The newest demographic that American Democrats should court for political support is the “heartland Arab,” or so it would seem if we are to believe an American teacher in Syria. Tyler Golson, who teaches English in Damascus, wrote the following in a recent edition of The Daily Star, the Lebanese news daily:

Having a truly even-handed and practical approach to peace in the Arab world means realizing that not everyone, and certainly not all of the elites in Arab society, sympathize with the anti-American movements taking place within their own ranks, and that these heartland Arabs could prove a valuable ally in future U.S.-Arab relations.

The heartland Arabs that Golson refers to are hardly what would pass for someone from the traditional “heartland” on this side of the Atlantic; they populate the upper and upper middle class, they hail from prestigious families and backgrounds, and they are highly educated. They are, however, Christian. Golson notes that it is President Bush’s religious zeal, captured in what he touts as his moral values, coupled with these Arabs’ distaste for centrist Democratic policy — specifically on issues of abortion, gay rights, capital punishment, and gun control — that makes Bush so appealing to this elite.

It is certainly important for the Democrats, if they are to wrestle power and influence away from Bush and the Republicans, to take into account this pro-Bush Arab minority in Syria. It is, however, important to remember that it is the minority Alawite Shias who have proved themselves incredibly influential in Syria. The Alawite Shias have historically controlled the pan-Arab Baath party, which has been in control of the Syrian government since 1963.

In calling attention to this pro-American segment of Syrian society, Tyler Golson cautions the Democrats to not fixate on rigid dichotomies, such as the divide between the “red” and the “blue,” Arab and non-Arab, and rightly so. I would add that Americans — indeed everyone — should extend this attention to nuance not only to the Arab and non-Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim, but also to the various other minorities and groups that exist in Syria, such as the complex subdivisions that exist within the broader distinctions between Sunni and Shia Muslims, in additional to the Druze Kurds, Armenians, and Assyrians who live in Syria. To fail to do so is simply to replace the “red” and the “blue,” with yet another simplistic, albeit different, understanding of the Middle East.    

Mimi Hanaoka