Susan Eltell: What big problem in our society today do you wish to clean up?
Noor Riyal: The main problem I’m seeing is apathy. Society has become less empathetic towards certain minority groups and the situations they’re facing. An example that touches home for me is the apathy towards Palestinians. What I mean by that is I’ve heard lines like, “Why should I care if I’m not Palestinian?” Or “This is happening across the world; I can’t do anything about it anyways.” This form of apathy has been embedded and normalized within our society today. But what a lot may not understand is that this very reason is why nothing can be done. As a collective, many have chosen to turn a blind eye when, in reality, we are seeing difficult images of innocent lives being lost in a long ongoing conflict that has destroyed lives. I think this has continued for so long because people who have enough power to actually help are choosing to worry about nothing but themselves and their own benefit. We also have people who glorify what’s happening in Palestine and believe that Palestinians don’t deserve to live or to have their rightfully owned land. All of this leads back to what I said in the beginning. Apathy.
Stereotypes in media and movies have contributed to the apathy shown towards Arabs and other minority groups. In many instances and forms of media, they are portrayed as the villains that serve as antagonists to the plot. This is not just the case for Arabs but for many minorities who’ve suffered negative stereotypes through media portrayal. These harmful stereotypes in media have made it a norm to view Arabs and other minority groups in a bad light, which leads to dehumanization. This lack of humanization is evident in the global reactions to what is happening in Gaza right now and how the bombardment of negative portrayals have almost made it a norm to paint Arabs as “the enemy” and applaud at their destruction.
SE: Would you say that decades of negative portrayals have led us to this point of disregard for Arab lives?
NR: This is such a good point to bring up. In my opinion, I definitely do think that the notion of Arabs being dangerous and threats in the news and media has a lot to do with the apathy that we face even when we see videos surfacing out of Gaza. The harmful portrayals of Arabs have made it a lot harder to get people to see the actual truth: that we are just like any other ethnicity. We are humans. We have families that we hold close to our hearts, we have feelings and dreams just like anyone else. However, living in America all my life has shown me that we aren’t looked at this way, and it’s because of this horrible culture that has been forced in American minds to believe we are the opposite and should never be supported or fought for when it comes to basic human rights and self-determination.
SE: How have these negative portrayals and stereotypes impacted you personally?
NR: The stereotypes that have led to the desensitization of Arabs have impacted my life in a very negative way. As a Palestinian, I feel as though we don’t receive the same human decency that others receive just because of this narrative that’s written of us. I have experienced some of the craziest encounters that stick with me to this day. There was a time when working in retail, I had someone ask me how I feel about “your people being bombed all the time” with the most condescending tone. I don’t let these encounters impact my life, and they remind me to be even prouder of where I stem from because Palestinians are resilient, and nothing will erase our roots and history.
