Arab Israeli tote bag pokes fun at Islamophobia

A tote bag designed by an Israeli-Arab design studio to “terrify” Islamophobes has become a hit on social media.

The bag is emblazoned with Arabic writing which, once translated, reads: “This text has no other purpose than to terrify those who are afraid of the Arabic language.”

It was spotted on the Berlin metro this week by journalist Nader Alsarras, who promptly uploaded a photo to twitter. It has since been liked and reposted tens of thousands of times.

The bag was created by Haifa-based studio Rock Paper Scissors, run by two friends, Sana Jammalieh and Haitham Charles Haddad, who met at Tel Aviv’s Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art.

https://twitter.com/zarahsultana/status/765664301961121792

The two told Australia’s SBS website the created the bag “because it is our language, and part of who we are, and we think it should be part of our urban landscape.”

“We notice here that the Arabic language is starting to disappear from signs and public places,” they said. “We came to a conclusion that the existence of the font and language — and not necessarily the writing — is what’s important.”