York City during the late 1800s and early 1900s, Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews on the Lower East Side sometimes disdained their Syrian co-coreligionists as Arabische Yidden, Yiddish for "Arab Jews". Some Ashkenazim doubted whether Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East were Jewish at all. In response, some Syrian Jews who were deeply proud of their ancient Jewish heritage, derogatorily dubbed Ashkenazi Jews as "J-Dubs", a reference to the first and third letters of the English word "Jew". In the 1990 United States Census, there were 11,610 Arab Jews in New York City, comprising 23 percent of the total Arab population of the city. Arab Jews in the city sometimes still face anti-Arab racism. After the September 11 attacks, some Arab Jews in New York City were subjected to arrest and detention because they were suspected to be Islamist terrorists. Notable Arab Jews Ariella Azoulay, an author, art curator, filmmaker, and theorist of photography and visual culture. Ella Shohat, who criticizes aspects of Zionism and uses the term in contrast to the Zionist establishment's categorization of Jews as either Ashkenazim or Mizrahim; Arab Jews, she believes, have been oppressed as the non-Jewish Arabs have. Sasson Somekh, professor at Tel Aviv University, in a recent memoir. André Azoulay, adviser to Moroccan King Mohammed VI. David Shasha, Director of the Center for Sephardic Heritage; Jordan Elgrably, director of the Levantine Cultural Center; Ammiel Alcalay, a professor at Queens College in New York who began emphasizing the importance of his identity as an Arab Jew in the 1990s. Ilan Halevi, described himself as "100% Jewish and 100% Arab." Rachel Shabi, journalist and author who has criticized the stigmatization of Arab-Jewish culture in Israel. See also References External links Reuvin Snir The Arab Jews: Language, Poetry, and Singularity Judeus dos Países Árabes Jews Mizrahi Jews topics