Much of the current Islamophobic rhetoric seeks to demonize Arabs in particular. As we saw in the example at the start of this chapter, Obama was "accused" of being an Arab, which is shorthand for "Muslim" in some quarters. Let us note, therefore, a simple point: all Muslims are not Arabs, and all Arabs are not Muslims. Arabs are people who speak Arabic, share certain common cultural traditions, and claim a common Arab ethnic identity. Geographically, the Arab world has traditionally been divided into two parts: the Maghreb or the West, which includes Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, and other countries west of the Nile, and the Mashreq or the East, which includes Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and all the countries to the east of the Nile up to, but not including, Iran. Because of linguistic and cultural differences, Iranians and Turks are not considered Arabs.

DEFINE: Clarifies the conflation of Arabness with Muslim identity, distinguishing linguistic/ethnic Arab identity from religious affiliation.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 161