Antisemitism in the Arab world

This article describes issues of antisemitism (hostility towards or discrimination against Jews) in the Arab world. For discrimination towards Arabs, see Anti-Arabism.

The issues surrounding Arabs and antisemitism implicate the full history of the Arab and Jewish coexistence in the Middle East. According to Bernard Lewis, Jews have for the last 1400 years lived in the position of a religious minority in the Arab world, with an attendant lack of equal social and judical rights. Nevertheless, the Arabs were not antisemitic. While Jews were viewed as inferior to the Muslim populations, acts of violence rarely occurred and the position of Jews was not entirely different from that of other religious minorities, and Jews were given a place of protection under Muslim law. Lewis notes that Islam and Judaism were generally compatible and did not provide such conflicts as existed in Christian notions including deicide.

However, since then Lewis writes that Arab antisemitism has grown due to two reasons: nineteenth century European influence, brought about by imperialism and Christian Arabs; and Israeli victories during the wars of 1956 and 1967. Regarding the present time, Lewis states: "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 all seem to suggest that classical anti-Semitism is an essential part of Arab intellectual life at the present time-almost as much as happened in Nazi Germany, and considerably more than in late nineteenth and early twentieth century France."

Usage

In linguistics and ethnology, the term Semitic (from the Biblical "Shem", Hebrew: שם, translated as "name", Arabic: سام) was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. This family includes the ancient and modern forms of Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Akkadian, Ge'ez, Hebrew, Maltese, Tigrinya, among others. The term Semitic is derived from the name "Shem" in Hebrew or "Sam" in Arabic who was one of biblical prophet Noah's sons. Modern day Arabs and Jews are both considered Semitic, although there is some dispute over whether all Ashkenazic Jews are. Many modern day Arabs are also said to descend from non-semitic migratory populations from Africa, Central Asia or the Balkans. In strict linguistic terms, most Jews are not Semitic since they do not speak Semitic languages but rather French, English, etc. The same could be said about descendants of Arab migrants who no longer speak Arabic (for example, in France or Britain). Hence, although the term Semite and Semitic includes both Arabs and Jews, in common usage anti-Semitic is used to include only Jews. Therefore, the term is somewhat of a misnomer.

A person who exhibits antisemitic behavior may be of any ancestry, including an Arab or even a Jew. See related Etymology and usage of the term antisemitism.

The term "antisemite" was originally coined in Germany in 1879 by Wilhelm Marr to refer to the anti-Jewish manifestations of the period and to give Jew-hatred (German: Judenhass) a more scientific sounding name.

The term is particularly contentious when used against opponents of the modern State of Israel, most of whom claim that their behavior is based on opposition to the political phenomenon of Zionism (see anti-Zionism) and not hate of Jews. See related Antisemitism and anti-Zionism and New antisemitism.

Medieval Arab antisemitism

Jews, along with Christians and Zoroastrians, typically had the legal status of dhimmi (protected minority) in the lands conquered by Muslim Arabs, generally applied to non-Muslim minorities. Jews were generally seen as a religious group (not a separate race) thus being a part of the "Arab family".

Dhimmi were subjected to a number of restrictions, the application and severity of which varied with time and place. The aim of these restrictions was to humiliate them making conversion to Islam more appealing. Restrictions included residency in segregated quarters, obligation to wear distinctive clothing, public subservience to Muslims, prohibitions against proselytizing, against marrying Muslim women, and limited access to the legal system (the testimony of a Jew didn't count if contradicted by that of a Muslim). 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 out-right. Jewish communities, like Christian ones, were typically constituted as semi-autonomous entities managed by their own laws and leadership, who carried the responsibility for the community towards the Muslim rulers.

By medieval standards, conditions for Jews under Islam was generally more formalized and better than those of Jews in Christian lands, in part due to the sharing of minority status with Christians in these lands. We can find evidence for this claim in that the status of Jews in lands with no Christian minority was usually worse than their status in lands with one. For example, there were numerous incidents of massacres and ethnic cleansing of Jews in North Africa, especially in Morocco, Libya and Algeria where eventually Jews were forced to live in ghettos. Decrees ordering the destruction of synagogues were enacted in the Middle Ages in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. At certain times in Yemen, Morocco and Baghdad, Jews were forced to convert to Islam or face death.

