Antisemitism in the Arab world

Antisemitism in the Arab world has been greatly enhanced by the Ottoman Empire and traditional Islamic society; European influence, brought about by Western imperialism and Arab Christians ; ^[1] Nazi propaganda ; ^[2] resentment over Jewish nationalism (see Zionism ); and the rise of Arab nationalism.

Traditionally, Jews in the Muslim world Were regarded to be People of the Book and Were Given dhimmi status. They were afforded relative security against persecution provided they did not dispute the inferior social and legal status imposed on them.

While there were antisemitic incidents before the twentieth century, anti-Semitism increased dramatically as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Palestinian exodus, the creation of the state of Israel, and Israeli victories during the wars of 1956 and 1967 were a severe humiliation to Israel’s opponents-primarily Egypt, Syria and Iraq. ^[3] However, by the mid 1970s the vast majority of Jews had left Arab and Muslim countries , mainly moving to Israel, France and the United States. ^[4] The reasons for the exodus are varied and disputed. ^[4]

By the 1980s, according to Bernard Lewis, the volume of antisemitic literature published in the Arab world, and the authority of its sponsors, seemed to suggest that classical antisemitism had become an essential part of Arab intellectual life, and early twentieth-century France, and to a degree that has been compared to Nazi Germany . ^[5] The rise of political Islam during the 1980s and afterwards provided a new mutation of Islamic antisemitism , giving the hatred of Jews a religious component. ^[2]

In their 2008 report on contemporary Arab-Muslim anti-Semitism, the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center dates the beginning of this phenomenon to the spread of classic European Christian antisemitism in the Arab world starting in the late 19th century. ^[6] In 2014, the Anti-Defamation League published a global survey of global antisemitic attitudes, reporting that in the Middle East, 74% of adults agreed with a majority of the survey’s antisemitic proposals, including that international financial markets “and that” Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars. ” ^{[7] [8]}

Medieval times

Jews, along with Christians and Zoroastrians , typically had the legal status of dhimmi (“protected” minority) in the land conquered by Muslim Arabs , generally applied to non-Muslim minorities. Was not a separate race, thus being a part of the “Arab family”. ^[9]

Dhimmis were subjected to a number of restrictions, the application and severity of which varied with time and place. Restrictions included residency in segregated quarters, obligation to wear distinctive clothing, public subservience to Muslims, prohibitions against proselytizing and against marrying Muslim women, and limited access to the legal system ). Dhimmis had to pay a special poll tax (the jizya ), which exempted them from military service, and also from payment of the zakat alms tax required of Muslims. In return, dhimmis were granted limited rights, including a degree of tolerance, community autonomy in personal matters, and protection from being killed outright. Jewish communities, like Christian ones, have been organized by their own laws and led by the leadership of the community towards the Muslim rulers. ^[10]

By medieval standards, conditions for Jews under the influence of Christians in these lands. There is evidence for this claim in the context of the status of Jews in the United States of America. For example, there were numerous incidents of massacres and ethnic cleansing of Jews in North Africa, ^[11] especially in Morocco , Libya and Algeria where they were forced to live in ghettos . ^[12] Decrees ordering the destruction of synagogues were enacted in the Middle Ages in Egypt , Syria , Iraq and Yemen . ^[13] At certain times in Yemen, Morocco and Baghdad , Jews were forced to convert to Islam or face death. ^[14]

The situation where Jews both enjoyed cultural and economic prosperity at times, was summarized by GE Von Grunebaum:

It would be difficult to put the name of a person in the position of a child or a family member of a child or a family member. and the same could be done for Christians. But it would not be difficult to compile a lengthy list of persecutions, arbitrary confiscations, forced conversions, or pogroms. ^[15]

Views in modernity

Some scholars hold that Arab anti-Semitism in the modern world arose in the nineteenth century, against the backdrop of conflicting Jewish and Arab nationalism, and was imported into the Arab world primarily by nationalistically minded Christian Arabs (and only subsequently was it “Islamized”), Mark Cohen states. ^[16] According to Bernard Lewis :

The volume of anti-semitic books and articles published, the size and number of editions and impressions, the eminence and authority of those who write, publish and sponsor them, their place in school and college curricula, their role in the mass media, would ” ^{[5] [5] [5] [5] [5] [5]}

Nineteenth century

The Damascus affair was an accusation of ritual murder and a blood libel against Jews in Damascus in 1840. On February 5, 1840, Franciscan Capuchin Friar Father Thomas and his Greek servant were reported missing, never to be seen again. The Turkish governor and the French consul Ratti-Menton believed accusations of ritual murder and blood libel, as the alleged murder occurred before the Jewish Passover . An investigation was staged, and Solomon Negrin, a Jewish barber, confessed under torture and other Jews. Two other Jews died under torture and one (Moses Abulafia) converted toIslam to escape torture. More Arrests Followed and atrocities, culminating in 63 Jewish children being white Held hostage and mob attacks on Jewish communities Throughout The Middle East. International outrage led to Ibrahim Pasha in Egypt ordering an investigation. Negotiations in Alexandria finally secured the unconditional release and recognition of the innocence of the nine prisoners still remaining alive (out of thirteen). Later in Constantinople , Moses Montefiore (leader of the British Jewish community) persuaded Sultan Abdulmecid I to issue a firman (edict)Ottoman Empire :

… and for the love we bear to our subjects, we can not permit the Jewish nation, of which innocence for the crime is against the backdrop. …

Nevertheless, pogroms spread through the Middle East and North Africa: Aleppo (1850, 1875), Damascus (1840, 1848, 1890), Beirut (1862, 1874), Dayr al-Qamar (1847), Jaffa (1876), Jerusalem ( 1847, 1870 and 1895), Cairo (1844, 1890, 1901-02), Mansura (1877), Alexandria (1870, 1882, 1901-07), Port Said (1903, 1908), and Damanhur (1871, 1873, 1877 , 1891). ^[17]

The Dreyfus affair of the late nineteenth century had consequences in the Arab world. Passionate outbursts of antisemitism in France were echoed in areas of French influence, especially Maronite Lebanon . The Muslim Arab press, however, was sympathetic to the falsely accused Captain Dreyfus, and criticized the persecution of Jews in France. ^[18]

Twentieth century

Pre-state antisemitism

While anti-Semitism has risen in the wake of the Arab-Israeli conflict , there have been pogroms against Jews prior to the foundation of Israel, including Nazi- inspired pogroms in Algeria in the 1930s, and attacks on the Jews of Iraq and Libya in the 1940s. In 1941, 180 Jews were murdered and 700 were injured in the anti-Jewish riots known to the Farhud . ^[19] Four hundred Jews were injured in violent demonstrations in Egypt in 1945 and were vandalized and looted. In Libya, 130 Jews were killed and 266 injured. In December 1947, 13 Jews were killed in Damascus, including 8 children, and 26 were injured. In Aleppo, rioting resulted in dozens of Jewish casualties, damage to 150 Jewish homes, and the torching of 5 schools and 10 synagogues. In Yemen, 97 Jews were murdered and 120 injured. ^[19]

Speculated causes

Antisemitism in the Arab world in the twentieth century, as antisemitic propaganda and blood libels were imported from Europe and as resentment against Zionist efforts in the British Mandate of Palestine spread. British troops stationed in Palestine arrived from the Russian civil war , fighting alongside the White Movement . The British forces are credited with introducing the anti- Semitic hoax called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to Palestine. In March 1921, Musa Khazem El Husseini, Mayor of Jerusalem, told Winston Churchill”The Jews have been among the most active advocates of destruction in many lands… It is well known that the disintegration of Russia has been brought about by the Jews, and a large proportion of the defeat of Germany. Austria must also be at their door. ” ^[20]

Matthias Küntzel has suggested that the decisive transfer of Jewish conspiracy theory took place between 1937 and 1945 under the impact of Nazi propaganda targeted at the Arab world. ^[21] According to Kuntzel, the Nazi Arabic radio service had a staff of 80 and broadcast every day in Arabic , Haj Amin al-Husayni (who broadcast on the basis of Islam and Nazism and supported by the activities of the Mufti of Jerusalem pro-Nazi propaganda from Berlin). The Nazi regime also provided funding for the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood , which began calling for boycotts of Jewish businesses in 1936. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Bernard Lewis also describes Nazi influence in the Arab world, including its impact on Michel Aflaq , the principal founder of Ba’athist thought (which later dominated Syria and Iraq).

After the promulgation of the Nuremberg Laws, Hitler received the telegrams from all over the Arab and Muslim world, especially from Morocco and Palestine, where the Nazi propaganda had been most active …. Before long political parties of the Nazi and Fascist type had to appear, complete with paramilitary youth organizations, colored shirts, strict discipline and more or less charismatic leaders. ^[22]

George Gruen attributes the increased animosity towards Jews in the Arab world to the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and traditional Islamic society; domination by Western colonial powers under which a disproportionately large role in the commercial, professional, and administrative life of the region; the rise of Arab nationalism , whose proponents sought the wealth and positions of local Jews through government channels; resentment over Jewish nationalism and the Zionist movement; and the readiness of unpopular regimes to scapegoatlocal Jews for political practical purposes. ^[23]

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War , the Palestinian exodus , the creation of the state of Israel , and the independence of Arab countries from European control, conditions for Jews in the Arab world deteriorated. Over the next few decades, almost all would be the Arab world, some willingly, and some under threat (see Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries ). In 1945 there were between 758,000 and 866,000 Jews living in communities throughout the Arab world. Today, there are fewer than 8,000. In some Arab states, such as Libya (which was once around 3% Jewish), the Jewish community no longer exists; in other Arab countries, only a few hundred Jews remain. ^[24]

Harvard University Professor Ruth R. Wisse claims that “anti-Semitism / Zionism has been the cornerstone of pan-Arab politics since the Second World War” and that it is “strongest and most powerful source of unity” in the Arab world. ^[25] This is because of Jews and Israel as substitutes for Western Middle East. Antisemitism is also malleable enough that it can unite right-wing and left-wing groups within the Arab world.

Robert Bernstein , founder of Human Rights Watch , says that anti-Semitism is “deeply ingrained and institutionalized” in “Arab nations in modern times”. ^[26]

Modern examples

Israeli Arabs

In the year 2003, Israeli-Arab Raed Salah , the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, published the following poem in the Islamic Movement’s periodical:

You Jews are criminal bombers of mosques,
Slaughterers of pregnant women and babies.
Robbers and Germs in All Times,
The Creator Feeled You to be a Monkeys,
Victory Belongs to Muslims, from the Nile to the Euphrates. ^[27]

During a speech in 2007, Salah accusé Jews of using children’s blood to bake bread . “We have never allowed ourselves to knead [the dough for] the bread that breaks the fast in the holy month of Ramadan with children’s blood,” he said. “Whoever wants a more thorough explanation, let him ask what he used to happen in Europe, whose blood was mixed with the dough of the [Jewish] holy bread.” ^[28]

Kamal Khatib, deputy leader of the northern branch of the Islamic movement, referred in one of his speeches to the Jews as “fleas” ^[29]

egypt

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mahdi Akef has denounced what he called “the myth of the Holocaust ” in Iranian defender Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ‘s denial of it. ^[30]

The Egyptian government-run newspaper, Al Akhbar , on April 29, 2002, published an editorial denying the Holocaust as a fraud. The next paragraph decries the failure of the Holocaust to eliminate all of the Jews:

With regard to the fraud of the Holocaust…. Many French studies have proven that this is no more than a fabrication, a lie, and a fraud!! That is, it is a ‘scenario’ the plot of which was carefully tailored, using several faked photos completely unconnected to the truth. Yes, it is a film, no more and no less. Hitler himself, whom they accuse of Nazism, is in my eyes no more than a modest ‘pupil’ in the world of murder and bloodshed. He is completely innocent of the charge of frying them in the hell of his false Holocaust!!

The entire matter, as many French and British scientists and researchers have been found, is nothing more than a huge Israeli plot aimed at extorting the German government in particular and the European countries in general. But I, personally and in light of this imaginary tale, complain to Hitler, if only you had done it, brother, if only it had really happened, so that the world could sigh in relief [without] their evil and sin. ‘

In an article in October 2000 columnist Adel Hammoda alleged in the state-owned Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram that Jews made Matza from the blood of (non-Jewish) children. ^[31] Mohammed Salmawy, editor of Al-Ahram Hebdo , “defended the use of old European myths like the blood libel ” in his newspapers. ^[32]

In August 2010, Saudi columnist Iman Al-Quwaifli sharply criticized the “phenomenon of sympathy for Adolf Hitler and for Nazism in the Arab World”, ^[33] specifically citing the words of Hussam Fawzi Jabar, an Islamic cleric who justified Hitler’s actions against the Jews in an Egyptian talk show ^{[33] [34] [35]}

In an October 2012 sermon broadcast on the Egyptian Channel 1 (which was attended by the Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi ) Futuh Abd Al-Nabi Mansour, Head of Religious Endowment of the Matrouh Governorate , prayed (as translated by MEMRI ):

