海角大神

Arabic billboard on I-94 directed toward Trump: A conversation starter?

While the Michigan billboard creators sought to provoke Donald Trump in a clever, lighthearted way, they also hope it will lead to dialogue between Arab-Americans and their neighbors. 

To Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News in Dearborn, Mich., a billboard with Arabic script over the highway isn鈥檛 just a clever anti-Trump ad.

The sign, which reads from right to left, 鈥淒onald Trump, he can鈥檛 read this, but he is afraid of it,鈥� is an invitation to get to know Dearborn's Arab-American community, the largest in the nation, and all Muslim-Americans.

鈥淲hat are you afraid of Mr. Trump? People are only scared of what they don鈥檛 know,鈥� Mr. Siblani, a Lebanese-American, tells 海角大神 in a phone interview. 鈥淚f you understand what this [billboard] really means, you don鈥檛 have to be afraid. Trump doesn鈥檛 understand our community.鈥�

Siblani wasn鈥檛 involved in the creation of the billboard. It was funded by the Nuisance Committee, a super PAC started by Max Temkin, one of the creators of the edgy Cards Against Humanity game.

This isn鈥檛 the committee鈥檚 first satirical ad against the Republican presidential nominee. It has said Donald Trump is in the video game 鈥淥verwatch,鈥� and the billionaire into buying out its billboard near O鈥橦are International Airport in Chicago.听

However, the billboard near the entrance to Dearborn goes a step beyond merely satire. It encapsulates the frustration of Arab-Americans over the xenophobic rhetoric Mr. Trump has been accused of spreading against them, as well as Hispanics, African-Americans, and those with disabilities. Yet, it also aspires to encourage understanding between them and their non-Arab neighbors at a time when Islamophobia is high.

The billboard is meant to 鈥渋mprove the relations between Arab-Americans and other Americans by conversations and questions out of curiosity,鈥� says Ahmed Abu Seif, a member of the Nuisance Committee, and a Kuwaiti seeking asylum here for his participation in the campaign to free Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, or .

鈥淚t will make more relations among all of them,鈥� Mr. Seif, who translated the ad into Arabic for the PAC, tells the Monitor over the phone.

The billboard, which appeared on I-94 over the weekend, will remain posted 聽Nov. 8, Melissa Harris, a Nuisance Committee spokeswoman told the Detroit Free Press. About 331,540 people drive by it on their way to Dearborn or Detroit each week.

Ms. Harris tells the Monitor the committee didn鈥檛 want to be cruel in its attack of the Republican candidate.

鈥淲e want to be clever and funny,鈥� she says.

But it also hopes Arab-Americans will appreciate the committee went out of its way to fund the $4,850 ad in Arabic.

鈥淚t means a lot that we鈥檙e speaking to them in language that they know,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t also requires people who don鈥檛 know the language to look it up online, or ask someone they know who does speak the language.鈥�

When Mr. Temkin posted a picture of the billboard on his Twitter account, many users . The post was shared about 21,000 times from Sunday to Monday, and received about 40,000 likes. The same image posted on the Arab American News鈥檚 Facebook page has聽聽by Tuesday evening.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Throughout his campaign, Trump has been accused of inciting Muslim hysteria, sowing anti-Muslim rhetoric, and encouraging hate crimes against Muslims. He has called for a 鈥渃omplete shutdown鈥� of all Muslims鈥� entrance into the United States, has said 鈥淚slam hates us,鈥� and accused Muslim-Americans of harboring terrorists.

This language as well, according to a new report published by the聽Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at聽California State University, San Bernadino. The nonpartisan researcher found in September that Trump鈥檚 rhetoric in response to the San Bernardino attack could have contributed to a steep rise in hate crimes afterward.

A poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos in June and July also found Trump supporters are twice as likely (58 percent) as Clinton supporters (24 percent) to .

While a number of factors contribute to the incidence of hate crimes, ignorance and isolation may play a role, according to聽.听

鈥淢ost Americans say , although those who do positive views of Muslims in general,鈥� writes Ms. Foran.

The billboard touches on the heart of this 鈥� that xenophobia derives from fear and ignorance, a point Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), agrees with.

鈥淭his sign is making light of what community members here have been saying this election cycle 鈥� that is, Mr. Trump did not know our community. Mr. Trump and his acolytes say all types of things about Muslims. They don鈥檛 have a clue,鈥� he tells the Monitor. 鈥淲hen I saw [the billboard], I actually chuckled. 鈥榊eah, that鈥檚 right.鈥� 鈥�

The Nuisance Committee isn鈥檛 the first to exploit humor to counter anti-Islamic sentiment this election. New York comedian Negin Farsad filmed an ironic commentary in Washington Square in Manhattan, asking pedestrians if they were Muslim or not. If someone said no, she鈥檇 say: 鈥淧rove it!鈥� and ask them to eat from a plate of bacon (which is forbidden in Islam).听

Siblani, the publisher of the Arab American News, says the paper has received numerous requests for translations since posting a picture of the billboard on its Facebook page. He hopes he will also receive a call from Trump or his team. He says he has reached out to the campaign throughout the election.

鈥淲e do not want a shouting match. We do not want a food fight. We want a conversation with him,鈥� he says. 鈥淎re you afraid of something we can talk about and maybe discuss?鈥