“Anti-Semitism is the purveyor of weaker minds. It takes much effort to understand history and its complexities and that is simply too much for many to employ.” Scott Kirwin, The Razor
In the Muslim world anti-Semitism is justified by the Koran’s curse upon the Jews for having allegedly slain the prophets and transgression against the will of Allah.
This motif is coupled to Koranic verses that describe the Jews’ transformation into apes and swine, creatures that were cursed by the tongue of David and by Jesus. This insult should not be dismissed as a mere vulgar invective. Its use is to dehumanize Jews and provide justification for their elimination from the face of the earth.
Historically, non-Muslims subjected to Islamic rule usually had a choice between death and conversion, but Jews and Christians, who adhered to their beliefs were usually allowed as dhimmis (infidels) to practice their faith but were forced to acknowledge the superiority of the Muslim faith and pay a blood ransom tax. Under Islam rule, entire Jewish communities were slaughtered, children abducted for harems and those that could pay the blood ransom tax were treated as chattel to perform the most degrading of tasks from the early 9th century up until their mass exodus in 1948.
Anti-Semitism led to the creation in 1928 of the Muslim Brotherhood, Obama’s designated “moderate” terrorist organization that founded Hamas and al-Qaeda. This was also the era that saw the rise of the Palestinian Arab Movement founded by Hajj Amin el-Husseini, appointed in 1921 by the British as Mufti of Jerusalem. Throughout his “career” Hajj relied upon traditional Koranic anti-Jewish themes to inflame Muslims to slaughter the Jews.
With Hitler’s ascent in the 1930s, Hajj secured support from the Nazis, Bosnian Muslims and the Arab world for a jihad to annihilate the Jews living in the region. In 1941 Hajj attempted but failed to install a pro-Nazi government in Iraq forcing him to spend most of WWII in Germany and Italy where he continued to provide support to the Nazis.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, translated into Arabic in 1927, has been used frequently in anti-Jewish discourse in the Arab world to back up claims that there is a Jewish plot to take over the world. Hitler read it and required it to be taught in German classrooms. The Protocols, a prime example of conspiracy theory literature, was originally published between 1897 and 1903 in Russia by an unknown author. Yet when quoted in the Muslim world and in some American circles it is referred to as unquestionably authentic.
The most common trend today that the Muslim world employs is to equate Zionism with Nazism and push the lie that Zionist collaborated with the Nazis to annihilate the Jewish people. Despite all the information and identification of the 9/11 terrorists, officials, journalists and religious leaders throughout the Arab and Muslim world still claim that the attacks were carried out by American and Jewish elements, much like some nutty conspiracy theorists in the U.S. And there are those who still deny the Holocaust .
There are also a number of anti-Semitic groups in the United States, such as the Aryan-White Resistance, the KKK, the American Nazis, and gangs of skinheads along with several fundamentalist churches such as the Westboro Baptist Church, who preach anti-Semitic messages, along with left-wing university professors who degrade the Nation of Israel.
In the first half of 20th century, Jews in the U.S. were discriminated against in employment, not allowed into some social clubs and resort areas, given a quota on enrollment at colleges, and not allowed to buy certain properties. Anti-Semitism reached its peak during the interwar period with the rise of the KKK, the ranting of Henry Ford, and the radio speeches of Father Coughlin in the late 1930s. Henry Ford, a pacifist, accused Jews of starting wars to profit from them and even published portions of the Protocol of the Elders of Zion in his paper, The Dearborn Independent.
During the Holocaust, anti-Semitism was a prevalent attitude in the US and Europe. During the years before Pearl Harbor, over a hundred anti-Semitic organizations were responsible for pumping hate propaganda throughout the U.S. resulting in gangs that vandalized Jewish cemeteries and synagogues and attacks on Jewish youngsters. In 1944, a public opinion poll showed that a quarter of Americans still regarded Jews as a “menace.”
At the height of Hitler’s atrocities many Jews died needlessly because Roosevelt and his State Department totally ignored their plight and, in some cases, even helped Hitler along by refusing to open up our borders, thus sending thousands back to their deaths in the camps. Was this born out of anti-Semitism? Or plain indifference? In the end, is there any distinction?
According to a new study there are 1.09 billion anti-Semites in the world today, 70% of which have never met a Jew. These are bigots who believe Jews are greedy, unethical manipulators who control the world and cause everything bad: 9/11 – Financial crises – Communism – Dyspepsia – You name it.
Jew-hatred cannot be understood as simply another instance of everyday prejudice. It has genocidal potential.
“Whether religious or racial, anti-Semitism is always repugnant, one of the most destructive manifestations of human stupidity and evil. What is profoundly expressed in it is man’s traditional mistrust of the man who is not part of his tribe, that ‘other’ who speaks a different language, whose skin is a different color, and who participates in mysterious rites and rituals.” Mario Vargas Llosa
Sources: What Is Arab Anti-Semitism? by the Middle East Media Research Institute; Arab/Muslim Anti-Semitism, by DiscovertheNetwork.org; Anti-Semitism and American History (pdf) by Jonathan D. Sarna; and A Hoax of Hate by the Jewish Virtual Library
