Conspirator or Corroborator? Nazi Arab Villainy in Popular Fiction

Although the Second World War ended and was superseded by a preoccupation with the Cold War in the West, German Nazis have remained staple villains in films, popular fiction and video games. Nazis have also become associated with the new villains of the western world, the Arabs, who, as a direct result of the Arab-Israeli conflict, have taken on the mantle of being representative of evil. Tens, if not hundreds, of novels and films appeared during and after the Second World War portraying Nazis in minor background roles supporting Arab terrorists in the building of a nuclear bomb, the design of biological weapons, or plotting to destroy Israel and the West. These new images of Nazis and their Arab ‘sidekicks’ are expressions of a cultural reality which has two implications. The first one is the deliberate political and ideological association made by some writers between Nazis and Arabs in order to suggest that both intend to wipe out the Jews. Ironically, most writers suggest that Arabs have anti-Semitic feelings toward the Jews, where Arabs themselves are Semites. Second, it is implied that Nazism shares a common ground with Islam because both seek to destroy the West in general and Israel in particular, disregarding the core dimension of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which is directly linked to geopolitical ambitions. ...

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