Are these lyrics offensive?

[TeeJay]

My cousin who grew up mainly in France once got really really angry about this song by The Cure, whereas I have never heard anyone in the UK get upset about it. Maybe it is because of the amount of abuse French racists spout about "arabs" - whereas in the UK racist language usually uses "paki" as its catch-all insult. If this is true then it is ironic because the song is about a famous French book called "The Stranger" written by Albert Camus in 1946.

Standing on a beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the arab on the ground
See his open mouth
But hear no sound

I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab

I can turn and walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I choose
It amounts to the same

Absolutely nothing

I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab

Feel the steel butt jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes of
The dead man on the beach

The dead man
On the beach

I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab