In 1987, Helen Samhan explained that "political racism" in the US against Arab Americans—in the form of civil rights abuses, violence, and harassment—is rooted in the Palestinian struggle, against which Zionists have been waging a war for over a century. In 2000, Nadine Naber wrote about Arab Americans as "ambiguous insiders" who are racialized through Islam, whether they are Muslim or not, and through US political interests and alliances—namely, with Zionism.

DEFINE: Defines the concept of 'ambiguous insiders' — Arab Americans racialized through Islam and US-Zionist alliances regardless of their actual religion. Builds on: "Islamophobia is the default US framework for anti-Palestinian violence"

Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophob…, loc. 20