatant defiance of a judge’s order to halt her removal until a hearing could be held. The Trump administration’s actions also means patients are now left without Dr. Alawieh’s life-saving care.

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