Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US Secretary of Health, claimed at a Republican election meeting in Michigan that Arabs do not achieve achievements in the scientific and literary fields and do not win prestigious international awards. According to him, "There are 500 million Arabs in the world, but they don't win the Nobel Prize, they don't win the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize, and they don't produce literary works." These statements, which are contrary to historical facts, provoked widespread reactions on the eve of the mid-term elections for the American Congress. Contrary to Kennedy's claim, several Arab scientists and writers have won the world's most prestigious scientific and literary awards. Ahmed Zowil, an Egyptian scientist, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1999, and Najib Mahfouz, an Egyptian writer, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. Also, Omar Yagi, a Palestinian scientist, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2025.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US Secretary of Health, claimed at a Republican election meeting in Michigan that Arabs do not achieve achievements in the scientific and literary fields and do not win prestigious international awards. According to him, "There are 500 million Arabs in the world, but they don't win the Nobel Prize, they don't win the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize, and they don't produce literary works." These statements, which are contrary to historical facts, provoked widespread reactions on the eve of the mid-term elections for the American Congress. Contrary to Kennedy's claim, several Arab scientists and writers have won the world's most prestigious scientific and literary awards. Ahmed Zowil, an Egyptian scientist, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1999, and Najib Mahfouz, an Egyptian writer, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. Also, Omar Yagi, a Palestinian scientist, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2025.