O Allah, absolut us of our sins, strengthen us, and grant us victory over the infidels. O Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. O Allah, scatter them, make them asunder. O Allah, show your might and greatness upon them. ^{[36] [37] [38] [39]}

jordan

Jordan does not allow entry to Jews with visible signs of Judaism or even with personal religious items in their possession. The Jordanian ambassador to Israel to the Hashemite Kingdom not do so with prayer shawls ( Tallit ) and phylacteries ( Tefillin ). ^[40] Jordanian authorities state that the policy is to ensure the Jewish tourists’ safety. ^[41]

In July 2009, six Breslov Hasidim were deported after attempting to enter the tomb of Aaron / Sheikh Harun on Mount Hor , near Petra , because of an alert from the Ministry of Tourism. The group had taken a ferry from Sinai , Egypt because they understood that Jordanian authorities were making it hard to see Jews from Israel. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of the issue. ^[42]

Saudi Arabia

Hostility is an Arabian media, religious sermons, school curriculum, and official government policy.

Indoctrination against Jews is a part of school curriculum in Saudi Arabia. Children are informed about Jews, are given false information about them, and are encouraged to engage in jihad against Jews. ^[43]

Conspiracy theories about Jews are widely disseminated in Saudi Arabian state-controlled media. ^[44]

According to the US State Department, ^[45] religious freedom “does not exist” in Saudi Arabia, and therefore, Jews may not freely practice their religion.

syria

On March 2, 1974, the bodies of the Syrian Jewish women were discovered by the Zabdani Mountains northwest of Damascus. Fara Zeibak 24, her sisters Lulu Zeibak 23, Mazal Zeibak 22, and their cousin Eva Saad 18, had contracted with a band of smugglers to flee Syrian to Lebanon and eventually to Israel. The girls’ bodies were found raped, murdered and mutilated. The police also found the remains of two Jewish boys, Natan Shaya 18 and Kassem Abadi 20, victims of an earlier massacre. ^[46] Syrian authorities deposited the bodies of all six in the homes of their parents in the Jewish ghetto in Damascus. ^[47]

In 1984 Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass published a book called The Matzah of Zion , which claimed that Jews had killed Christian children in Damascus to make Matzas (see Damascus affair). His book inspired the Egyptian TV series Horseman Without a Horse (see below) and a spinoff, The Diaspora , which led to Hezbollah’s al-Manar being banned in Europe for broadcasting it. ^[48]

Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke visited Syria in November 2005 and made a speech that was broadcast live on Syrian television. ^[49]

tunisia

For a personal account of the discrimination and physical attacks by Jews in Tunisia see the Jewish Arab anti-colonialist writer Albert Memmi’s account: ^[50]

At each crisis, with every incident of the slightest importance, the mob would go wild, setting fire to Jewish shops. This even happened during the Yom Kippur War. Tunisia’s President, Habib Bourguiba, has had a lot of bad luck, but it was not that late, which meant that the police arrived at the scene. Is it any wonder that the exodus to France and Israel continued?

On November 30, 2012, prominent Tunisian imam Sheikh Ahmad Al-Suhayli of Rades , told his followers during a live broadcast on Hannibal TV that “God wants to destroy this [Tunisian] sprinkling of Jews and is sterilizing the wombs of Jewish women.” ^[51] This was the fourth time incitement against Jews in the public sphere of the overthrow of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, thus prompting Jewish community leaders to demand protection from the Tunisian government. ^[51] Al-Suhayli still posted a video on the Internet where it has been misinterpreted. ^[52]

The History of the Jews in Tunisia goes back to Roman times. Before 1948, the Jewish population of Tunisia reached a peak of 110,000. Today it has a Jewish community of less than 2,000 people. ^[53]

Palestinian territories

The Hamas , an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood , has a foundational statement of principles, or “covenant” that claims that the French revolution, the Russian revolution, colonialism and both world wars were created by the Zionists. It also claims the Freemasons and Rotary clubs are Zionist fronts and refers to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion . ^[54] Claims that Jews and Freemasons were behind the French Revolution originated in Germany in the mid-19th century. ^[55]

In a 2011 article published by the Gatestone Institute , Jordanian Palestinian Writer and the Secretary General of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition Mudar Zahran wrote that “the Palestinians have been used as fuel for the new form of anti-Semitism; Palestinians, but in fact only one of those Palestinians, yet in fact only to be hated to Jews. being ignored while the world being consumed with delegitimizing Israel from ignorance or malice. ” ^[56]