The situation where Jews both enjoyed cultural and economical prosperity at times, but were widely persecuted at other times, was summarised by G.E. Von Grunebaum:

It would not be difficult to put together the names of a very sizeable number of Jewish subjects or citizens of the Islamic area who have attained to high rank, to power, to great financial influence, to significant and recognized intellectual attainment; and the same could be done for Christians. But it would again not be difficult to compile a lengthy list of persecutions, arbitrary confiscations, attempted forced conversions, or pogroms.

Modern Arab antisemitism

Most scholars hold that Arab antisemitism 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. 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 all seem to suggest that classical anti-Semitism is an essential part of Arab intellectual life at the present time-almost as much as happened in Nazi Germany, and considerably more than in late nineteenth and early twentieth century France."

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 accused other Jews. Two other Jews died under torture, and one (Moses Abulafia) converted to Islam to escape torture. More arrests and atrocities followed, culminating in 63 Jewish children being 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 eventually secured the unconditional release and recognition of innocence of the nine prisoners still remaining alive (out of thirteen). Later in Constantinople, Montefiore persuaded Sultan Abdülmecid to issue a firman (edict) intended to halt the spread of blood libel accusations in the Ottoman Empire:

"... and for the love we bear to our subjects, we cannot permit the Jewish nation, whose innocence for the crime alleged against them is evident, to be worried and tormented as a consequence of accusations which have not the least foundation in truth...".

Nevertheless, pogroms spread through the Middle East and North Africa: Aleppo (1850, 1875), Damascus (1840, 1848, 1890), Beirut (1862, 1874), Dayr al-Qamar (1847), Jerusalem (1847), Cairo (1844, 1890, 1901-02), Mansura (1877), Alexandria (1870, 1882, 1901-07), Port Said (1903, 1908), Damanhur (1871, 1873, 1877, 1891), Istanbul (1870, 1874), Buyukdere (1864), Kuzguncuk (1866), Eyub (1868), Edirne (1872), Izmir (1872, 1874) - these are just key cases.

Growth in the twentieth century

Antisemitism in the Arab world increased in the twentieth century, as anti-Semitic propaganda and blood libels were imported from Europe and as resentment against Zionist efforts in British Mandate of Palestine spread. Arab antisemitism in the early 1920s repeated the conspiracy theory that Jews were behind fall of the the Russian monarchy and the defeat of Germany and Austria in World War I. In March, 1921, Musa Khazem El Husseini, the Mayor of Jerusalem told Winston Churchill"The Jews have been amongst the most active advocates of destruction in many lands... It is well known that the disintegration of Russia was wholly or in great part brought about by the Jews, and a large proportion of the defeat of Germany and Austria must also be put at their door."

While anti-Semitism has certainly been heightened by the Arab-Israeli conflict, there were an increasing number of pogroms against Jews prior to the foundation of Israel, including Nazi-inspired pogroms in Algeria in the 1930s, and attacks on the Jews in Iraq and Libya in the 1940s (see Farhud). George Gruen attributes the increased animosity towards Jews in the Arab world to several factors including: The breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and traditional Islamic society; domination by Western colonial powers under which Jews gained 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 scapegoat local Jews for political purposes.

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 flee the Arab world, some willingly, and some under threat (see Jewish exodus from Arab lands). In 1945 there were between 758,000 and 866,000 Jews (see table below) 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.

Modern examples

Saudi Arabia

A Saudi government website initially stated that Jews would not be granted tourist visas to enter the country It has since removed this statement, and apologized for posting "erroneous information". Members of religions other than Islam, including Jews, are not permitted to practice their religion publicly in Saudi Arabia; according to the U.S. State Department, religious freedom "does not exist" in Saudi Arabia. Islam is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, and the tenets of that religion are enforced by law.

Saudi Arabian media often attacks Jews in books and news articles. Saudi Arabian government officials and state religious leaders often promote the idea that "the Jews" are conspiring to take over the entire world; as proof of their claims they publish and frequently cite The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as factual.