Mahmoud Abbas , leader of the PLO , published at Ph.D. thesis (at Moscow University) in 1982, called The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement . ^[57] His doctoral thesis later became a book, The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism , which, following its nomination as Palestinian Prime Minister in 2003, was heavily criticized as an example of Holocaust denial . In his book, Abbas wrote:

It seems that the interest of the Zionist movement, however, is to inflate this figure [of Holocaust deaths] so that their gains will be greater. [Six million] in order to gain the solidarity of international public opinion with Zionism. Many scholars have debated the figure of six million and reached striking conclusions-fixing the number of Jewish victims at only a few hundred thousand. ^{[58] [59] [60]}

lebanon

Hezbollah ‘s Al-Manar TV channel HAS Often beens accusé of airing antisemitic broadcasts, blaming the Jews for a Zionist conspiracy Against the Arab world , and Often airing excerpts from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion , ^{[61] [62] [63 ]} which the Encyclopædia Britannica describes as a “fraudulent document that served as a pretext and rationale for anti-Semitism in the early 20th century”.

Al-Manar recently aired a drama series, called The Diaspora , which is based on historical antisemitic allegations. BBC reporters who watched the series said that:

Correspondents Who-have viewed The Diaspora Note That It Extensively quotes from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion , a notorious 19th-century publication used by the Nazis Among Others to fuel racial hatred. ^[64]

In another incident, an Al-Manar commentator recently referred to “Zionist attempts to transmit AIDS to Arab countries”. Al-Manar officials deny broadcasting antisemitic incitement and state that their position is anti-Israeli, not antisemitic. However, Hezbollah has directed strong rhetoric against Israel and Jews, and it has cooperated with publishing and distributing outright antisemitic literature. The government of Lebanon has not criticized continued broadcast of antisemitic material on television. ^[65]

Due to protests by the CRIF umbrella group of French Jews regarding allegations of antisemitic content, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin called for a ban on Al-Manar broadcasting in France on December 2, 2004; just two weeks after al-Manar was allowed to continue broadcasting in Europe by France’s media watchdog agency. ^[66] On December 13, 2004, France’s highest administrative court banned Hizbullah’s Al-Manar TV station on the grounds that it consistently incites racial hatred and anti-Semitism. ^[67]

Yemen

The 1940s and the establishment of Israel in the wake of Jewish anti-Jewish riots and massacres. By the late 1990s, Sa’ada and town of Raida . Houthi members put up notes on the Jews’ doors, accusing them of corrupting Muslim morals. Eventually, the Houthi leaders are threatening messages to the Jewish community: “We’ll be leaving you soon.” ^[68]

Arab newspapers

Many Arab newspapers, such as Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah , the Palestinian Authority’s official newspaper, often write that “the Jews” control the world’s governments, and that “the Jews” plan genocide on the Arabs in the West Bank . Others write less sensational stories, and state that they have influence in the United States. Often the leaders of other nations are said to be controlled by Jews. ^{[ citation needed ]} Articles in many official The claims of the Elders of Zion , facts facts, and thus points to an international Jewish conspiracy to take over the world .

Netanyahu’s plan completely Call matches the foundations of the Greater Zionist plane qui est Organized selon specific placements That Were Determined When The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Was Composed and when to Herzl along with Weizmann Traveled around the world in order to determine the Appropriate location for the Implementation of this conspiracy, Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, November 30, 1997.

The Jews seek to conquer the world …. We must expose the Zionist-Colonialist plot and its goals, which destroy not only our people but the entire world (PA Minister of Agriculture, Abdel Jawad Saleh , quoted in Al-Hayat Al- Jadidah , November 6, 1997) ^[69]

Horseman Without a Horse

In 2001-2002, Arab Radio and Television produced a 30-part television miniseries entitled Horseman Without a Horse , starring prominent Egyptian actor Mohamed Sobhi , which contains dramatizations of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion . The United States and Israel criticized Egypt for airing the program, which includes racist falsehoods that have a history of being used as a pretext for persecuting Jews. ^[70]

Polling opinion

In 2008 at Pew Research Center, we found that the most prevalent in the three predominantly Arab nations polled, with 97% of Lebanese having unfavorable opinion of Jews, 95% in Egypt and 96% in Jordan. ^[71]

See also

• Arabs for Israel
• Contemporary Imprints of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
• Covenant of Umar I
• dhimmi
• Islam and anti-Semitism
• Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim lands
• jizya
• Mellah
• Pact of Umar II
• Qutbism
• Racism in the Arab world

References