The former King of Saudi Arabia allegedly gave visitors copies of both The Protocols and Mein Kampf. In 2001, Arab Radio and Television of Saudi Arabia produced a 30-part television miniseries entitled "Horseman Without a Horse", a dramatization of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

One Saudi Arabian government newspaper suggested that hatred of all Jews is justifiable. "Why are they (the Jews) hated by all the people which hosted them, such as Iraq and Egypt thousands years ago, and Germany, Spain, France and the UK, up to the days they gained of power over the capital and the press, in order to rewrite the history?"

Saudi textbooks vilify Jews (and Christians and non-Wahabi Muslims): according to the May 21, 2006 issue of The Washington Post, Saudi textbooks claimed by them to have been sanitized of anti-Semitism still call Jews apes (and Christians swine); demand that students avoid and not befriend Jews; claim that Jews worship the devil; and encourage Muslims to engage in Jihad to vanquish Jews.

Arab newspapers

Many Arab newspapers, such as Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, the Palestinian Authority's official newspaper, often write that "the Jews" control all the world's governments, and that "the Jews" plan genocide on all the Arabs in the West Bank. Others write less sensational stories, and state that Jews have too much of an influence in the US government. Often the leaders of other nations are said to be controlled by Jews.

Articles in many official Arab government newspapers (notably those of the Palestinian Authority, Libya, and Saudi Arabia) claim that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, reflects actual facts, and thus points to an international Jewish conspiracy to take over the world.

"Netanyahu's Plan completely matches the foundations of the greater Zionist plan which is organized according to specific stages that were determined when the Protocols of the Elders of Zion was composed and when Herzl along with Weizmann traveled around the world in order to determine the appropriate location for the implementation of this conspiracy," (official Palestinian Authority newspaper, 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)

The Egyptian government run newspaper, Al-Akhbar, on 29 April 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 proven, 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, even saying to him from the bottom of my heart, '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.'

Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV channel

Jewish groups and European observers allege that Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV channel frequently airs 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, 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 observers allege is based on historical anti-Semitic allegations. BBC reporters who watched the series said that:

Correspondents who have viewed The Diaspora note that it quotes extensively from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious 19th century publication used by the Nazis among others to fuel race hatred.

In another incident, an Al-Manar commentator recently referred to "Zionist attempts to transmit AIDS to Arab countries". Al-Manar officials deny broadcasting anti-Semitic incitement and state that their position is anti-Israeli, not anti-Semitic.

Due to protests by the CRIF umbrella group of French Jews regarding allegations of anti-Semitic content, French 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 authorised to continue broadcasting in Europe by France's media watchdog agency.

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 antisemitism.

Jewish-Arab dialogue

There are a number of projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs, and projects which include Jewish-Islamic dialogue.

References

• Lewis, Bernard (1999). Semites and anti-Semites. ISBN 0393318397

External links

• Reflections of the Israeli Leftist Uri Avnery about Palestinians and Anti-semitism
• Arab Anti-Semitism in 1998/99 - summary of Arab anti-Semitism, by the University of Tel Aviv
• Anti-Semitism in the Arab World - a collection of materials updated regularly
• The Problem of Muslim Anti-Semitism
• The Salience of Islamic Anti-Semitism
• The Anti-Semitic Disease - an analysis by Paul Johnson in Commentary
• S.RES.366 Urging the Government of Egypt and other Arab governments not to allow their government-controlled television stations to broadcast any program that lends legitimacy to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and for other purposes. (Passed/agreed to in Senate on 20 November 2002).
• Roots of Islamic based antisemitism and anti-Zionism
• Interview with historian regarding the role of the Holocaust in Arab lands; book Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands
• Daniel Pipes' review of Bernard Lewis' "Semites and Anti-Semites"

Examples of anti-Semitism in the Arab press provided by MEMRI

• Egyptian government newspaper reprints Nazi forgeries
• Jews blamed for the September 11th World Trade Center attacks
• Egyptian government science journal claims that the Jews deliberately spread AIDS
• Saudi government newspaper claims that Jews are taking over the world
• Zionism is accused of being the same as Nazism
• Leader of Libya claims that the Jews deliberately spread AIDS